Extreme Bat Cave! at DVinfo.net

Steven Dempsey · January 12th, 2008, 08:11 PM

On a recent vacation to New Mexico, my family and I visited the famed Carlsbad Caverns. The caves are selectively lit by spots but overall the light level was extremely dim.

Being the crazy person I am, I opted to shoot with the Extreme on my XHA1. The light was so absurdly low, I had to set the shutter speed to something looney like 1/6th which gave lots of motion blur trails. I was also shooting both handheld and with my Bogen 562B monopod.

This is more experimental than my usual stuff in terms of the atmosphere and the shots...

Anyway, enough of all the superfluous explanation, let's get on with the show:

http://www.pinelakefilms.com/carlsbad.html

Russ Motyko · January 13th, 2008, 01:29 AM

Hey Steven,

Why did you decide to go with the Extreme? Without it you could have opened up wider and there were only two or three shots where the shallow DOF seemed to make a difference or any sort of impact.

Was it for aesthetic reasons? I remember you saying that you liked the way your footage looked with the Extreme on the Yellowstone footage.

Thanks

Steven Dempsey · January 13th, 2008, 01:05 PM

Because I seem to capture something uniquely magical and special when I have the Letus attached, I'm hesitant to take it off these days. This is the first time I've been to the caves so I didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be lit more so it was darker than I anticipated. It was too late to take the Extreme off at that point.

Frankly, I like the almost ghost-like feel of the imagery.

Steven Dempsey · January 13th, 2008, 01:10 PM

For those who care, I redid some of the edit and did a bunch of work on the soundtrack and replaced the file. Thanks for taking a look.

Robert Huber · January 13th, 2008, 02:59 PM

I loved the effect. And not a spec of grain!

Stu Siegal · January 13th, 2008, 09:32 PM

Wow, looks really clean on this end, same on a hd monitor? Was this vividrgb, or a lowlight setting?

James R. Leong · January 17th, 2008, 08:57 PM

Nice! Reminds me of all those old "Journey to the Center of the Earth/Mars/Moon type movies, although this looks more spooky/mysterious.

January 12th, 2008, 08:11 PM	#1
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Extreme Bat Cave! On a recent vacation to New Mexico, my family and I visited the famed Carlsbad Caverns. The caves are selectively lit by spots but overall the light level was extremely dim. Being the crazy person I am, I opted to shoot with the Extreme on my XHA1. The light was so absurdly low, I had to set the shutter speed to something looney like 1/6th which gave lots of motion blur trails. I was also shooting both handheld and with my Bogen 562B monopod. This is more experimental than my usual stuff in terms of the atmosphere and the shots... Anyway, enough of all the superfluous explanation, let's get on with the show: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/carlsbad.html __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

January 13th, 2008, 01:29 AM	#2
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	Reason for Extreme? Hey Steven, Why did you decide to go with the Extreme? Without it you could have opened up wider and there were only two or three shots where the shallow DOF seemed to make a difference or any sort of impact. Was it for aesthetic reasons? I remember you saying that you liked the way your footage looked with the Extreme on the Yellowstone footage. Thanks

January 13th, 2008, 01:05 PM	#3
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Because I seem to capture something uniquely magical and special when I have the Letus attached, I'm hesitant to take it off these days. This is the first time I've been to the caves so I didn't know what to expect. I thought it would be lit more so it was darker than I anticipated. It was too late to take the Extreme off at that point. Frankly, I like the almost ghost-like feel of the imagery. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

January 13th, 2008, 01:10 PM	#4
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	For those who care, I redid some of the edit and did a bunch of work on the soundtrack and replaced the file. Thanks for taking a look. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

January 13th, 2008, 09:32 PM	#6
Stu Siegal Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Boston Posts: 151	Wow, looks really clean on this end, same on a hd monitor? Was this vividrgb, or a lowlight setting? __________________ www.stusiegal.com

January 13th, 2008, 02:59 PM	#5
Robert Huber Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 40	I loved the effect. And not a spec of grain!

January 17th, 2008, 08:57 PM	#7
James R. Leong Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 81	Nice! Reminds me of all those old "Journey to the Center of the Earth/Mars/Moon type movies, although this looks more spooky/mysterious.