Snapping Over-Under Water Shots Using A GoPro Dome
Snapping Over-Under Water Shots Using A GoPro Dome I was always pretty envious of those people who took such cool looking over-under/split water shots in perfectly clear water with tropical fish below and an empty, tropical, pristine beach above. Foolishly, while in St. Thomas, I attempted to capture such images with just my GoPro. The results left a lot to be desired (something about the curvature of the water I forgot about). At any rate, I quickly learned about waterproof GoPro domes. After a lot of research, I decided to go with the best – the 6″ Knekt dome port. Expensive as it was, I was heading to the Galapagos and Thailand and needed something new to add to my arsenal. The Basics – What’s a Dome and How Do I Assemble It? Obviously, you need a GoPro to start with. I use the Hero4 Silver, which does everything I need it to do (I don’t ask much from it). Next, while in the GoPro housing, you simply pop the GoPro housing into the back of the Knekt dome, secure it evenly into place, and screw the camera down securely with a metal plate. Sounds simple enough, but strangely I’ve always had problems with the simple things. For me, getting the rectangular viewer on the GoPro housing to fit perfectly into the dome is a problem without it tilting slightly up or down (and therefore cropping a bit of my shot since the corners of the frame turned a little clack). And for the life of me I can’t get the metal plate on easily with the screw. It’s a tight fit and the screw will only screw in cockeyed for some reason. Sigh. An o-ring seal keeps water out of the dome and I’m sure I’ll mess that up somehow in the future. The dome, itself, is made of glass. As I found out the hard way, it’s easily scratched. You need to keep it clean (inside and out) and I recommend getting a better cover than the one provided to store it in. Next you need something to mount the dome on. I use the Knekt Trigger, which is just what it sounds like. You can hold the GoPro in the dome like a gun, and just pull the trigger when you want to start/stop a video or take a picture. It’s simply and awesome. You can use it with or without the dome. It always gets a lot of attention from people passing by. Plus, it allows you to toggle between shooting modes without using the GoPro app, an expensive smart remote, or needing to take the camera out of the dome. Finally, with all this expensive gear, I don’t suggest you take it into the ocean without a wrist strap/tether. Gear Recap GoPro Hero4 Silver GoPro Housing (Comes with your GoPro) Knekt Dome Knekt Trigger Knekt Dome Cover Knekt Wrist Tether The Challenge – Getting a Useable Shot There are many variables to take into account that can ruin what could have been a great shot. First – water droplets. Water obviously can and will gather on the dome. The problem is, a lot of time this renders the shot unusable. I find myself constantly spitting on the dome to clean it and blowing off any loose water droplets. Sometimes I’ll towel dry it off. This is all very easy in a pool, but in the open sea it’s obviously much more difficult. Second – dust, dirtiness, dried water. Remember, you’ll be shooting through two objects – your GoPro case and the dome. Either one of these could be dirty and affect your shot. Third – wrong angles. You typically need the water to come halfway up the dome. This vertical challenge isn’t too difficult. The problem is, if you tilt the dome up or down, the objects won’t be the same size above and below, meaning it’ll distort the split. Best results occur when the dome is exactly perpendicular to the water. Any slight angle up or down ruins pretty good shots. Fourth – choppy water. Again, in a pool this isn’t a problem. But in open water you’ll be struggling to get that water even across the dome. Sometimes it’ll look better at an angle, but most times the unevenness of the water will ruin a shot. It’s best to shoot on burst mode, therefore, which is something I always seem to forget to do. The Results – Why You Buy It When done correctly, it’s simply magic. Do you use a GoPro dome port? Please let me know your experience.
What I Pack for Adventures
What I Pack for Adventures Everyone asks me what I take with me on my glorious adventures. Ok, sorry, no one asks me what I take on my touristy trips where I pretend to be some crazy explorer. But just in case people ever DO ask me what I take with me, here is a list. 1. Various currency from multiple countries. Important because you never really do know where the airplane will drop you off (unless you read your ticket and/or signs). Crucial in those moments when only Egyptian currency can be used to pay off the Nigerian man shaking you down in Guatemala. 2. Maasai lion-killing club (called a “rungu”). Because lions are dangerous. Duh. 3. Dirty GoPro Hero4 case. Used to keep most shots that I take with my GoPro sufficiently cloudy or blurry. 4. GoPro Hero4. Used to take wide angle photos that I say I’ll crop and never do. Also used to take long underwater videos of virtually nothing that take up lots of memory space on my desktop computer. 5. Gant watch with battery that hasn’t worked since 2013. Important in case I need to go out to a fancy dinner. Whenever anyone asks for the time I pull out my cell phone and tell them the battery on my watch just died that day. 6. Perfectly clean GoPro Hero4 case that I’ve never used. 7. Sigma 50mm lens for Canon. A really good lens that I can’t recommend enough. It creates an impressive bokeh effect and, more importantly, allows me to sound pretentious when I tell people it creates an impressive bokeh affect. 8. GoPro pole that broke when I took it to the Caribbean. I still keep it around because if you hold it just at the right angle, the screw piece will stay in place and the camera can stay still without titling up or down. If the screw piece falls out I run the risk of losing the camera. So, uh, yeah, I still use it (carefully) in certain situations. 9. Snorkel. For breathing, obviously. Used underwater (mostly). 10. Canon 50D with a lens I paid a lot of money for but is way cheaper if you buy it now. 11. Left-hand machete. Used to clear brush (not to kill jungle attackers). 12. Nikon camera. It’s not a Canon so I refuse to use it. 13. GoPro junior chesty. Used once in Prague while attached to my two-year-old daughter to capture 45 seconds of shaky footage of people’s feet in a church in Prague. 14. Worlds to Explore. A legitimately good book that I insist on reading one day. 15. National Geographic backpack. Perhaps the greatest camera bag ever – no joke. 16. Right-hand machete. Used to kill jungle attackers (not to clear brush). 17. Old Canon camera that makes me look like a connoisseur of cameras. 18. Octomask with attachment for a GoPro. Like my GoPro pole, it broke when I took it to the Caribbean. Unlike my GoPro pole, I can no longer pretend to attach a GoPro to it. 19. Lowe carrying case for GoPro cameras. Used to keep cash and memory cards (not cameras) that I can never find because they are so well hidden in this case that I always forget I only use to hide cash and memory cards. 20. Camera used to make me look like a hipster millennial douchebag. 21. Camera remote control. Used to take photos of my entire family without having to rely on some tourist who is bound to mess it up. It’s got a sweet rapid fire button that’s important to have when I frantically and unknowingly start clicking the button while watching my cheap and lightweight tripod (in garbage now) fall over in the wind. The photo sequence of an expensive camera falling to the ground is priceless (well, like, $2000 actually). 22. Lens, macro I think. Never used. 23. Expensive viewer that attaches to a GoPro Hero4. I have used it once and was very unimpressed at the poor picture quality. I have gone back to guessing at where I’m pointing the camera and hoping I get everything and everyone into the frame. 24. Lens, telephoto I think. Never used. 25. Underwater lens for the GoPro. Was supposed to make it easier to see the blue water underneath the surface. Key words are: “supposed to.” 26. External hard drive. For the burst photos I take of nothing but don’t have the heart to erase. 27. This is a lens, of course. Is it bad I have no idea what it is or what it’s intended for?