Friday, January 5th, 2007

JP Trenque photo gallery featured on BBC News In Pictures

Wetpixel member JP Trenque (frogmansub) is currently featured on BBC News In Pictures with a gallery of twelve images from his recent trip to Borneo. JP narrates each photo in the set, and discusses the experience…

Watching the sun rise over the Malaysian island of Kapalai gave me the best inspiration to go and capture the beauty of Borneo’s aquatic wonders…diving off the nearby island of Sipadan is a privilege for underwater photographers.

JP’s achievement was first reported in Wetpixel’s Members in Media forum, an area for members to post news about published images, videos, or contest wins. Congratulate JP for his second BBC gallery in the continuing discussion...

Thursday, January 4th, 2007

Tony Wu’s free, informal workshop in Lembeh

Our good friend Tony Wu will be aboard the Archipelago Adventurer I liveaboard dive vessel in the Lembeh Strait this coming March 24-28, 2007, and has offered to give free advice to anyone who happens to be onboard at the same time. It is not a paid workshop, but Tony will be happy to provide hands-on help and suggestions.

If you sign up for the trip, be sure to bring your copy of Silent Symphony for Tony to sign. Or, you could ask him to sign your chest for a more “personal” touch.

Thursday, January 4th, 2007

Amazon.com sells shark fin soup

It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup and other products through third-party vendors Roland, Pacific Rim Gourmet, VitaminLife, and Seagate. With all the controversy surrounding shark fins and the horrible practices used to harvest fins, Amazon should be ashamed to be carrying shark fin soup and should rectify the problem immediately by pulling all shark fin products from their catalog.

What you can do:

Leave feedback at Amazon’s product page for Roland Shark Fin Soup, Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup, VitaminLife, and Seagate.
Participate in the discussion over at Amazon about the product and why it’s bad for them to carry it
Send e-mail to Roland Food at Phyllis.Goldberg@rolandfood.com, Pacific Rim Gourmet at customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com, VitaminLife at customerservice@vitaminlife.com, Seagate Products at their contact form, and write letters of protest to:

Pacific Rim Gourmet
75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

VitaminLife
15940 Redmond Way
Redmond, WA 98052

Seagate Products/First Fishery
9484 Chesapeake Dr. Suite 802
San Diego, CA 92123
Write to Amazon.com at Advantage Customer Service (advantage@amazon.com) and Investor Relations (ir@amazon.com)
Spread the word through your webpage, blog, etc. (code available here)
Boycott Amazon.com until they comply
Join our discussion in the forums

*UPDATE* 10:39AM Jan 8, 2007 - The Roland product is now no longer available as well. Good work, everyone! However, it is no longer possible to leave feedback on this product. 6 of our supporters got in before it was no longer possible to leave reviews.

*UPDATE* 12:03AM Jan 6, 2007 - Amazon has pulled all 35+ negative reviews for the Dragonfly product. They have introduced a new product, Shark Fin Cartilage Powder sold through VitaminLife.

*UPDATE* 06:55PM Jan 3, 2007 - Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup now shows “not available.” Hopefully, our campaign is working.

Continue reading for Amazon’s response and more.

Thursday, January 4th, 2007

Win a trip to North Sulawesi

Start the new year off with a free trip to North Sulawesi, courtesy of FiNS Magazine, Siladen Resort & Spa, Archipelago Resorts & Fleet and Two Fish Divers. North Sulawesi is one of Asia’s premier dive destinations, with great reef diving and world-class muck diving, all in one place. All you have to do is answer a few questions, then sit back and wait to be contacted!

Three trips will be given away to random questionnaire participants. I just took a look at the page, and it will probably take less than three minutes of your time.

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

UWP Magazine Issue #34 available for download

Underwater Photography Magazine Issue 34 is now available for download.

The issue contains articles by Wetpixel’s own Alex Mustard and Luiz Rocha on TTL in 2007 and diving in West Africa, respectively, as well as various review, technique, location, equipment, and marine life articles by Peter Rowlands, Dave Harasti, Joseph Dovala, and Michael Collins. Also featured are announcements of upcoming events and new equipment of interest to every underwater photographer or videographer.

