Steve Douglas presents reviews of CrumplePop’s correction filters for GoPro POV camcorders. CrumplePop has released an HDR plug-in that helps restore color balance within footage, and a plug-in that corrects the fisheye effect that is created by the GoPro’s lens.
Steve summarises that both apps are very useful for those who use GoPro footage within their productions.
The Telegraph reports that a team from the Discovery Channel, Japan’s National Science Museum and NHK Japan have filmed a 10ft (3m) giant squid (genus: Architeuthis) at a depth of 2,067ft (630m) using a submersible last July at a site some nine miles east of Chichi island in the north Pacific Ocean. They then followed the squid down to a depth of 2,950ft (885m)
The squid had apparently lost its two longest arms, so the team extrapolated that the length of the animal if it had its arms attached would be 28ft (8m). I’m sure that there is good science in predicting this. The film is apparently the first of a giant squid in its natural habitat. The footage will be going to air soon.
The 2013 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is now open and accepting entries. Categories include Animal Portraits, Behavior: Mammals, Behavior: Cold-Blooded animals, Animals is their Environment and Underwater Worlds.
The deadline for entries is 25 February 2013. Full entry details and rules can be found on the Natural History Museum’s website. There are also comprehensive guidelines on what is acceptable in terms of image editing.
Wetpixel publisher Eric Cheng has published an in-depth summary of his back-up strategy on his journal. Eric backs up over 10 terrabytes of pictures, video and project data, and although many people will not have this amount of information, it is critical that back-up strategies are implemented early on, and can expand as data volumes increase. HD or 4K resolution video, as well as higher resolution stills, mean that traditional back-up strategies may well be inadequate for future purposes.
Eric’s solution involves the use of multiple RAID drives and back up locations.
DiveFilm HD has posted a podcast featuring Ron Lagerlof’s magnificent manta footage. Entitled “Dhara Muli” after the name of the cleaning station where it was filmed, Ron captured the footage whilst diving at Baa Atoll, Maldives. It was shot at 36 fps (24 fps playback) as well as 48 fps and 96 fps with a RED EPIC digital cinema camera in a Gates DEEP EPIC housing.
DiveFilm HD podcasts are available as free downloads from iTunes.
Brazilian underwater photographer Daniel Botelho’s image of a mola mola was recently selected as 1 of the 25 awe inspiring images of 2012 by internet giant AOL and as the cover image of the collection. The image, shot off San Diego, California, apparently languished in Daniel’s rejected folder for some time.
Wetpixel tracked Daniel down to ask him for the inside information about the image, to find out about more about his photography in 2012 and how he goes about creating his images.
Wetpixel member Simon Buxton has posted a super macro video onto the forum that was partially shot using the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro lens. This lens will shoot “larger than life-size” and with a 24cm closest focusing distance; up to 5x life-size. Some parts of the video were shot using the lens and a Canon 5D Mark III, whilst others were shot using a Canon 7D with the Canon 100mm lens and stacked 5x and 10x Subsee dioptres.
The “little green shrimp” (Phycocaris sp) was first discovered in Lembeh in October 2011.
In case you missed our original announcement, the 2013 Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide competitions; Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia, and now up and running and accepting entries. Together, they will hand out over $80,000 worth of prizes, supplied by our amazing competition sponsors. Our World Underwater 2013 has categories for macro and wide-angle in both restricted and unrestricted classes, compact, novice, video and commercial, conceptual and fashion. DEEP Indonesia 2013 has categories for divers, animal portrait, animal behavior, reefscapes , compact cameras and two new ones for 2013: Surf and sharks.
OWU has a deadline of 19 January 2013 and DEEP Indonesia’s is 10 February 2012. Full details, rules and entry requirements are on the UnderwaterCompetition.com website.
We can’t get enough of Indonesia. Wetpixel is headed to the lush waters of Komodo in Feb/Mar 2014 aboard the luxury live-aboard dive vessel, the Seven Seas. The southern sites of Komodo National Park offer a fantastic mix of healthy coral reefs, huge schools of fish, and interesting macro life. In February and March, the waters in the south are clear and warm—the right conditions for productive underwater photography. We will visit all of the well-known dive sites in southern Komodo, including Manta Alley, Cannibal Rock, Torpedo Point, The Three Sisters, Lankoi, plus many more productive sites, all during a time in which not many other boats frequent Komodo.
Wetpixel trips are designed to be photographically productive. We feature unlimited dive times and flexible itineraries, and target advanced divers. If an area is hot, we will sit there and take advantage of it, and you will never be dragged through a dive site by a dive guide. Wetpixel publisher Eric Cheng, editor Adam Hanlon, and photographer Jason Bradley will be available for photography advice and ad-hoc, informal workshops. Guests also frequently learn a lot from each other, and it isn’t unusual to make a life-long friend after spending weeks together on a boat!
Join Wetpixel editor Adam Hanlon and photographer Jason Bradley in Mexico this August 2013 to swim with and photograph the largest-known aggregation of the largest fish in the world! Each summer, hundreds of whale sharks congregate in the clear blue waters off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
Quoth me, from trip two years ago, “There’s no other way to put it: our first day of photographing the whale shark aggregation was absolutely epic. Within an hour of leaving port, we found a group of over 300 whale sharks”. See Eric’s photo gallery from two seasons at the aggregation, and then check out this page for full booking details.