Never under estimate the power of a compliment

Todays post is another underwater video but I want to touch more on how I came across the opportunity to film the reefs of arguably the best diving area in South East Asia and one of certainly the top 10 dive destinations on the planet - Raja Amphat.

I have always used Vimeo as my preferred platform to upload videos (although ironically this video is from Youtube). I choose vimeo over Youtube mostly because it's a place where video professionals showcase their work, where to me Youtube is a place where people upload a school yard fight or a cat falling off the chair when startled by a cucumber. Don't get me wrong - I love Youtube for entertainment value and of course I also have a channel there, but if I'm looking for inspiration or to connect with other film makers - I head to Vimeo.

So one day I made a few comments on the work of a remarkable Indonesian editor - his videos were slick and beautifully filmed. In turn he checked out my underwater work and was equally complimentary of my work which was nice - just standard protocol on Vimeo. A few weeks later however, I get a private message from this same person - he has just been awarded a contract with the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism to film all over the country for several months in order to collect content for an upcoming World Expo event and would I be interested in running all the underwater shoots? Ummmmm - guess my answer....:)

Well what followed was the possibly the greatest 2 months I have ever spent diving and travelling. I was chaperoned around Indonesia, solo diving the greatest dive sites the country has to offer, every dive with a private guide. The negotiated payment for the footage was not huge and I made a deal that I would retain rights to the footage which is why later I was able to then use it for Earth Touch Wild Oceans episodes. It wasn't about the money - it was more the chance to once again do what I love and not be out of pocket at the end.

This particular episode is footage from Raja Amphat which is in the far east of Indonesia in the region of West Papua. Water clarity is superb and the sheer amount of bio diversity on the reefs is astonishing.

I hope you enjoy this episode of Wild Oceans and like always - if you would like to ask me about any of the marinelife in this film or more info about how and where to dive in Raja Amphat then please leave comments below.

To summarize - never under estimate the power of a compliment to a stranger on Social Media - you just never know what may come back!