There are few things I love more than shooting people… underwater! When I am home in North Florida by the crystalline underwater springs, I love to arrange private photo experiences for interested divers or teams. For some people, it is a chance to learn more about underwater photography. For others, it gives them a beautiful portfolio of shots to share with friends. I also arrange to shoot professional video content for teams and individuals who want some HD footage they will treasure. I can accommodate teams of up to three divers in the cave and more if we are shooting…
If you have a GoPro camera, you’ll already be amazed at the quality of footage that can be produced by this tiny package. The two single greatest tips for shooting high quality video is to hold the camera steady and use lots of quality light. Many cave divers mouth their GoPro on their helmet, but this generally leads to frenetic video that induces seasickness in anyone that wants to watch your footage. Divers simply move their heads around too much as they look around the environment. To solve these two issues, Light & Motion has manufactured a compact tray system…
My first primary light for cave diving was so heavy I had to mount it on two large D-rings and hang it from the bottom of my tanks. The bulky rectangular housing concealed two large sealed lead acid batteries. A hefty cord lead to a metal light head that could double as a sledgehammer. One day it switched on in the van and burned a hole in the carpet before I could get it shut off. I used to wait to the very last moment possible before turning the light on, well into the cavern zone, trying to save every…
I’m so proud to announce that my husband Robert McClellan has released his first book. It has been a real journey of discovery for him. I recall the day almost eight years ago, when he expressed the desire to share his story. The revelations he shares in Boom Baby Boom represent a lifetime of challenge, discovery and hard knocks. We’ve been married for seven years and he has been an incredible asset to Heinerth Productions as a writer, producer and talented audio engineer. We’re both explorers in life, but his unique social perspective was formed on the working class streets of Philadelphia,…
Dr. Simon Mitchell of New Zealand, recently conducted a study that will no doubt rock diver’s understanding of their pre-breathe sequence. The study has not yet been published, but Mitchell felt it was important enough to present a preview at Eurotek last weekend in Birmingham, England. He also posted to CCR Explorers today. He says: I presented two studies at Eurotek. The first aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the 5 minute prebreathe in evaluation of CO2 scrubber function prior to diving a rebreather. This has been a controversial subject and we sought to gather some definitive data. Since this…
ALERT DIVER, the prestigious and excellent publication of Divers Alert Network recently reached out to me with some questions about how I view dive safety. Establishing a culture of dive safety is of great importance to dive leaders and is central to Divers Alert Network’s mission. They’ll be sharing these thoughts and those of other experts in coming issues of their magazine. ALERT DIVER: Recreational diving culture; what does it mean to you? JILL HEINERTH: Sport diving is a community made up of many different subcultures. These small groups of divers are knitted together by their shop, club, charter operator…
This message is a universal one. Every diver should know how to embrace fear to survive. In this short nine minute video I describe life lessons that have helped me face the...
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The Ambit 2S Sport Watch Suunto has provided Team Sedna with Ambit 2S GPS fitness watches to track our journey through the Arctic. These advanced devices are used by athletes around the world to track their fitness, journeys and adventures. This particular version of the Ambit is specially designed to fit women’s narrower wrists yet provides full features of the watch. The Ambit has become an open source craze among computer savvy athletes. The data can be repurpose using community shared apps. Clever programmers have created apps such as a cupcake counter, letting a runner know how many cupcakes they…
Taking On New Skills Technical diving and specifically, rebreather diving, is a continual learning process. If we closely examine how we learn, we can better prepare for the pitfalls associated with each stage of the learning process. Gordon Training International is popularly considered to be the originator of the conscious competence model, which describes the steps of learning any new skill. This model is particularly applicable to rebreather diving. The model describes the first stage of learning as “unconscious/incompetent” or “unconscious-unskilled.” This stage describes the rebreather diver on his or her first day of class; they are unaware of the…