Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

NCUPS SEA 2010 Winners Announced

The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society has announced the winners of the 46th Annual SEA International Underwater Photographic Competition. The 2010 winner of the Bob Commer Award for Excellence in Underwater Photography and SEA International Best of Show is Keri Wilk.

The digital still competition this year brought an increase in Novice entries, up by almost double from last year, and an increase in Video entries. All winning images and competition comments are displayed on the NCUPS website.

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari 2010 trip journal

Eric Cheng is now in Ambon, Indonesia with the 2010 Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari. He has started a thread in the forum, where he (and others) will be reporting back and posting pictures and video from the field. Eric and some others in the group are shooting stills and video with the Inon Micro Semi-Fisheye Relay Lens UFL-MR130, so expect some unique perspectives.

The idea behind the trip is to eschew daytime diving in favor of a nocturnal existence, diving up to three times each night to sample the weird and wonderful night life in the area.

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

X-Ray Magazine 39 available

X-Ray magazine issue number 39 is now out and available for download. Articles featured in this issue include Palau’s Treasures by Todd Essick, a profile of Francis Toribiong by Arnold Weisz, Freshwater Diving Austria by Wolfgang Pölzer, a guide to the unique site of Pavillion Lake by Barb Roy, a portfolio by Kendahl Jan Jubb’s work and aspects of preparation for underwater photography by Lawson Wood.

X-Ray Magazine is available as a free pdf download.

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Updates from Ambon: Coleman’s shrimp pair

Another update from the Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari: Coleman’s shrimp (Periclimenes colmani), a beautiful commensal shrimp that lives in pairs on fire urchins (Asthenosoma varium), are fairly common in Ambon. Fire urchins are typically found here at depths of 60-90 feet, and about one out of 20 will have at least one of three kinds of commensal crustacea living on them.

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Save our Seas: Save our Sharks

The Save our Seas Foundation has produced a video about shark finning that won a Panda Award at the recent Wildscreen Film Festival 2010. It is designed to highlight the alarming rate at which sharks are being killed to supply the demands for shark fin soup in the East and that this situation needs to change quickly if we want to have any chance of saving our sharks before they’re gone forever.

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Alert Diver fall issue available online

The fall 2010 issue of DAN’s Alert Diver magazine is now available online. Articles in this issue include a tribute to Wes Skiles, shark diving in the Bahamas, a personal chronicle of a coral spawning event, diving wild in Browning Pass, British Columbia and guidance for choosing and using a compact camera underwater.

The printed version of the magazine will arrive through DAN US member’s mail boxes next week.

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Nauticam announces housing for Nikon D7000

Nauticam has announced the imminent release of the NA-D7000 housing for the Nikon D7000 camera. The D7000 is Nikon’s new mid range camera that was released at Photokina in September. The housing is in a small form factor and features new locking latches, a new lens release lever, a new flash activation button, a new patented two stage shutter release, and an improved rear command dial control. In addition, Nauticam has used the piano key design from their NA-7D housing for the video activation lever.

The housing should be shipping by 31 November this year.

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Aquatica releases remote imaging system

Aquatica has announced the release of a remote imaging system. The pole is designed to collapse into a short portable sections, each no longer than 24”/60cm. The system is supplied with a small external monitor and video goggles, and has a tilt mechanism to create unique filming angles and make moving subjects easier to follow.

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Visions in the Sea winners announced

Doug Robertson has been announced as the champion of the Visions in the Sea Summer Series underwater photography competition. The series of weekends held around the UK coastline provided a range of great entries including seals, tompot blennies, crustaceans, wrecks and other UK favourites but it was a Basking Shark taken off the coastline of Cornwall in June that was the overall winner. The prize was awarded at the Dive Show at the NEC in October.

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Updates from Ambon: Laha’s twilight zone

The Wetpixel Ambon Night Safari is underway, please stay tuned for more updates from the field: The most well-known dive site in Ambon is called Laha. Laha is known as “Twilight Zone” by the folks who first dove it – and for good reason: its mucky slope is packed full of the strange and outrageous. When we came here in April of 2009, we enjoyed the site so much that we spent 6 full days diving its mucky slope.