Happy holidays, from the Wetpixel staff!  Over the past calendar year, we saw hundreds of amazing images flow through the forums, the Picture of the Week contest, and the annual Wetpixel / DivePhotoGuide photo / video contests (OWU and DEEP).  At the DEMA show, we hosted the largest happy hour yet, packing nearly 100 people into a roped-off section of the host hotel’s lobby.

In the forums, we’re hosting a thread called “Your Favourite Shot of 2007,” where our members are showing off their best work of the year.  Numerous members were also featured in all sorts of media, including well-known magazines, books, and television shows.

And finally, in September, Wetpixel launched Wetpixel Quarterly, a new print magazine featuring the best in underwater photography. We’ve just finished the 2nd issue of the magazine, which should ship out any day now.  To celebrate the new year, we’re giving away a free magazine subscription to the best comment we get in this post!  We want to know how you found Wetpixel.com, how you use our resources, and what you get out of it.  Also, please introduce yourself! Leave a single comment here for your chance to win a free subscription.

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After considerable pressure and the threat of a formal protest by the Australian government (with support from the US, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand), Japanese officials have announced that plans to hunt humpback whales have been postponed. Japan sets a hunting quota of more than 1,000 whales yearly despite international agreements protecting the various species, and while humpbacks are safe for now, the Japanese whaling fleet remains in the Antarctic.

Iceland and Norway have also continued to lead the push to hunt whales for “scientific purposes.” Drew Wong asks in the forums if this latest move by Japan is a “token gesture or another stepping stone [towards expanded whale conservation]?”

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Marine life guides are the Rodney Dangerfields of underwater books.  Nobody reads them cover to cover.  Nobody proudly displays them on their coffee table.  Instead of dramatic head-on or ¾ front views, the photographs inside are prosaic side views for identification purposes. Yet in the bookshelves of live-aboard boats, their dilapidated, dog-eared appearance attests to heavy use by the divers on board.  For serious divers, they are an essential reference and an indispensable facet of our diving experience.

Marine biologist Hans Bertsch recently updated Alex Kerstitch’s classic Sea of Cortez Marine Invertebrates.

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The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society has (NCUPS) has announced the winners of the SEA 2007 international underwater photo competition. The Best of Show and winner of the Bob Commer Award of Excellence was taken by ‘Sea’s Candies,’ by Patti Baugh, a creative composite image of nudibranchs as candied treats.

Among the excellent entries are a number of familiar Wetpixel users - be sure to view the winning photographs and videos and discuss the results in the forums. Good luck in next year’s competition!

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Last month, Wetpixel member Christian Skauge (ScubaSapiens) claimed the title as the 2007 Norwegian Champion in digital underwater photography. The send-in competition was hosted by the Norwegian Diving Federation and Skauge won his second championship, after becoming the first ever digital champion in 2005, by taking away three gold and two silver medals in the five competition categories.

In his fifth year of photography, he is currently using a Nikon D200 in a Nexus housing with two Inon Z-240 strobes. The pictures taken for the competition were taken at the west coast and northern areas of Norway. Visit Skauge’s website to view the winning images.

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