Congratulations to long-time Wetpixel member, Chris Parsons, who is this month’s INON Featured Artist. Chris was aboard with us on the M/V Shearwater for the Wetpixel Bahamas Shark Expedition 2005, and was one of the most experienced photographers onboard.
Check out INON’s Featured Artist page for a selection of Chris’ impressive underwater photography. INON America is a sponsor of Wetpixel.com.
Reef & Rainforest with Wetpixel has decided to auction one available space on this trip of a lifetime. The trip departs in just over 4 weeks so we have decided to auction the trip with all the proceeds going to the Red Cross for Katrina relief. This is an epic dive adventure to the remote Northern Islands of Darwin & Wolf aboard Sky Dancer.
Minimum bid is 1,000.00. The cost of this trip retail is 5,390.00 Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your bid - click the full article for details.
Update: Auction Closed. Here’s a message from Reef & Rainforest: Hi Eric & James. The high bid was 3,101.00 and will be given to Red Cross in the name of Wetpixel & Reef & Rainforest. Thanks for making this happen!
Wetpixel is giving away free forum space to underwater photographic societies! Forums are the perfect place to discuss local UPS-related issues outside of meetings. You can also get word out about UPS-related events and post your work for the world to see.
Forums can either be public or private, and we will promote moderators of your choice. If your UPS is interested in hosting forum space at Wetpixel, please contact Eric.
A message from Richard H. Stewart, publisher and editor-in-chief of the new Ocean Realm journal (now, in hardback format!):
For all of you that have asked about Ocean Realm I have good news. We (the original publishers of Ocean Realm in 1980) have brought the title back and have recently introduced the first edition. The two ladies that had OR last closed shop more than two years ago leaving a string of bills and unhappy people. We did not buy the company but bought the trade name. If you would like to know more about the new Ocean Realm Journal please visit http://www.OceanRealmJournal.com.
Since I started underwater digital photography, I’ve dove with a number of different camera and housing combinations. The one thing they all shared is that they all had different handling characteristics underwater…:-) For me, the two most important of these characteristics have always been size, and in-water weight. This article describes a way to optimize the in-water weight of your rig – and shows how I made a buoyancy collar for my system. If you are interested in making some kind of buoyancy module for your set-up, I encourage you to make a closed-cell foam ring to fit around your port, or around your strobe arms. For a few hours of work and less than $100 you can make a useful underwater photography tool, and one that will help you take better photographs.
As far as we know, Wetpixel co-administrator Alex Mustard has set a new record, participating in an active discussion in the forums from 32,000 feet above sea level! We highly encourage more of our members to do the same. Have a great time in Bali, Alex. We look forward to seeing what you return with.
Sea & Sea has launched the VX-G1 housing for the Panasonic NV-GS250 digital video camera. Designed for simplicity, the new housing uses an optical viewfinder, can support an optional external monitor, and is depth rated to 60 meters.
Epoque/Patima have announced the development of a new housing for the Canon Digital Rebel XT. We don’t have any photos of it yet, but it will be made out of high-quality aluminum and stainless steel, and will support two housed Canon Speedlight 580EX strobes (optional). A macro port and fish-eye dome port (for the Canon 15mm fish-eye lens or Sigma 8mm fish-eye lens) will also be available.
If it’s anything like Epoque’s Patima housing for the Olympus C-7070, it should be pretty and compact. Continue reading for details…
The latest issue of UWP Magazine is out and available to download. This current issue features a profile on Zena Holloway and a selection of her inspiring dream-like images, as well as articles by Wetpixel members Rod Klein, Mark Webster and Alex Mustard. There is also an article on South Africa’s Tiger Sharks by former Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Tobi Bernhard. The magazine is still free, but now requires simple registration before downloading.
For all you video and film makers out there, the organising committee of the 9th International Underwater Film Festival in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro is pleased to announce that this competition is open with a deadline for dispatch of entries on the 1st November. The competition is open to everyone and has two categories: A GROUP films (professional productions, broadcast quality, TV) and B GROUP films (amateur film makers, independent producer).