Freediving Into A Pocket Of Air Beneath a Seal Colony

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my Ocean Memos newsletter or signed up to receive updates on the Ocean Footage Mastery Program. To simplify things, I have combined both into one weekly newsletter called The Ocean Cinematographer. Expect to receive this newsletter every Sunday.

This “newsletter” might come in different forms - video-based vs text-based vs image-based - but all are designed to do the same job: deepen your relationship with the craft of image making, with the Ocean, and, in the process, with your Self.

In the first Ocean Cinematographer newsletter (video posted above). I take a trip out into False Bay near Cape Town, South Africa, with Steve Benjamin from Animal Ocean and filmmaker and cinematographer PJ Kotze.

Our primary plan was to hunt cape yellowtail, a fast-growing game fish that is also an excellent source of nutrition. Unfortunately, a cold upwelling had replaced the warm, clean water that had inspired the trip, and the fish were elusive. We did not land one.

My secondary goal was to loosely document the day, gathering just enough footage to make my very first expedition-style YouTube video. The great thing about going on an ocean safari is that you never know what you are going to find, and when your companion is Steve Benjamin, you can be sure there will be something of interest to experience.

All vehicle- and ocean-based footage was shot with a DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro or an Osmo Pocket 2. I ran both entirely on auto and used a selfie stick with the Action 5 Pro, which was crazily liberating compared to my RED DSMC2 systems in their much larger Nauticam Housings.

The following day, I recorded the intro and outro in my home studio, using the Panasonic BGH1 camera that had previously lived in my towcam, and cut the video together in Da Vinci Resolve Studio.

The vlog is rougher than a bushpig's ass - no colour grading, no music, all done by me for 100% accountability - but it’s a start. My goal is to create one a week, and share my progression and learnings along the way.

If you want to find people to serve with whatever it is you do, having an online presence across multiple social platforms is crucial. Every piece of content you create and post, assuming it’s done well and with the intention to serve, is a “multipass” for others to get access to your world, a smidgen of you they can ingest and mull over, even as you sleep.

I have no desire to build a massive online following, but I do want to find like-minded ocean souls who are passionate about living an intentional life deeply grounded in the Ocean.

Creating this oceanVlog end-to-end makes me greatly appreciate the skill of the value chain of experts - directors, producers, colourists, editors, musicians, presenters - that collectively author end blue-chip sequences I have worked on for the last fifteen years as a Wildlife Cinematographer.

It also underscores my tremendous respect for the one-person filmmakers out there who consistently produce notable short films. The ability to juggle all of the creative process required, combined with the grit to get it all done, is remarkable.

Thanks for subscribing and showing an interest in my work. I appreciate it. This newsletter will improve significantly over time as I find my voice, cadence, and a format that best delivers on the job the newsletter is mandated to do: deepen your relationship with the craft of image-making, with the Ocean, and with your Self.

I hope you got wet this weekend, and the weather for the week ahead is optimal.