Continuing with the Underwater Cameraman Series, this time I’m presenting Marcelo Rodrigues, a biologist that started with scuba diving during his biology thesis and became a passion since then. Marcelo works as a videographer and travels around the world whenever he can, filming the underwater world. Thank you Marcelo for the interview, I’m looking forward to your next diving video in Maldives.

 

Cameraman: Who are you and what do you do?

Marcelo: I’m a biologist with a master’s degree in ecology. At this time I work mainly as a videographer, producing all kind of videos, from corporate to TV commercials.

Cameraman: How and why did you become a diver?

Marcelo: During the last couple of years at the university, I became more involved with marine biology and started a series of expeditions to Rocas Atoll (160 mi off the NE Brazilian coast). Later, the theme of my thesis was about the territorial behavior of an endemic damselfish (Stegastes Rocasensis), and because of the research methodology (line transects, grid sampling, etc) I had to start scuba diving. Rocas is a marine protected area and every 20 days there is an exchange of researchers teams. The first time I scuba dived was there, I rented 12 scuba tanks, an old Aqualung regulator at mainland and borrowed a back plate from Rodrigo Leão. I wasn’t even certified and a friend of mine told me: the most important thing you should do is not to hold your breath during ascent. Everything went fine.

Cameraman: How you got started doing underwater videos.

Marcelo: After I got my Masters I moved to the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and became partner in a small studio filming touristic dives. We started using Sony Hi-8 cameras on Gates housings and later a Sony VX1000. It was pretty busy, almost all the videos were same day edit, and sometimes there were more than a dozen clients per day. But as I’m a lousy businessman it didn’t last more than a year.

Cameraman: What happened afterwards?

Marcelo: I left Noronha and spent almost 10 years without diving! Different life style, different group of friends, I don/t know… Several things contributed to this long hiatus, I quit biology and joined the advertising business. I started to dive again and decided to experience as many live aboard as I could. I’ve done this for two years so far and I’m trying to do at least four per year.

 

Cameraman: And what video equipment do you take with you? Tell me about your favorite lenses.

Marcelo: When I’m away from home, no matter if it’s a business or a vacation trip, I always take my 5D mark II, 14mm 2.8L II, 24-70mm 2.8L, 100mm 2.8L II and the Aquatic housing.
When I bought my equipment I thought that the 14mm would be my preferred lens, but I ended up using the 24-70mm more often.

Cameraman: Tell me about your experience using the Aquatica housing and what other equipment do you use.

I use the Canon 5D Mark II with the Aquatica housing. I use a macro and a wide angle mega dome, the 8″ acrylic dome (which I take when trying to travel light or with just one pelican case) and 2 Sola 600 lights. The 5D is a fantastic camera when used with the Aquatica housing because it gives you full control over its power.

Cameraman: Do you think that some of the best shots come from accidents and improvisation?

Marcelo: Probably yes, so far I’ve been trying to get lucky. For example during one dive at Belize, I decided to go in a different direction from everyone else, and there he was, reef’s grandpa, the huge loggerhead that you can see at the final take of the Belize video.

 

Cameraman: Tell me about one of the most challenging experience you’ve had while shooting?

Marcelo: I wish I had my camera when I drifted for 22 hours and was rescued by the Brazilian Navy after being found by the air force 60km from the island of Noronha, LOL.

Cameraman: Do you have any other dive trip coming soon?

I’m planning to go to a live aboard at the Maldives.

Cameraman: Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Marcelo: I’d like to say that I’m a beginner and I wish, as everyone reading this right now that I could dive more often.

Cameraman: Thank you Marcelo!

Marcelo’s blog: HeyDudeCheckThisOut.com
You can follow him on Twitter: Twitter.com/MRodrigues_1
More videos here: Vimeo.com/marcelorodrigues

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