UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY COURSES
We teach you how to capture underwater video in the sunny, warm waters of Thailand. Most our courses are 1:1 student/teacher ratio (sometimes 2:1 on request) and our modular course system is designed to allow all levels of divers and videographers to enter, from beginners to advanced. Please find our course structure below and feel free to get in touch with us to check availability or if you have any more questions.
Is Thailand too far away? Don't worry, we also make YouTube videos where we break down how to shoot video underwater. Please head to our YouTube channel to learn more!
We have 2 location options for our courses, available at various parts of the year
Koh Tao
Similans
February - October
November - May
Situated in the beautiful Gulf of Thailand, Koh Tao is well known as a scuba diving destination with its tranquil calm waters providing divers with good conditions throughout most of the year.
Training courses here are run through doing 2 dives a day (usually morning dives to avoid the crowds) with editing/theory/review sessions in the afternoons.
This is comfortable resort style diving. Most divesites are max 45 minutes away, with a nice mix of deep pinnacles, wrecks & reefs.
Similans is well known to offer the best diving anywhere in Thailand, and they don't lie! With the best dive sites in Thailand on the menu combined with liveaboard diving, this course is more intense!
With up to 4 dives a day there's still time for lessons and editing sessions in the evenings, but expect to be fairly drained as the sun sets.
It's highly recommended to dive these liveaboard trips on nitrox!
In addition to Similans, there's also trips to South Andaman available.
FROM
7.000 THB/day
40.000 THB/4 days
approx. $200/day
approx. $1100/4 days
Includes 2 dives/day, any dive equipment needed & training fees
Not included are accommodation, transportation or tips
Includes 4 nights in standard quad cabin, 14 dives, food, drinks, transportation to/from airport/hotel & training fees
Not included are nitrox fees, equipment rental or tips
COURSE MODULES
You might find it easier choosing modules after a chat with us, but feel free to read up on the descriptions below to help you make your choices.
(Number of days/dives per module is suggestive, we all learn at our own pace)
UNDERWATER VIDEO BASICS
We all have to start somewhere, and this course is designed for the beginners in mind. You might already own an underwater camera setup like an action camera or compact, but don't yet possess the knowledge on how to get good footage underwater. Through this two day course we teach you all you need to get started with underwater videography, such as housing setup and safety, color settings, dive skills, basic buoyancy and more. Expect to have your video skills dramatically improved in a short amount of time!
Course duration: 2 days Dives: 4 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
EXPOSURE & VIDEO FEATURES
There are many video related camera skills that is important to master for underwater shooters. Although a lot of camera technology is moving towards automatic features, most of them have yet to surpass the advantages of using manual settings to improve your images. This course teaches the values of understanding exposure, focus and video settings to help you produce a better image.
Please be aware that if you are currently shooting on a action camera or point & shoot setup, most of the course curriculum won't apply to those cameras. Hence this course is more tailored towards compact, mirrorless or dedicated video camera shooters where manual settings is available.
Course duration: 2 days Dives: 4 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
AIR CONSUMPTION & BUOYANCY
If you find yourself to be a better shooter than you are a diver, you might wanna brush up on your dive skills! The more time you spend in the water learning new skills, the better you will become. Learning good air consumption is quite crucial for extending the time you may spend underwater. Other skills covered in this course include improving your buoyancy, trim and finning techniques.
Course duration: 1 days Dives: 2 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
LIGHT & COLOR
One of the things that can really make or break your shots is color and having a good understanding of how light behaves underwater is the best way to improve on the quality of your underwater footage. In this course we look at both ambient sunlight and artificial light and the pros and cons of each one. Gaining a complete understanding of how to use light to your advantage is one of the most rewarding and important steps towards mastering underwater videography.
Course duration: 1 days Dives: 2 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
COMPOSITION & FRAMING
What is a good composition? What are the rules that we follow, and why do they exist? And when do you stop following them?
These are questions that can almost be described as a process. Learning about composition is very important and as you gain an understanding of it, you end up with a different mindset on how to capture your subjects. You will also learn how composition and framing relates to motion when capturing video and how it all ties together with the next part of the course, cinematic motion.
Course duration: 2 days Dives: 4 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
CINEMATIC MOTION
Understanding motion and video is actually fairly complicated, but should appear almost invisible to anyone watching your final videos. It's all about making things feel natural with how your subject is framed, and putting it all together into a shot that makes your audience appreciate what they are watching. This is perhaps my favourite course to teach as it both builds upon many of the previous lessons learned while also being the most challenging part to master.
Course duration: 2 days Dives: 4 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar
MACRO VIDEOGRAPHY
Capturing the tiny critters of the sea requires a few things; an eye for details, a macro setup and a lot of patience. Although you quickly realize that there are far more tiny creatures around that you might have realized before, finding them takes time and capturing them can be very challenging. In this course we focus on tripod use, shooting techniques, lighting and the balance of manual exposure to obtain the best looking images possible.
Course duration: 2 days Dives: 4 Pre-requisite: Advanced Open Water Diver or similar