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

The quest is on to find the UK’s top underwater photographer. The title will be decided at the annual British Splash-In Championship being staged at Plymouth on Saturday, July 3, 2010 by the British Society of Underwater Photographers. The winner of the title chosen by an independent panel of judges will be jetting off to the Maldives with a companion to enjoy a fabulous one-week liveaboard trip donated Maldives Scuba Tours.

The on the day competition, taking place in Plymouth 3rd July, is open to all, including those from outside the UK and non-BSoUP members.

Join professional photographers Jason Bradley, Kevin McDonnell and guest speaker Norbert Wu for an on-the-boat seminar and and four days of diving in California's Southern Channel Islands this coming August 20-23, 2010. The trip will be on a limited load trip on Truth Aquatics' vessel, Vision, and space is limited! Jason's work is featured in Wetpixel Quarterly #8, which will be shipping in early June.

Contact Jason directly for details on signing up: contact@bradleyphotographic.com or 818-415-2767. See BradleyPhotographic.com for more information (or, you can click through to see some of Jason's work).

Now over a month into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion and subsequent gusher from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, the world got a whole new perspective on the disaster yesterday as ABC’s Good Morning America and Philippe Cousteau Jr. dived below the surface of the spill.

Donning hazmat equipment for diving in toxic environments, corespondent Sam Champion and Cousteau, grandson of the great explorer Jacques Cousteau, provided a powerful underwater look at what has now been proclaimed to be the worst oil spill in U.S. history. You can watch the segment here. Additional links after the jump.

Athena has announced a new ring flash unit which uses Sea & Sea flash heads as the power source. The ring flash can be connected to a modified Sea & Sea YS-01 or YS 110a via a five pin Nikonos type sync cord. The YS-110a flash head has two Nikonos ports so that more than one strobe can be used.

This new design has the ability to disconnect the ring flash from the sending unit for ease of packing. It also has the potential for use of TTL with both wired and fiber optic cords and a longer lasting power supply for the sending unit. There will be adapters available to suit different manufacturers ports.

The results of the ASFERICO International Nature Photography Competition have been announced. The overall winner was Andreas Mäcker of Germany with a picture of a Sperm whale taken in the Azores. Many Wetpixel members are featured in the underwater category

The competition formed part of an event held at Undine, Italy over 16-18 April 2010. 

Martin Edge and Alex Mustard are to present a full day seminar “On Underwater Photography” at the Imperial College, London, UK on November 6th 2010. Both photographers are well known, not only for their images, but also for their willingness to share the techniques that they have used to create them.

Having two accomplished photographers providing feedback on their images, as well as on images from the audience, is a unique opportunity. Please read on for more details

Light & Motion has announced the release of the SOLA 600 compact imaging light. It is designed for use with all imaging systems, from compact cameras to video housings and produces 679 lumens of light for a maximum of 75 minutes burn time. It is designed to have an even beam pattern and can also deliver 225 lumens of red light for night close-up work.

Please click through for more information

By now, the spring edition of the DAN magazine, Alert Diver, should be arriving in most DAN U.S. member mailboxes.

For those outside of the US, it is also available online via the Alert Diver web site, or via a direct link to the magazine

The magazine features articles on diving in the Cayman Islands by David Doubilet, the Maldives by Stephen Frink, a profile of underwater filmmaker Howard Hall, and articles by Alex Mustard, Eddie Tapp, Berkley White, and Eric Cheng. In addition, there are a host of articles on equipment, diving safety and decompression research. 

Issue #36 of the X-Ray International Dive Magazine is out and available for download

This issue includes information about the rugged coasts, drop-offs, clear lakes and centuries-old wrecks of Sweden, a wetsuit review and a host of environmental articles including studies that shows that off-shore wind turbines are good for marine life, that an ocean “superhighway” for tiny life forms exists and that there is a massive Southern Ocean current that is as yet little known.

Also featured among the many articles in the free pdf are items about the NOAA response to the Gulf oil spill, a profile of underwater filmmaker Mike Valentine and a guide to the popular Florida dive site, Blue Heron Bridge.

Join MC Philippe Cousteau at the 2010 Peter Benchley Awards / Blue Frontier Campaign on Fri, June 25, 2010 at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA.

The Blue Frontier/Peter Benchley Awards recognize outstanding achievements leading to the protection of our coasts and ocean and the communities that depend on them. In addition they provide an opportunity for leaders and innovators in different aspects and sectors of ocean work to meet and acknowledge each other, and to celebrate what we have accomplished and the wonders of our blue world.

Tickets are available immediately, and are expected to sell out.