Freediving Video - still a work in Progress

Three of us spent the day freediving and I shot video at a mountain lake east of where I live here in Oregon.

The water temps were a balmy 5-6C (40-42F) but viz is an incredible 150ft+ - The lake is a lava flow that solidified a few thousand years ago and the look is one of a lunar landscape.

Unfortunately, my external monitor battery went dead and trying to shoot video with your nose stuck to the back of your housing while freediving doesn't work very well, so the footage is not quite as varied as I would have liked, but hey... <_<

Have a look and be gentle on the critique..

http://www.bluedigitalmedia.com/media/video/apneadivers.wmv

Nice vid Cliff, has a very laid back feel to it. Nice sunlight effects too.

I love snorkeling. Reminds me of my introduction to the u/w world many years ago way before I could afford SCUBA. Even now on a trip I just love taking off out across a reef with just M/F/S, or swimming right round an island (eg Sipadan, Heron etc). Because you can cover such huge distances, and because you are so quiet you often see large stuff that you'd miss on a dive.

Good job.

Nice vid Cliff, has a very laid back feel to it. Nice sunlight effects too.

 

I love snorkeling. Reminds me of my introduction to the u/w world many years ago way before I could afford SCUBA. Even now on a trip I just love taking off out across a reef with just M/F/S, or swimming right round an island (eg Sipadan, Heron etc). Because you can cover such huge distances, and because you are so quiet you often see large stuff that you'd miss on a dive.

 

Good job.

Thanks Nick

It was my first serious attempt at shooting while freediving and although it was a good first attempt, being able now to review the footage, I can see some glaring mistakes I made while shooting. I take production values very seriously and need to work harder on creating a smooth story line and then create the footage to match that story line.

Training is so crucial for shooting relaxed underwater it is amazing - I thought I trained pretty well this summer but now having had the footage shot, I have an off season to look forward to where I'll be training more in depth to get 2 minute bottom times instead of 1 minute. Hopefully the increased training will allow me to shoot more efficiently underwater while freediving.

would love to have a look.. but you know my web sux....

i remember cold water! hahaha

Nice clip there Cliff. I'm hopeless at free diving with a wettie on...like to be free...and warm....

Nice work Cliff. You've really captured the feeling that a freshwater lake with incredible viz can give.

20 minute bottom time? Are you for real? I sometimes don't get that out of a 12 litre tank, let alone a pair of lungs.

I think Cliff missed out a smiley after that comment!

2 minutes is pretty good I think. When I was a super fit teenager (don't ask) and doing a lot of spearfishing in the Med (definitely don't ask - sorry) I could get 2min+ on hyperventilating (don't ask) and using weights to prevent flapping to much on the way down......

So you're the bugger that ate all the fish!

oops - I hadn't proof read my response and hit the zero key after the two - no way would I attempt 20 minutes.. ROFL...

To give you guys a dose of WOW! A Guilliume Nery just set the world record earlier this last week for Constant Ballast freediving - that's swimming down and back up - 109 meters folks!!! Did it in 2'55".

Food for thought...

Cliff,

Nice work. As a kid i used to hold my breath and feedive. I have since lost that skill altogether! Within 30 feet i am gasping for air...never mind holding a cam and shooting. Just for that I commend you:)

Shawn

That's nice and serene. The music is good too. Who is the music by?

I used to spend hours snorkeling (didn't know it was called freediving then!) when I was a youngster. When we were on holiday I used to get out the mask and snorkel and my parents wouldn't see me until the end of the day.

When I went traveling in my teens (late 80's) and discovered the Red Sea I once again would spend hours at a time snorkeling and diving down. I used to pick up rocks from the beach and put them in my trunks for some ballast - but hey that's another story! There were no dive shops nearby in those days, but I got to spend 3 months on virgin reefs. By the time I left I could easily spend 2 - 3 mins underwater and dive to probably 20m. I'd be lucky if I could spend 30 sec breatholding now! LOL

I actually did get to scuba dive there one time. A couple of Swedish guys came by with some scuba gear and let me have a go. They stayed for a week, but as they had to head back to Sharm for air refills they only let me have one dive. Ah those were the days!!

Anyway I'm rambling.... Nic vid Cliff was what I basically wanted to say!

Cheers, Simon

Do you guys reckon a free-diving course would be a worthwhile investment purely to improve breath-holding for underwater video? Who does the best courses?