250 Cow nosed rays in Komodo with a GH5

[snowdog61]

outstanding footage, editing, & production. thanks for sharing

 

[stphnmartin]

That is/was amazing! What drone do you have?

Can you speak some about the live aboard? Comfort...food...number of dives...how you got there and such please?

Thank you for sharing!

I like the Ambai a lot. This was the second trip on the boat in Komodo and I previously did a trip to Raja Ampat. Food is high quality and comes in large quantities. Almost too much. I'm vegetarian and they had options for me. The rooms are decent and have AC and private baths. I shared a bunk room and it was quite comfortable. It's a wooden ship, so it's a bit noisy underway. However, nigh time travel was limited.

We did 3-4 dives a day. There were some land excursions offered, including seeing the dragons and it was 8 days on board all together. I did about 28 dives.

I traveled Seattle > Taipei > Bali > Labuan Bajo where I got on the boat. Return path was the same. You have to be careful with bag weights on the domestic Indonesian flights. All my camera equipment and the drone in addition to scuba gear can easily go over the limits. Garuda gives you an extra 20 kilos, but I learned it's only on 1 bag!

 

[stphnmartin]

Cool Vid! Brings back memories!!! I love the macro part...

You know there is a manta watch for Komodo? They would be really happy if you send them your video or pictures so they can identify them and see their migration...
How Can I Help? - MantaWatch

Thanks for this information. I'll check it out!

 

[stphnmartin]

Critique:
Drone, cut, drone, cut, drone, cut, drone...

Maybe I'm old, but the cuts are too hard and fast for me. It kills me because everything is gorgeous, and I want to look longer.

The drone footage is also gorgeous, but feels a bit slapped together...like there was no story?

All that being said, I loved it!

I've heard in video making it's best to leave the audience wanting. Mission accomplished!

 

[undrwater]

I've heard in video making it's best to leave the audience wanting. Mission accomplished!

I'm curious if this is a "new" phenomenon. I wonder if you doubled the clip length, if you'd lose some of your audience, or if they'd still be wanting. I know I still would be. Your skills are outstanding.

 

[FindingMenno]

I traveled Seattle > Taipei > Bali > Labuan Bajo where I got on the boat. Return path was the same. You have to be careful with bag weights on the domestic Indonesian flights.

Yep, Bali is still the gateway to Komodo/Labuan Bajo, until they finally extend the runway at Labuan Bajo when most likely you will see direct flights from Singapore, KL etc. Anyways, getting to Bali is pretty easy, enough flights going there. And enough flights between Bali and Labaun Bajo.

Luggage allowance on the smaller planes to Labuan Bajo is usually limited, but it's not expensive to take more. I think I paid like 10 USD to get my dive bag along.

 

[stphnmartin]

I'm curious if this is a "new" phenomenon. I wonder if you doubled the clip length, if you'd lose some of your audience, or if they'd still be wanting. I know I still would be. Your skills are outstanding.

Thanks so much!

YouTube shows average viewing lengths. They are a quite short. For this video the average retention is 4:45 and the video is almost 8 minutes long. Anything over 5 minutes it pushing it.

On trips like this there are other pressures as well that affect filming. I'm sharing the trip with other divers and there may be other boats around as well. I got some really awesome footage of a bumphead wrasse at a cleaning station. It allowed me to get close to capture the cleaners busily doing their work moving in and out of the gills. I had the wide angle lens and was also capturing the beautiful landscape of Batu Balong (A super popular site!). Just moments after hitting the record button 10 divers dropped in right on top of me and so there was a cascade of flailing hand swimmers and flutter kicking also featured in the scene! It was cut.

Also, being in a group, you have to stay mostly together. So this limits time on a given subject and the interference of other divers who have discovered you've found something. It's a battle field out there!

 

[stphnmartin]

Yep, Bali is still the gateway to Komodo/Labuan Bajo, until they finally extend the runway at Labuan Bajo when most likely you will see direct flights from Singapore, KL etc. Anyways, getting to Bali is pretty easy, enough flights going there. And enough flights between Bali and Labaun Bajo.

Luggage allowance on the smaller planes to Labuan Bajo is usually limited, but it's not expensive to take more. I think I paid like 10 USD to get my dive bag along.

It's not so much the cost but the weight prohibition on carry-ons. Carry-ons are limited to 7kilos. I had to talk them into letting me carry mine on at 13 kilos. It had my macbook, camera, lenses, housing and drone in it. They wanted me to check it, but it would have been destroyed!

 

[stphnmartin]

That is/was amazing! What drone do you have?

Can you speak some about the live aboard? Comfort...food...number of dives...how you got there and such please?

Thank you for sharing!

Forgot your first question. I have the DJI Phantom 4. All the gear is listed in the video description on YT.

 

[Tippytoes12]

That's a fabulous video and you are an extremely talented geographer. Personally I loves the length and the quick changes....all I can say is thanks so very much for sharing it.