The Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society (LAUPS) has posted the winners of its 45th International Underwater Photographic Competition, and a number of Wetpixel members placed or earned honorable mentions.

The Best of Show was awarded to Mirko Zanni for a photograph taken from beneath an alpine lake. Winning images are currently available, and information about the judges and the judges’ comments will soon be posted on the LAUPS website.

Continue reading for a list of the winners - congratulations to all involved!

After skipping a year, Wetpixel is now considering running another trip to South Africa for the annual ocean safari (AKA “sardine run").  Tentative dates are June 23-July 7, 2008 (15 days, 14 days in the water).  The boat will have a maximum of 5 persons plus 1 skipper and 1 guide/DM.  All accommodations and meals are included, as well as tanks and weights.

You can read about the previous 2 year’s trips here:
[wetpixel 2006 trip] [wetpixel 2007 unofficial trip]

Cost will be approximately ZAR 39,000, or about USD $5700. We will need the full boat to go. 
Contact Eric Cheng, if you are interested!

Richard Vevers and Jayne Jenkins have dedicated the last few years to capturing the unique species that are encountered in the waters around Sydney, Australia, and their work is currently being featured from November 21 to December 2, 2007 in a free exhibition titled ‘Sydney Underworld.’ Including over twenty resin-coated portrait images, the exhibition was opened by Ron and Valerie Taylor and coincides with the launch of the Bondi Marine Discovery Experience.

View a preview of the exhibit at Underwater Australia, or continue reading for the full press-release. Remember that the exhibition closes December 2 - go see it now!

Join Eric Cheng (Wetpixel), Berkley White (Backscatter), Dan Baldocchi (Light & Motion), and Mary Lynn Price (DiveFilm) for the Bonaire Digital Shootout 2008!  From June 7-14 2008, we’ll work with you to improve your underwater photo and video skills.  Learn the latest digital imaging techniques from some of the industries top professionals while diving the rich waters of Bonaire.

Equipment sponsors Sea & Sea, Light & Motion, Ikelite, Ultralight, and Aquatica will have demo gear available for you to use, and at the end of the week, we’ll give out prizes for the best images and videos of the week!

Work from award-winning photographer Alex Kirkbride‘s book ”American Waters” will be featured in the first photographic exhibition at Plus One Gallery, located in London. Containing images from all fifty American states, the book was created over a three-year period, during which Kirkbride traveled 108,000 miles and entered the water 945 times to ”capture images expressive of American water from coast to coast.”

With a private viewing on December 4, 2007, the exhibit opens to the public on December 5, 2007, and runs through January 5, 2008. Continue reading for the full press release, or continue to Kirkbride’s website for more imagery from this impressive compilation…

To showcase the natural beauty of shark species, and in response to the worldwide shark-finning problem, the Protect the Sharks Foundation has created the International Shark Photo Exposition (ISPE).

An organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of sharks, the foundation collected unique shark images from underwater photographers including, but not limited to, Michele & Howard Hall, Jeremy Stafford Deitsch, Monique & Chris Fallows, Dan Blum, Rob Stewart, David Fleetham, Jeff Rotman, Paul Hilton, and Wetpixel’s Eric Cheng, for printing and display in 24"x20" frames.

The next exhibition of the ISPE will be from November 30 - December 2, 2007 at the North Sea Film Festival in the Hague, Netherlands. Download the ISPE brochure (2mb PDF) to read more about the exposition, or visit the Protect the Sharks Foundation to learn about other shark conservation projects…

DiveFilm Podcast Video is proud to feature a short film that received the prestigious F.F.C.V. (French Federation of Cinema and Video) Prize at the World Festival of Underwater Images in Antibes, France, “One For All” by Leandro Blanco (Episode 48). “This new work is a masterpiece of underwater film, and an inspiration to all of us who love the ocean,” said Mary Lynn Price, DiveFilm’s producer.  Stan Waterman lends his voice to the narration of the most recent release, while Blanco himself narrates the original.

“Green Water, White Mirth,” by California filmmaker Mike Boom, has also been released as Epsiode 10 of DiveFilmHD Podcast Video. An audience favorite at the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition, Boom’s video captures the curiosity and antics of juvenile harbor seals as they interact with divers, and was shot over only a single dive in Monterey.

DiveFilm Podcast Video is produced in association with Wetpixel.com and are “Featured High Definition Podcasts” and “Featured TV & Film Podcasts” at iTunes.

Today lens manufacturer Sigma announced two new fisheye lenses made specifically for cropped sensor digital cameras (such as the 1.5x cropped Nikons and 1.6x cropped Canons).  The first lens is a 10mm fisheye, yielding an approximate field of 180 degrees across the diagonal (only ~170 degrees on the Canon).  This lens focuses down to a staggering 1.8cm from the lens glass - so underwater photographers will need to be careful not get get lint or bugs in their dome ports - lest the lens refuses to focus past the dirt :-)

The second is a 4.5mm circular fisheye lens which yields a complete 180 degree circular field of view.  These lenses will be available in Nikon, Canon, and Sigma mounts, however, pricing and availability haven’t been announced yet.

Underwater Photography Magazine Issue 39 is now available for download. The issue contains articles by Wetpixel’s Alex Mustard, Peter Rowlands, Mark Webster, Don Silcock, Troy Maine and Scott Leslie on topics including compact cameras, diving in East Bali, Red Sea, the Bay of Fundy and the Shell Wildlife Competition.

UWP Magazine is a free PDF magazine, published every two months.

Issue #5 of the Underwater Journal, a free online magazine about the underwater world, is now available for download.  Readers can immerse themselves in photo-rich features such as the centerpiece focusing on the lovely mermaids of historical Weeki Wachee Springs in central Florida. Another article, “Freedom Divers”, is about how distinguished American war veterans use the underwater world to cope with their disabilities.

To subscribe or download issues of the Underwater Journal free of charge, go to underwaterjournal.com.