The Durban Undersea Club is soliciting still and video entries for its annual shootout. All submissions must have been captured between 1 December 2014 and 15 May 2015 within the geographical boundaries of the Cape to the South and the Mozambique border to the North.
The Government of the Raja Ampat Regency has changed both the fee for entry into the area and the way that the resulting monies are distributed. The fee is now valid for 12 months (previously a calendar year) and has doubled to IDR500.000 ($38) for domestic users and IDR1000.000 (around $76) for international visitors.
A new underwater housing gives underwater photographers the ability to shoot 360 degree video underwater by housing six GoPro cameras at once. The 360Abyss can shoot video up to 7.5K resolution and is rated to a maximum depth of 1,000 meters. The housing MSRP is $5,395 (not including the six GoPro cameras).
Extreme Video has posted a teaser for their new short film called “One Shot.” It features a look into the life of surf photographer Russel Ord. The film aims to capture Ord’s obsession in finding one shot that defines who he is.
The 2015 Photography Show, held at The National Exhibition Center, Birmingham, UK is in its second year. It is the only national consumer photography event in the UK and this year featured quite a few new products so Wetpixel went along to take a look.
On Wednesday March 18, the UK government unveiled plans to designate the area around Pitcairn Island a marine reserve. When established, this will be the largest marine reserve in the entire world, encompassing 322,000 square miles.
Yasmeen Smalley presents an introduction to the uses and techniques of 3D photogrammetry as a scientific tool for measuring coral reefs and assessing environmental impacts on them. An non-profit organization, the Hydrous has used the technique to map coral reefs in Hawaii, the Solomon Islands, the Maldives, Guam and Palau.
Earth Touch has posted a video from Indonesia’s Manta Alley on its Wild Oceans Channel. Wetpixel Moderator Mike Veitch filmed the mantas feeding in the plankton rich water and also spotted a banded sea krait (Laticauda colubrina) and a curious black tip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus).
Wetpixel has spent the day at The Photography Show at the NEC, Birmingham, UK. There will be full report to follow, but during the show, we were able to do some testing in terms of housing compatibility with the new models from Nikon and Canon.
Reikan has announced the release of version 2 of their FoCal automatic focus tuning software. The update allows users to compare their calibration results with other users. Other changes include a lens optical performance test using an astigmatism metric and a redesigned user interface.