Uploaded June 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This underwater adventure features footage shot with an experimental (home-made) underwater LED lighting rig and GoPro Hero2 (with dive housing). Filming over the course of 3 dives in 35-45 feet of water at Yellowbanks off the shore of Santa Cruz Island in California, I tested the system for best focal distance, field of view and light saturation, as well as making sure it was watertight.
There was a bit of current and a lot of surge, making it quite difficult to hold a steady shot most of the time. One lesson learned - getting anchored to the rocks before attempting to film is essential! XD I hope to get more stable shots next time. Another issue I found was that the GoPro Hero2 isn't going to work well for very close-up work, since it's focus is fixed and anything closer than about 15 inches is going to be blurry. Should be great for 2-3 feet to infinity, but unfortunately the light isn't powerful enough to overcome daylight beyond a couple of feet, so the daytime filming depth of field is going to be pretty tight if the LED lighting is desired to bring out the colors. Might be awesome at night though, with no sunlight competition.
A couple of surface views finish-out the trip after a great day of diving.
Special thanks to Chris Biggerstaff for a great trip! See his adventures here on YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCMyP55YoVewxeYEVsq4mOCw
Complete playlist including this video and 5-part raw footage series from this trip: youtube.com/watch?v=b0Bf-LPLr10&list=PLvH9qs6SlxfUPsjYF69yAVqh9BxhA5d1_
The soundtrack is "Ambient Sky" from the "Mission Control" CD by Technician (yours truly), MP3 album and single track available on iTunes at: itunes.apple.com/us/album/mission-control/id583890621 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
This underwater adventure features footage shot with an experimental (home-made) underwater LED lighting rig and GoPro Hero2 (with dive housing). Filming over the course of 3 dives in 35-45 feet of water at Yellowbanks off the shore of Santa Cruz Island in California, I tested the system for best focal distance, field of view and light saturation, as well as making sure it was watertight.
There was a bit of current and a lot of surge, making it quite difficult to hold a steady shot most of the time. One lesson learned - getting anchored to the rocks before attempting to film is essential! XD I hope to get more stable shots next time. Another issue I found was that the GoPro Hero2 isn't going to work well for very close-up work, since it's focus is fixed and anything closer than about 15 inches is going to be blurry. Should be great for 2-3 feet to infinity, but unfortunately the light isn't powerful enough to overcome daylight beyond a couple of feet, so the daytime filming depth of field is going to be pretty tight if the LED lighting is desired to bring out the colors. Might be awesome at night though, with no sunlight competition.
A couple of surface views finish-out the trip after a great day of diving.
Special thanks to Chris Biggerstaff for a great trip! See his adventures here on YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCMyP55YoVewxeYEVsq4mOCw
Complete playlist including this video and 5-part raw footage series from this trip: youtube.com/watch?v=b0Bf-LPLr10&list=PLvH9qs6SlxfUPsjYF69yAVqh9BxhA5d1_
The soundtrack is "Ambient Sky" from the "Mission Control" CD by Technician (yours truly), MP3 album and single track available on iTunes at: itunes.apple.com/us/album/mission-control/id583890621 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: This is copyrighted material, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
