DUSTIN ADAMSON

 Dustin Adamson's oceanshutter.com we used to offer us beautiful movies. He puts the cover back with an 2 th chapter in his series "Stay With Us".

We interviewed him for you.

What equipment do you currently use?

I use a 1D X Mark II gun, with a Nauticam casing. I also use different types of lighting such as Light and Motion, a XIT 404 tripod and a small HD monitor.

When did you start underwater videography?

I started about 6 years ago, I didn't know much about it. My wife Tyra, who is a fantastic underwater photographer, taught me the basics of photography when I was starting out, and then I trained on my own afterwards. It took me a little while and quite a bit of internet research to come up with an acceptable first result.

How did you conceive the concept of the "Stay With Us" series?

I was diving in Bali in the middle of August and I had just filmed a long-arm octopus. The light was just perfect, it was also my opening scene for the first episode. This octopus was very cooperative, he stayed in an ideal position for almost 10 minutes. I watched it through the viewfinder, I even wondered if Aliens could look like this. I had experimented before with different sound effects in my previous videos, and I knew for a fact that I wanted to use sound backgrounds on my macroscopic videos.

I've always enjoyed the sound effects in some Howard Hall movies. It is thanks to his films that all these ideas came to me and led me to the idea of ​​the “Stay With Us” concept.

When I got home I started editing right away (something I never do) and finish 1/3 of the movie in about a week. But it became more and more complex to match the sounds to the images, and my work gradually slowed down. It finally took me several months to finish the film.

The second part took between 6 to 7 months of work. Unfortunately, I had less free time to devote to editing, so it took longer to complete the job. I still have in mind to do “Stay With Us” 3 and make it a trilogy. The story is that of a diver who dives and discovers the marine universe for the first time. I think it is not certain to enjoy this kind of diving when diving for the first time. This series is precisely made to show this first apprehension, which can ultimately be transformed into something very fun, even addictive. It is also an educational experience; personally all this gives me immense joy.

Have you submitted "Stay With Us Part 2" to specialized (submarine) picture festivals?

I submitted it to a few festivals but I don't do as much as before. The film was recently tied with another film for first place at the San Diego Undersea Film Expo. One of my favorite festivals. We try to be there every year, but this year it was impossible for me. The film was also in pole position at the Turquoise Bay Film festival, which is also an honor. I plan to participate in other festivals.

What is your best memory while shooting "Stay With Us Part 2"? It was most definitely the opening sequence with the squid. I was in dark waters on the Solomon Islands with my wife and Greg Lecœur. This squid was swimming very fast and hit me on the chest. After that he stayed very close to me and that's when he started to send me ink, it was in the box!

When do you expect to finish part 3? Will you be using underwater fluorescence?

I hope to finish part 3 before the end of the year. But who knows maybe, I would be inspired again. I have never done underwater fluorescence and I am not planning this for this 3rd part.

What will be your next destination for diving?

I plan to go to Roatan in Honduras on 28 October 2017, we also plan to go to Palau at the end of January.