Nicholas More: Anilao

The results of the 2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) contest have been announced. Tony Wu took first place in the Under Water category and the other finalists in the category include Geo Cloete, Joris van Alphen, Audun Rikardsen, Ralph Pace and Greg Lecoeur. Congratulations to them and all the finalists. Please click through to see all their images and capture notes.
Inon has announced the release of two new single light holders for tripods, the Single Light Holder LE for Tripod and the Single Light Holder LF for Tripod. Both are for attaching INON LE/LF series LED torches to tripods with 1/4-20 screws. Press release follows.
The Lightroom Coffee Break this week is about using the spot removal tool to remove larger objects. Using the Tool Overlay option: Never” rather than the default “Tool Overlay: Always,” option, you can make more accurate small brush strokes.
There is a fair amount of confusion about the events at Guadalupe Island, Mexico that are being depicted in 2 videos that are doing the rounds at present. Both depict great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) entering cages during dives when there were divers in them.
The conservation efforts of Misool Eco Resort in Raja Ampat is well known in the underwater photography community. What may not be quite as well known is how they’ve managed to maintain a successful no-take zone for over ten years now. Brady Valashinas has created a documentary short to illustrate the work and coordination it takes to maintain the no-take zone.
At the recent Wildscreen event in Bristol, England, Gates Underwater Products released their new Pro Action housing. It is designed for shooting action scenes underwater and is travel friendly. It has an integrated swivelling ST5 monitor and is compatible with RED DSMC1, DSMC2 and ARRI Mini cameras.
Several days ago a video showing a great white shark breaching and then falling into a shark cage with a diver in it went viral. The response has sparked a lot of opinions and the conversation is well beyond the diving community as even the New York Times covered the story. The Solmar V, the operation with which the incident occurred, released a statement yesterday.
When Hurricane Matthew passed over the Bahamas last week, it hit the West End of Grand Bahama Island particularly hard. The aftermath of the storm revealed complete destruction of the local community that will take months to fully rebuild and recover. Thankfully there have been no deaths reported from the storm. Our friends at Epic Diving have organized a relief effort to directly support rebuilding the local community.