A different approach to night diving

[klemens Gann]

[acelockco]

Very cool, how did you get the footage to look like that? Special lighting? Special camera settings?

[The Publisher]

Klemens, that rocked!

I see ctenophores and salps all the time in the Pinas....everyone just swims right by them, I want to get footage of them! I am glad at least someone else appreciates them too! I guess I am not so weird after all...well, maybe, lol.

[klemens Gann]

Hi Dave,
yes after a while you get bored with the stereotype stuff which everyone films and there is so much more out there, always overlooked. The salps are not always around, I found them to be seasonal, but if you don't get them there is still yellies and other weird stuff in the blue. As people tell me the video is spooky and alien like I guess we both weird after all...sorry for that but I guess you live quite well being so, lol.

[klemens Gann]

All the footage is filmed during night dive off the wall in free water so the black background comes natural. For lights I use 2 Kowalski diving torches with flood reflector 50W Halogen each.

[The Publisher]

The first time I saw a colinial salp in the Pinas, I was diving at the bottom of the wall at Alona beach on Panglao Island.

I was macro videotaping the tiny commensal crabs on the fans, and this thing came into the footage that messed it up, I looked up and it was gone.... several a mintues later, it was back, this time it got stuck on the seafan I was at, so of course I had to get footage of that, as well as it eventually freeing itself.

I wonder how individual animals come to find each other, and how do they communicate to engage in coordinated locomotion? Tie 50 humans together in a chain gang and see how fast they can run together! Not easy! Now muffle them so none can verbally communicate...now remove eyesight, and you have a salp!

[Jon Shaw]

That's great... soundtrack is awesome too.

Were you all handheld or did you mount the cam on a tripod?
Really liked it.

Jon

[klemens Gann]

Hi Jon,
thanks a lot for the comments.
They were all handheld as the shots were taken in free water.