The British Splash-In Championship 2008, organised by the BSoUP in association with the National Marine Aquarium, will take place on Saturday 12 July at the Mount Batten Centre and the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, Devon. All underwater photographers are invited to participate.

There are two underwater photography competitions – digital images taken on the day in July and prints taken prior to the event. The closing date for the print competition is 21 May 2008. The grand prizes in each category, awarded by an independent panel of judges, are a one week liveaboard holiday in the Red Sea generously donated by Tony Backhurst Scuba and a one week Red Sea diving holiday generously donated by Oonasdivers. 

Aquatica has sent us photos and details of their new underwater housing for the Canon 1D/1Ds Mark III dSLR.

The Aquatica 1Ds Mark III Pro housing, machined from a single aluminum block, features a 100m/300ft depth rating, provides “fingertip access to all camera menu controls,” and is compatible with the Aquatica Megadome, AquaView finder, and new remote control cord.

Currently being field-tested, the housing is expected to ship shortly. Continue for the full press release and images…

The winning images from the Wetpixel & DivePhotoGuide 2nd annual DEEP Indonesia underwater photo competition have been formally announced at UnderwaterCompetition.com. Congratulations to Dale Sanders for winning the grand prize trip with his Best of Show Animal Behavior photograph of salmon collecting to spawn and harbor seal image awarded first place in Animal Portrait.

The winning images were exhibited at the DEEP Indonesia dive exposition in Jakarta, Indonesia. A special thanks to the generous sponsors, without which this competitions would not be possible. Good luck next year!

John McIntyre visits Djibouti to film feeding whale sharks. Images from Djibouti started winning photo competitions a couple of years ago; it seems like it’s quickly becoming the new whale shark capital of the world.

BBC offers the short program as streaming media. Be sure to watch all of it: marine biologist and Wetpixel member Fergus Kennedy is interviewed at the end of the program!

Wetpixel member Alessio has posted a list of leak and moisture alarms in his search to find one that can be retrofitted into his Sea & Sea DX-D70 underwater housing. If you have a third-party leak alarm installed in your housing, head on over to the thread and add to the list!

Leak alarms provide inexpensive, easy insurance against minor floods. If you have an expensive camera inside an underwater housing, you should definitely have some sort of leak alarm installed. It’s definitely saved me, in the past.

Wetpixel still has 3 2 spots available for our shark and dolphin expedition to the Bahamas this coming July 19-27, 2008. Join photographer Alex Mustard aboard the Shear Water, which provides the best possible opportunities for tiger shark and dolphin photography.

For more information and sample photos taken on expeditions to the Bahamas, see our trip information page.

The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) has posted the winning images from its 2008 Underwater Photography Contest.

The grand prize was awarded to Jerry Kane for his photograph of a humpback mother and offspring. Congratulations also to the familiar names of Wetpixel members who placed in the competition! Discuss the winning images in the competition thread...

The 2008 Asian Dive Exposition (ADEX) started today, April 18, 2008 and runs through April 20 in Singapore. The expo is open to industry and public visitors, and will feature the judging and display of winning images from the ADEX Photographer of the Year Competition.

Paul NG (paulwhng) is covering the show, and is looking to meet up with any Wetpixel members in attendance for lunch at 12:00 noon on Saturday, April 19 at the Trade Visitors’ Ticketing door. If you’re planning to be on the expo floor but want to meet at another time, for his contact details. Look forward to a full report here on Wetpixel in a few days!

The Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society (LAUPS) will be hosting Wetpixel member Bonnie Pelnar (underwatercolours) on April 16, 2008 at 7PM for a presentation on photographic composition for both underwater and topside applications. The talk will include new techniques to attempt and examples of winning photos from competitions with a look at why they were successful.

LAUPS generally meets on the third Wednesday of every month at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Visit the society’s website for more information about upcoming meetings and events…

In March, underwater photographer Martin Edge took possession of and reviewed one of the first Subal ND30 housings on the market for his Nikon D300 dSLR. As a pre-production version of the housing there were a few bumps to get through, but Edge felt the product was excellent:

Whilst I’ll endeavour to be impartial as I can, the influence that Nikon and Subal have had on my own photographic career cannot be ignored...for use underwater I recommend the Nikon D300 very highly and after using and reviewing the ND30, I am unable to identify any particular aspect of this housing which I believe could be improved upon.

Continue reading for the full review, with photos from the field and of the housing controls…