DivePhotoGuide.com has posted the results of the first annual DivePhotoGuide Underwater Photo & Video Festival, which was held in Wakatobi, Indonesia from March 28 to April 15, 2008, and the trip report from the festival.

The diving was split between the Pelagian liveaboard and Wakatobi Resort, and Wetpixel member Victor Zucker (mrbubbles) won Best of Show/1st Place Macro and 1st Place in Wide Angle with photographs of a brilliantly colored crinoid and a scorpionfish on the reef, respectively. Continue to DivePhotoGuide.com for the full competition results and report…

Congratulations to moderator Cor Bosman and many other Wetpixel members for placing in the 2008 Underwater Images Competition! Cor’s photo of a lizardfish being cleaned by a goby took Best of Show at the contest this year. Underwater Images is a non-profit photo competition that donates proceeds to marine conservation and education.

All of the winners from this year’s competition can be found online at uwimages.org.

Wetpixel member Michael Patrick O’Neill (Michael) is proud to announce his latest books, Ocean Magic and Shark Encounters. Designed to encourage elementary school children to read and become involved in ocean conservation, both have “have received glowing reviews from School Library Journal, the leading reviewer of children’s books in the United States.”

Both Ocean Magic and Shark Encounters are available at Amazon. Both come in at under 50 pages and are full of marine images - continue to see their full covers…

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...