Nuweiba - A Diver's Guide

Hi everyone,

Had such a brilliant time at Nuweiba back in May and saw so many great things, so have put together a video to show others what it's like to dive there and what you're missing.

The links are to the HD versions, so if your internet connection is like mine (pretty darned bad!!) you may need to let it buffer before you watch them

Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know good and bad what you think, as I'm always trying to improve.

Jo

Brilliant photography ! Absolutely brilliant and very inspiring... with a very well presented script !

I am based in Nuweiba and only snorkel but I really have to spend more time studying more closely my own photo subjects.

I only saw the first few minutes of part one and my first advice to you is to get a tripod with a video head for the topside shots. Handheld shots don't generally work well for this genre. You could also use software stabilization to even up the clips. Unless you want that gritty, Lars Von Trier look of course

Really nice, Jo, especially the 2nd part. Some great shots there. The morays mating, the lionfish close-ups, the morays behind the lionfish, and the lovely final shots of that colorful reef. And that sea grass dive looks great! I didn't know the Red Sea was that interesting! Makes me want to go.

Agree with Drew about the topside shots. If you don't have a tripod with you then lean/brace the camera solidly on something and keep it to static shots and perhaps the odd whip pan, which you can just about get away with handheld. It took me a long time to really grasp that but it really makes a difference between a pro and amateur impression. Better still, unless you have some particular need to promote the hotel, cut down on the opening topside shots and get underwater a.s.a.p. to hold your audience.

Also in some places I would say you have too many similar shots of the same thing, such as the longnosed pipefish in the seagrass. If the shots are so similar in angle and magnification it makes them difficult to edit smoothly together, and they don't really add much, so maybe include fewer of them and let them run a little longer. Ideally you want a significant change in angle (>30 degrees) or magnification between consecutive shots of the same subject. Then they should fit nicely together with a straight cut. You have quite a lot of short dissolves that I thought were unnecessary. If a shot looks like it could more or less be a realtime continuation of the previous shot (e.g. the series of shots of the emperor shrimp on sea cucumber starting at 1:05) then just straight cut it. Save the dissolves to signify a lengthy gap in time or if you really need them to smooth out 2 similar shots that would otherwise jar with a straight cut. You'll hardly ever see dissolves on big u/w productions. I may have said this before, so apologies if I'm repeating myself.

One other thing is that the voiceover is great but is slightly tinny and deserves a better mic/sound card. Um... I may have said that last time too

Thanks for your comments. Yeah, I'm using a tripod more nowadays and using dissolves as little as possible. I've bought myself a better mic, so just need to play a bit more with the audio to get rid of the tinny sound.

So much still to learn!!

Jo

You might want to consider Samson's Zoom H4n which records fantastic audio and has XLR inputs and more functions than you could imaging. The Zoom H1 also records very nicely

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/zoom_...er_douglas.html and is less costly. I will be coming out with an H4n review here and on the kenstone.net and lafcpug.org sites shortly. These recorders are especially useful for DSLR users but will also beat the pants off of an onboard mic a camcorder will supply.

I would also avoid those cheapo aluminum tripods. Their legs tend to bow and the heads on those things just get worse with time. A good fluid head is the way to go..avoid ads that say 'fluid like'. The do fine when new and then degrade in terms of their smooth pans and tilts. I recommend this one that I reviewed some long time ago.

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/manfr...od_douglas.html

Steve

You might want to consider Samson's Zoom H4n which records fantastic audio and has XLR inputs and more functions than you could imaging. The Zoom H1 also records very nicely

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/zoom_...er_douglas.html and is less costly. I will be coming out with an H4n review here and on the kenstone.net and lafcpug.org sites shortly. These recorders are especially useful for DSLR users but will also beat the pants off of an onboard mic a camcorder will supply.

I would also avoid those cheapo aluminum tripods. Their legs tend to bow and the heads on those things just get worse with time. A good fluid head is the way to go..avoid ads that say 'fluid like'. The do fine when new and then degrade in terms of their smooth pans and tilts. I recommend this one that I reviewed some long time ago.

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/manfr...od_douglas.html

Steve

Hi Steve,

Many thanks for your tips....always a font of great knowledge!!!

I've just bought a Rode Videomic (as recommended by Nick Hope), is the H4n or H1 that much better? Have only used the Rode once so far to record Alex Mustard in a talk he gave at the British Society of Underwater Photographers and it worked well in a bit of an echoey room, very clear from about 20 - 30 feet away.

Thanks again,

Jo

Hi Jo,

very nice footage. I have to agree though to tighten up the scenes a bit to keep the viewers interest. And maybe for the day shot in deeper water (on part 2) to use a light, like you did on the night dive, to bring out the full beauty and color of the soft corals on the chain and the lion fish.

Great job and thanks for sharing,

Cheers,

Henrik

Jo, did you get the mono (shotgun) or stereo Rode videomic? The stereo would be better as a general-purpose on-camera mic. The mono would be better for voiceover or for directional stuff like recording someone giving a lecture.

Jo, did you get the mono (shotgun) or stereo Rode videomic? The stereo would be better as a general-purpose on-camera mic. The mono would be better for voiceover or for directional stuff like recording someone giving a lecture.

Hi Nick,

I got the mono, as it'll mostly be used for voiceovers and filming BSoUP lectures. Seems to work really well, so many thanks for the recommendation.

Jo

Hi Jo,

very nice footage. I have to agree though to tighten up the scenes a bit to keep the viewers interest. And maybe for the day shot in deeper water (on part 2) to use a light, like you did on the night dive, to bring out the full beauty and color of the soft corals on the chain and the lion fish.

 

Great job and thanks for sharing,

 

Cheers,

 

Henrik

Thanks Henrik. Yes, I need to trim it down further as you say and lights to add the pink of the soft corals on the chain would have helped.....I'd managed to flood one of my lights and the other just didn't throw enough light by itself.

Hi Nick,

 

I got the mono, as it'll mostly be used for voiceovers and filming BSoUP lectures. Seems to work really well, so many thanks for the recommendation.

 

Jo

Just make sure you don't speak straight into it at close range or you'll get distortion as the air hits it. Angle it off to the side a bit but still pointing at your mouth, a few inches away. To give the voiceover some polish you might want to add a little dynamic range compression to the voiceover track (and/or the whole mix) in your NLE. Worth checking that subject out anyway.

Just make sure you don't speak straight into it at close range or you'll get distortion as the air hits it. Angle it off to the side a bit but still pointing at your mouth, a few inches away. To give the voiceover some polish you might want to add a little dynamic range compression to the voiceover track (and/or the whole mix) in your NLE. Worth checking that subject out anyway.

Thanks Nick.

I'm working on something for the San Diego Film Festival, so will try out your tips for the narration.

Hope you've managed to get in the water recently!! We're off to the Southern Red Sea in a week's time, can't wait to get in some warm water......Swanage was only 12 degrees last weekend.....bbrrrrrrr!!

See ya,

Jo

I second the little Zoom H1, they record great sound.

Put a piece of foam over the mike end though.

I second the little Zoom H1, they record great sound.

Put a piece of foam over the mike end though.

Thanks Wagsy. May have to sneak one past my better half!!!