The winners of the 9th International Underwater Film Festival in Belgrade have been announced. Although the festival looks to be primarily film and video oriented, they also have a special award for underwater still photography.
Florida dive show was a complete success. I spoke to many of the exhibitors, and all were pleased with the turnout for a first show—and with the new Palm Beach County Convention Center as the venue. For the photography crowd, speakers like Cathy Church, Mauricio Handler and Paul Humann were well worth the price of admission. The latest and greatest U/W photography gear, both still and video, were also on display.
Several Wetpixel members were in attendance including Dave Haas, Laz Ruda, Ryan Canon and more…
I received an e-mail from Stephen Frink (Seacam USA) today about a new, more powerful wet diopter from Seacam, called the Wet Two. Continue reading for test shots underwater, and first impressions.
Congratulations to Gavin Parsons (Wetpixel user fishboy), who won the Open Category of the 2005 BSAC Travel Club Photography Contest with a shark shot entitled, “Liveaboard yacht,” taken in Sudan. Gavin becomes Photographer of the Year and wins a framed certificate from the British Sub-Aqua Club and a holiday on Wind Dancer, the Peter Hughes Diving liveaboard in Tobago. The prize also includes economy airfare between UK and Tobago.
Second place went to Pedro Vieyra, and third place, to Jim Greenfield. In the Newcomers’ category, the winners were Geoff Stevens and Dawn Watson.
Wetpixel moderator William Heaton has posted a review of the Ikelite underwater housing for the full-frame Canon EOS-5D digital SLR, based on the first production housing to be shipped out. There is an active discussion going on in the forums about the housing, and it looks like Ikelite will incorporate some of Will’s feedback into future housings. Kudos to Ikelite for reacting so quickly to customer feedback, and thanks to William for such a thorough review.
2005 has been a fantastic year for underwater photography, with many new and exciting cameras, housings and strobes being released. It has also been an awesome year beneath the waves, as the active Wetpixel discussion “Your Best Shot Of 2005” attests. The rules of this forum thread are simple - post your favourite underwater picture that you’ve taken this year. But be warned, choosing just ONE favourite isn’t easy! There are already some fantastic images posted there, and hopefully it will soon be overflowing as more and more members add their photos. So no excuses, add your favourite today! (photo credit: Tiger Shark by Karl Dietz)
Ars Technica has reviewed Apple’s Aperture. Read it. Weep. Pray (for a proper version 2).
“It is also disappointing to see form beat out function here, but hopefully this will be Apple’s software equivalent of the G4 Cube. They have only themselves to blame: they set themselves up for a big fall by attempting to dig themselves a chunk of the pro market by purporting to have the lossless holy grail of imaging. The trouble with that is they obviously didn’t have the engineering or expertise in RAW processing to pull it off or, if they did, they chose not to include it because of speed constraints due to Core Image…”
The first British Underwater Image Festival will take place next spring, but the closing date for entries (31st December 2005) is fast approaching. This competition is a new initiative by the UK’s DIVE magazine, who have joined forces with the UK’s Sport Diver Magazine, the National Geographic Channel, Canon and the British Society of Underwater Photographers to present the Festival. In a positive step the still images compete in a single category, with no differentiation between digital or film, of A4 sized (11.5x8.25 inches) prints. Each competitor can enter up to 6 images, which is hoped will encourage more creative entries. There are also portfolio and video competitions, and a special category for photographers less than 30 years old, which will be of interest to many Wetpixel members. The Festival is free to enter, although there is a charge for the return of prints.
Pentax has today announced a 10-17mm digital fisheye zoom lens for their line of *ist cameras. This lens is designed specifically for the sensor in the *ist camera, which has a 1.5x crop vs 35mm film. Pentax has stated that this lens is for use exclusively with the *ist cameras, however Wetpixel users have noted that the lens is made by third party manufacturer Tokina. So, there is hope that Tokina may release the lens for Nikon and Canon mount cameras in the future.
It’s not too late! For discounted tickets to the South Florida Dive Show, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) @ the South Florida Underwater Photographic Society [www].