Indonesia 2009

[Neptune7]

It is time to start a new thread.
Since a few of us are going to Lembeh before Raja Ampat, I choose to name the thread Indonesia rather than Raja Ampat.
I am leaving tomorrow for Manado. First a week at Lembeh Divers Lodge and then Raja Ampat.
Scubagirl and David White already left for Indonesia. I am suppose to meet them in Lembeh. The rest of the gang, including the Birman himself, should be in Manado by the 31st or Nov 1st then we all fly to Sorong to board the MSY Seahorse.

David and I are video guys so it would be suprising to post any picture but at least we will keep you posted. I don't know if Scubagirl is taking pictures. If so, we will use hers.
We should be able to report late next monday.


Pierre

[nhdivenut]

Have fun you guys! I dove Manado/Lembeh last December and loved it! See you in Manado on 31October.
brandy

[scubagirl]

Jackie and I are here at Diver's Lodge; we just arrived this afternoon, completely jet-lagged. I'm sure you'll be hearing from David soon, Pierre.

I'll try to post photos when I get around to taking some

Natalie

[Jonathan Bird]

Good idea Pierre! I would like to point out that for you video guys who like to capture footage in the field (Neptune!), you can get a very nice still frame from HDV for the web if you just want to post a couple shots of the action without having to edit and create a movie!

HDV is 1440x1080 with non-square pixels. That means they cut down the number of pixels on the horizontal axis to make the files smaller. When it's played back, the 1440 is interpolated to 1920 to create the right aspect ratio. It creates a small issue in making a still frame with the right aspect, but it's easy to fix.

To make a nice web frame, first export a still frame from FCP by putting the marker on a frame in the timeline, then selecting Export>Quicktime Conversion>Still Frame. Open the resulting file in photoshop. Resize it to 1920x1080 (you have to unclick the "constrain proportions" button so you can resize only one dimension). Now you have a proper aspect 16:9 image.

If there is a lot of motion in the image, you will see the "combing" effect of the two fields because there was 1/60 second in between them. No problem. Go to Filter>Video>De-interlace and select "interpolation". Now the combing will be gone, with a small loss in vertical resolution (it basically throws out one field and interpolates it from the other).

Now you can re-click the constrain proportions button and shrink the image to a size suitable for the web, such as 640x360. Post here. Voila, you are done. Sounds complicated but only takes about 30 seconds.

Jonathan

[Jonathan Bird]

Just as an example, this image came from HDV.

[Jonathan Bird]

Originally Posted by scubagirl

Jackie and I are here at Diver's Lodge; we just arrived this afternoon, completely jet-lagged.

Natalie, I'm jealous! Have fun! Please say hi to Rob and Linda for me!

[Neptune7]

Cannot post anything because my luggage got lost in Singapore. I am in Lembeh with nothing. I can't dive, I can't shoot video, I am depressed.
Pierre

[tarczy]

Originally Posted by Neptune7

Cannot post anything because my luggage got lost in Singapore. I am in Lembeh with nothing. I can't dive, I can't shoot video, I am depressed.
Pierre

Ahhhh . . . Mon Ami . . . cheer up . . . Singapore Airport operations are very sophisticated. If you saw, or claimed your luggage in Singapore, actually verifying the luggage did indeed arrive in Singapore, then you should probably get your lost luggage the very next day.

The real bummer would be if your luggage never left Canada. I had the same thing happen on my last trip to Indonesia. Apparently, weight is a critical issue on those loooong overseas flights and when the plane is overweight, they take off containers full of luggage in order for the plane to make weight. Fortunately, I scheduled a two day layover in Singapore, so my luggage was able to catch up with me one day later.

Hope it works out for you.

Mark

[walsh2000]

I plan to post some photos from the Sea Horse live aboard in Raja Ampat. But, for starters, I wanted to wish all of the other folks happy flights home while I hang out at Divers Lodge Lembeh for 5 additional days in Indonesia.

After completing our Raja diving yesterday (Nov 12), I managed to make the flight to Manado and squeeze in a night dive on the house reef at Divers Lodge Lembeh... not bad for the first dive... see photo...

-mike-

[Jonathan Bird]

Mike, you are a mad man!! Bob and I are still sitting here in the airport in Singapore waiting for our flight to Heathrow and you have already done a dive in Lembeh and posted a blue ringed octo! NICE!!

This reminds me. Some of you may remember that in my Lembeh trip last year, the only thing I didn't see that I wanted was a Wonderpus. Well, at our last two dive sites in Raja Ampat, we did muck dives and look what Natalie found all by herself: