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Eric Cheng speaks to Wildlife Photographers of Silicon Valley Photo

Eric Cheng speaks to Wildlife Photographers of Silicon Valley

On September 18th, Wetpixel owner Eric Cheng had the opportunity to speak to the Wildlife Photographers of Silicon Valley (WPSV) at their monthly dinner meeting. Eric discussed the role of software in photography and how to leverage it in one’s work, supplementing his talk with photographs of sharks, whales, and dolphins taken on some of his many trips.

Overheard comments after Eric Cheng’s presentation at the meeting included the following:

What an amazing opportunity…to be able to shoot big stuff and have a guide to show you where it is and when it’s coming…as in the Bahamas and Tonga images.
...
Eric is easy to just walk up and speak to about any subject…and it’s great to have a “go-to” person when you don’t have the answers yourself. He seems to grasp from where I’m coming, so I don’t have to spend a half-hour giving background on my capabilities.

The talk was well received by the nearly fifty people in attendance. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out the WPSV website for information about membership and to see a list of upcoming speakers.
 

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Nexus announces Fiber Optic Sync Ports and 45° Viewfinder Photo

Nexus announces Fiber Optic Sync Ports and 45° Viewfinder

Nexus has announced a new type of fiber optic sync port to allow for TTL functionality with their Nikon D80, D200, and Canon 5D housings (when used with compatible Sea & Sea or Inon strobes).

Additionally, Nexus Nikon D200, D2X, D80, Canon 5D, and 1DsMkII housings are now compatible with the new Inon 45-degree viewfinder.

Continue reading for photos and more information…

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Dozens of new products announced at Photokina 2006 Photo

Dozens of new products announced at Photokina 2006

Photokina 2006 has unleashed dozens of new photography products.  Instead of attempting to cover everything here, I’d like to point you to DPReview’s excellent, live coverage of the event.

Specific products that will interest the underwater photography crowd include: Nikon N80, Canon 400D, Sigma SD14, and Fuji FinePix S5 Pro digital SLRs, Olympus Stylus 725 SW waterproof compact camera (and lots of new compact cameras), Canon media storage M80 and M30 units (competes with Epson P4000 and newly-announced P5000), 4GB SDHC cards and 12/16GB Compact Flash cards (even more bottom time before card swaps!), and much more.

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Help us host DiveFilm’s Podcasts Photo

Help us host DiveFilm’s Podcasts

Hello, Wetpixel readers!  Due to its popularity, DiveFilm is looking for help to host some of its video podcasts.  Each podcast is 12-40MB, and we are looking for donations of server space and bandwidth for archiving of older episodes.

DiveFilm is an independent production created by Mary Lynn Price.  For more information on how you can help, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Smoothing video with Apple’s Shake Photo

Smoothing video with Apple’s Shake

Wetpixel member Jules (Helioxfilm) has posted an example of using Shake‘s “Smoothcam” node to smooth out underwater video.  Of course, there is no replacement for smooth camera work, but the example is really compelling!

Shake is $499 and has more features than most of us know what to do with.

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A Diver’s Guide to Reef Life by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari Photo

A Diver’s Guide to Reef Life by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari

Associate editors of FiNS Dive Magazine Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have released a new book titled A Diver’s Guide to Reef Life!

The 478-page reference guide details 1200 tropical species ranging from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific. Each featured creature has a “detailed description that includes distribution, size, habitat, and ‘life habits.’” The book is a beautiful integration of the classic ‘Fish ID’-type literature and the more elaborate coffee-table galleries.

Continue reading for the full review, which includes samples photos of the book…

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New DiveFilm Podcast Video - “Critter Comforts” by Mark Thorpe Photo

New DiveFilm Podcast Video - “Critter Comforts” by Mark Thorpe

The latest DiveFilm Podcast Video, Episode 30 - “Critter Comforts” by Wetpixel member Mark Thorpe (CamDiver) is now live! Featuring the species of Yap and Palau, Mark dedicates the film to all “macronuts.”

“Every once in a while an underwater short video creation just stuns me,” says Mary Lynn Price, DiveFilm producer. “It’s that fine combination of images, editing and soundtrack all working together to evoke something profoundly beautiful…and that’s what Mark Thorpe’s ‘Critter Comforts’ achieves in its simple grandeur.”

You can get to the podcast on iTunes directly by clicking here (if you have iTunes version 4.9 of higher on your computer), or by browsing to the Video Podcasts. DiveFilm Podcast Video is produced in association with Wetpixel.com.

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Todd Mintz places in prestigious Nature’s Best Contest Photo

Todd Mintz places in prestigious Nature’s Best Contest

Wetpixel moderator Todd Mintz is among this year’s “Highly Honoured” Winners of Nature’s Best photography contest. His winning image, a beautiful shot of an anemonefish and anemone with trees visible overhead, is featured in 3/4 of a page of this month’s magazine. The image will also be in an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution later this year. Congratulations Todd!

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Fuji announces FinePix S5 Pro DSLR Photo

Fuji announces FinePix S5 Pro DSLR

Fuji has announced a new 12.34 megapixel (6.17 + 6.17 mp) dSLR, the FinePix S5 Pro. It is based on the Nikon D200 body, and that’s good news for underwater photographers because it will fit on D200 housings. Here are some of the new features in this camera:

  • Three new “Film Simulation Modes” for improved reproduction of natural skin tones
  • New “dual cycle” noise-reduction algorithms for pictures at 3200 ISO (ISO range from 100 – 3200)
  • More dynamic range settings from 100% to 400%
  • RAW + Jpeg simultaneous shooting
  • High-precision i-TTL flash control

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