20,000 Liters Under Tennant Lake

Last night our Couples Group went to Hovander Park and Tennant Lake in Ferndale. Tennant Lake is a remarkable park where they've built wooden boardwalks through a very dense wetland area. It's fascinating to walk through and see a marsh from this unique perspective.

But I wanted to see the lake from an even more unique perspective - from under the water!

To that end, during this trip I tried out my new invention;
Camera-On-A-Stick!
This is basically a camera in a waterproof enclosure that's been stuck to the end of a pole along with a Zebralight. I put the camera (my trusty Canon SD10 "Adventure Camera") into video mode and dunked it into the muck.

I was completely blind as to what I might be filming, or if it was even working. The footage, although clearly revolutionary, I'll admit, is not spectacular. I've added a little of William Shatner's crooning to help make the video more palatable.

The exceptionally observant observer may be able to spot three fish, a water bug (from below), myself, Taylor Swedberg's pointing finger, and a triceratops:



Things I've learned from this experiment:

1. What I thought were slow, smooth movements translated into quick, herky-jerky footage. I will have to be more careful and hold still more if I do this again.
   
2. A shorter pole would have helped as this long one had trouble getting caught on the above-water foliage.
3. The water in the marsh is much clearer than I expected, as long as you don't stir it up too much.
4. My SD10 locks the exposure when you start taking video; A camera that would continuously adjust exposure would be a huge benefit.
5. Zebralights are awesomely versatile headlamps.
6. William Shatner's singing can take anything from weak to WOW! Even videos of the bottom of a swamp!