Cameron Nilsson-Linne (kmo_underwater) has posted a thread on the Wetpixel forum called “Underwater photography - The professionals” in which he poses an apparently simple question:

“I can only assume that at least a few of the photographers on here must make a living from underwater photography. My question, put simply, is how?”

The responses are a fascinating insight into the business of underwater photography, and it is interesting to note that a key response seems to be that the really important ingredients in making underwater imaging work financially is how well an individual markets themselves and hard work!

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Wetpixel member, Rob Spray tries to decide whether the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is a fantastic compact camera, or offers a true alternative to the SLR. He notes that the camera’s performance is limited underwater by the Olympus housing (although other housings are now available), and with it, the camera really performs more like an enhanced version of the company’s PEN series cameras. He feels that the camera has a “core of capability” which “is on a par with SLRs”.

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Adobe has announced the availability of Release Candidate versions of Lightroom 4 and Camera Raw 7 on Adobe Labs. Version 4.2 and 7.2 respectively add support for several new cameras including the Canon EOS 650D / Rebel T4i, Canon EOS M, Panasonic DMC-G5, Nikon 1 J2 and Sony DSC-RX100. Both versions also add new lens profiles, including the Zeiss Distagon T 1.4/35 ZE and 2/25 ZE. Lastly, they fix numerous bugs with both programs, including issues with stacked images, publishing, the Defringe control and metadata writing.

Camera Raw 7.2 and Lightroom 4.2 Release Candidates are free to download from Adobe Labs. The Release Candidate status means that these updates are “well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers.”

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The recently announced winners of the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest features an amazing surfing image by Lucia Griggi. The image, entitled “Underwater Surf”, received a Merit Award in the Sense of Place category. Lucia wrote the caption for the image:

“Taken at Cloud Break at an outer reef in Fiji, a surfer duck dives his board to clear the rolling waves of the raw ocean.”

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Wetpixel is very excited to be teaming up with Alert Diver and Nature’s Best Photographer for the 2012 Ocean Views underwater photography contest. We will be providing a strong online presence in support of our two media partners, and Wetpixel Publisher, Eric Cheng will be joining the panel of judges. Ocean Views is a major international competition in its own right, and the addition of Wetpixel as its online media partner will help to attract an even greater number of entries. Wetpixel will be continuing to run its other competitions of course, including DEEP Indonesia, Our World Underwater (in conjunction with our colleagues at DivePhotoGuide) and the POTW series.

Ocean Views is open for entries now, with a $25 fee for up to 25 images. The deadline is 30 November 2012.

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