Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Wetpixel Ultimate Whale Shark expedition 2012

Wetpixel is excited to announce that we are heading back to Isla Mujeres in Mexico this summer for the world’s largest gathering of the world’s largest fish. Alex Mustard is leading two charters for Wetpixel. Spaces are already limited.

There is no lack of superlatives being used to describe this trip. Perhaps better are Eric’s own matter of fact words after the first day of Wetpixel first expedition here:

“our first day… was absolutely epic. Within an hour of leaving port, we found a group of over 300 whale sharks.”

Join us in 2012. Update 11/19/2011: Both weeks are now full. Please contact Dan Baldocchi if you are interested in a reserve place.

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Florida approves shark protection

The Miami Herald reports that Florida wildlife managers have approved a shark protection measure that will make it illegal for anglers fishing state waters to keep tiger sharks or great, scalloped and smooth hammerheads. The new measure is intended to address the decline in shark numbers due to over fishing. The new rule, effective from 1 January 2012, prohibits the possession, sale and exchange of tiger sharks and hammerhead sharks harvested from state waters, which extend 3 miles from shore on the East coast and 9 miles on the West. Another 22 species of sharks already share similar protections.

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Canon updates firmware for EOS 5D Mark II

Canon has released a firmware update for its EOS 5D Mark II SLR. Version 2.1.1. has corrected a bug that meant only a single image was captured in continuous shooting mode or AE bracketing continuous mode. It has also corrected some menu issues for Dutch speaking users.

It is available as a free download for 5D Mark II owners from the Canon website.

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Review: Divergent Media ClipWrap

Many of the video capable SLRs output video with an AVCHD file-based format. Older NLE programs like Apples’s Final Cut Pro 7 could not handle these files natively, and the footage needs to be transcoded. In this review, Steve Douglas presents one product that is designed to do this job: Divergent Media’s ClipWrap. Put simply, ClipWrap converts the MTS files produced in AVCHD to Quicktime.

Steve comments:

“In this day of expensive applications and 3rd party plug-ins that are often used infrequently, it is nice to find an application that not only is very inexpensive but, with the advent of more camcorders creating files not conducive to Macs, an app that really can save the day for both you and your client.”

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Final call for entries: Ocean Art 2011

The 2011 Ocean Art Photo Competition is making its final call for entries. It is offering over $82,000 in prizes in 12 categories including: Wide-angle, macro, marine life behavior, portrait, cold/ temperate, nudibranchs, super macro, underwater model/ fashion, novice dSLR, compact camera wide-angle, compact camera marine life behavior and compact camera macro.

Full entry details and rules can be seen at the contest’s website, and the final deadline for entries is 20 November.

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Domes without the Drone

At every DEMA show, speakers are invited to deliver talks about aspects of underwater imaging at a stage within the Imaging Resource Center. Wetpixel Associate Editor, Alex Mustard delivered a talk entitled “Domes without the Drone” at the most recent show and we were on hand to film it. The talk is less about dome port theory, and more on the practical pros and cons of various types of domes available, together with situations in which one type may be preferable over another.

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Apple updates Digital Camera RAW

Apple has released an update to increase its Camera RAW compatibility in OS X. Version 3.9 adds support for: Canon PowerShot S100, Nikon 1 J1, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon COOLPIX P7100, Olympus PEN E-PL1s, Olympus PEN E-PL3, Olympus PEN E-PM1, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ150, Sony Alpha NEX-5N, Sony Alpha SLT-A65 and Sony Alpha SLT-A77 cameras.

Apple has published a full list of supported image formats on its website. The updates is also available on the Apple support site or via Software Update.

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Call for entries: SEA 2011 International Photo & Video Competition

The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS) has announced that the International Underwater Photo & Video Competition and the Bob Commer Award of Excellence in Underwater Photography is accepting entries. Contest categories for stills include: Wide-angle, underwater California, marine conservation and creative. There are two video categories: Classic and video snapshots.

Full competition details, rules and procedures for entering are available on the NCUPS website, and the deadline is 9 December.

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Sport Diver Magazine re-launches Images feature

Sport Diver Magazine has relaunched its Images feature on underwater photography as part of a magazine wide re-design. The column will be written by different photographers each issue, with Wetpixel’s Associate Editor Alex Mustard kicking things off with an article on photographing behavior.

The aim is for each article to provide useful tips for photographers of all levels.

Friday, November 11th, 2011

Subtronic releases TTL convertor cable

In a post on Facebook, Subtronic has announced the release of a TTL convertor cable for Nikon and Canon cameras with Pro160 and Pro270 strobes. The company had previously offered the Intellisync Cable which uses a Heinrichs Weikamp TTL circuit integrated into the flash cable. The new model has a second strobe connection built-in, allowing two strobes to be directly connected, rather than with a splitter.

Prices and availability are to be announced.

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