Underwater Photography and Videography, News, Forums, Trips, Photo Contests :: Wetpixel.com

Tom Hogarty of Adobe has published a preview of the lens correction technology that will be included in the forthcoming Lightroom 3 and the Camera Raw 6 plug-in.This is a development of Adobe’s non-destructive editing technology and is designed to address lens correction via two methods: Lens Profiles and Manual Correction. It will encompass geometric distortion(barrel and pincushion distortion), chromatic aberration and lens vignetting characteristics.

A handful of lens profiles will be provided by default and a Lens Profile Creator Utility will be posted on Adobe Labs allowing photographers to create their own lens profiles using a simple procedure. There are also manual distortion corrections that extend beyond traditional geometric distortion and provide horizontal and vertical transform adjustment. Read on for a video on this subject.

The Bay Area Dive Show runs this Friday evening and Saturday (all day), April 30 / May 1, 2010. Exhibits open from 5-8pm on Friday and from 9am-5pm on Saturday. Wetpixel will be in booth 109; please come say hi if you are planning to attend the show!

There will be a film festival on Friday night from 7:45-9:15pm, featuring Jason Bradley, Clay Wiseman, Ethan Gordon, and Wetpixel's Eric Cheng. For more information, visit bayareadiveshow.com.

Crissy Huffard, Conservation International‘s Raja Ampat monitoring specialist and cephalopod expert extraordinaire, wants to use photographs to study Wunderpus.  Wunderpus is one of the most popular animals divers seek in muck, yet almost everything about their lives remains a mystery. We do not know how rare they are, how large an area they roam, or how long they live.

This is your chance to contribute your photos for the purposes of scientific research. Learn more after the jump.

Wetpixel still has spots left for our Ambon Night Safari this coming Nov 7-16, 2010!

Photographers Eric Cheng and Tony Wu will lead the trip, which goes to one of the best critter spots on the planet. The humble shoreline at Laha is where the Maluku frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica) was found a couple of years ago. This year, the elusive frogfish resurfaced, and we're hoping they will still be there when we arrive.

Read the full details for more information on what to expect -- we're looking forward to the trip!

David Doubilet will lead a line-up of speakers at WildPhotos 2010, the UK’s largest photography symposium dedicated to exploring the power of nature photography.

During the event, the winners of the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition will also present their work, the results of the competition having been announced the day before.

WildPhotos will take place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 October 2010, at the prestigious Royal Geographical Society in London and online delegate registration will open in early June 2010. Further details of speakers will be announced in the coming months. Read on for more information.

Evenings at Whitney Public Lecture Series - April 8th, 2010 - Summary of “Ocean acidification: the other shoe for climate change. What could happen, what is likely, and what should we be doing?” Andrew Stamper, D.V.M., Dipl. A.C.Z.M., Epcot, The Seas.

When considering conservation of the ocean, one of the things we don’t often think about is the pH level in our oceans and how it affects our aquatic life. 
Just as the ph of a swimming pool affects our eyes and skin, the ph in the ocean affects the creatures living in it.  For those of you that have ever cared for an aquarium or a swimming pool, you may notice that even minute shifts in ph can cause marked changes in your water quality.

Can you imagine what would happen if you dropped the ph by 30% in your pool or aquarium?  Water quality would drop dramatically and when this happens in the ocean, the regulating enzymes within the marine live would go up or down, which is within the physiology of most creatures but at the costs of valuable energy.  The short-range changes would be adaption, and long-range successful adaptation is called evolution. Continue reading for more on this important topic.

UK company Frogfish Photography has added Nimar underwater housings to its range of underwater photography brands. Nimar housings are relatively affordable and models are available to suit many different SLRs. Nimar has been around for over 20 years and has been manufacturing housings for both video and still cameras in northern Italy since the early 1980s. They have just introduced a stylish black polycarbonate housing to sit alongside their existing clear version. Frogfish Photography has a demonstration model for customers to play with and can arrange for try outs in the pool.

Frogfish Photography is having a busy year with the Visions in the Sea series of underwater photography workshop weekends planned over the summer. They also have an exhibition of their work on display in Manchester in May. Lastly, they are planning a trip to South Africa later in the year.

Sundive Byron Bay is proud to announce its first in-house photo competition which will be the fourth major photo shoot-out held in Byron Bay. Due to success of Byron Bay’s previous photo competitions, the decision was taken to continue this event. It will take place between 22 and 30 of May, 2010.

The organizers have raised over $15,000 in prizes. During the shoot-out week, there will be BBQ’s, a treasure hunt, raffles and a grand finale on Sunday afternoon when the winners will be announced.

All underwater photo enthusiasts are invited to participate in a week of great diving, great company, a little healthy competition and mostly heaps of fun

Sigma has announced the availability date of its new 8-16mm f4-5.6 DC HSM ultra wide angle zoom lens.

The new lens is designed to fit dSLR cameras with APS-C size image sensors and is the first zoom lens on the market with a minimum focal length of 8mm. The lens is equivalent to the 12-24mm on full frame with an angle of view starting at 121.2 degrees.

The lens combats color aberration using four FLD (“F” Low Dispersion) glass elements, which the company claims performs equal to fluorite glass. One hybrid aspherical lens and two glass mold elements provide distortion and astigmatism correction. The Super Multi-Layer Coating reduces flare and ghosting.

The Sigma 8-16mm f4-5.6 DC HSM incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) and has a minimum focusing distance of 24cm throughout the entire zoom range. Its overall length is 105.7mm with a maximum diameter of 75mm. It will hit the stores at the end of April with Sigma, Canon and Nikon fit first, followed shortly by Sony and Pentax versions

The second annual Dive Fest is to be held at Pentewan Sands Holiday Park over the weekend of 30th April to 3rd May. The idea is that divers from all over the UK get together for a huge party, complete with live music, food, events and equipment and travel stalls. The first such event took place in May 2009 and was a massive success, with more than 1,000 divers attending.

During the festival, images from the British Underwater Image Festival will be on display, and the awards ceremony for the competition will take place on Sunday. In addition, Dive Fest will host a splash in competition, with prizes for the best images taken on that day.

Other events include talks from Sea Shepherd and the Sharks Trust, live bands, curry nights, and RIB or hard boat diving throughout the weekend.