UWP Magazine is a free PDF magazine, published every two months.

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

New DiveFilm Podcast Videos - Episodes 35 and 36

Presented in partnership with Wetpixel, DiveFilm Podcast Episode 36, Jeff Leicher’s “Toroidal Vortex,” takes an innovative and humorous look at the air we breath underwater. Be sure to watch for the outtakes!

Also available is Episode 35, “How LOW Can You Go,” by Kathy and Mike Schnetzer. A three-person submarine takes the couple with their custom Gates housing to a depth of 1000 feet, where they encounter species rarely seen by scuba divers, and are unexpectedly visited by a manta ray and a pod of dolphins.

DiveFilm Podcast Video has been pioneering the video podcasting of underwater short films since late 2005, and is a “Featured Video Podcast, TV & Film” at iTunes. You can get to the podcasts on iTunes directly by clicking here (if you have iTunes version 4.9 of higher on your computer), or by browsing to the Video Podcasts. DiveFilm Podcast Video is produced in association with Wetpixel.com.

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007

Underwater Journal webzine inaugural issue

Professional photographer and friend Walt Stearns has recently announced the launch of the brand-new Underwater Journal (UWJ) webzine. Issue 1 of UWJ is available for immediate download in PDF form, and it’s completely free!

Underwater Journal (UWJ) is a celebration of all things aquatic - from the leading edge of ocean exploration and research to the simple pleasures of immersing oneself weightlessly in the liquid environment that covers three fourths of our world.

The water is our playground, so we invite readers to take the plunge. Those new to the sport can take in real-world wisdom gleaned from decades of diving in locales near and far. Veterans will appreciate UWJ’s factual, realistic coverage of destinations, equipment and techniques rarely addressed in the entry-level and agency-biased print products. And even those who are not yet divers will find much to enjoy, as our coverage extends not only to the recreational aspects of sport diving, but to a myriad of fascinating subjects spanning every facet of the ocean realm.

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007

A photo pro in action, by Wags

This is a bit old, but worth pointing out. In our discussion forums, Wags has posted a photo of a photo pro in action and has highlighted what makes this particular shooter’s technique so clearly professional!

It’s the combination of poking fun while staying lighthearted that is so special, and is what makes Wetpixel such a fun place to hang out online. Plus, you get to learn from seeing what works and what doesn’t work as detailed by the combined experience of thousands of photographers. If you’re new here, sign up and join the fun!

Monday, January 1st, 2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, readers and members! Here’s to another excellent year at Wetpixel.com and in the waters around the world. In 2006, we generated:

2,324 new members
416 front page posts
2,263 picture of the week entries

37,975 forum posts
5,458 new forum topics
3,966 private messages
1,732,797 forum top-level topic views

4,035,480 visits
78,997,567 pages served
57,302 unique visitors per month (average)

Special thanks to you, our readers, and to all of our sponsors and partners. You all made the last year at Wetpixel possible.

Also, the favorite shot of 2006 thread is still going strong in our forums, so head on over there if you want to see what our members have been up to in the last year.

Monday, January 1st, 2007

Divester & Wetpixel Readers Donate $300 to the Coral Reef Alliance

For those of you who purchased one (or more!) of the famous—and great-looking!—Divester/Wetpixel shirts, thanks…and congratulations! Through your support, we raised enough money to donate $300 to the Coral Reef Alliance, an organization that works to increase the capacity of communities to work collaboratively towards coral reef conservation. With all the problems coral reefs face today, every little bit helps.

For those of you who haven’t quite gotten around to ordering a shirt of your own, it’s not too late. We still have a few shirts left—although we have sold out of the XL shirts. Consequently, if your New Year’s resolution is to lose some weight, go ahead and order a Large shirt and consider the purchase as a first step towards the new you!

Happy New Year!

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