Underwater Digital Photo System for under $400

Epoque’s New 8MP Digital Underwater Camera System Now Available For Under $400!!!!

In the past, it was very expensive to get into underwater photography. Today, with the growth of digital technology and advanced imaging designs, it’s never been easier for the beginning underwater photographer. This week, Epoque USA announced a new 8 megapixel digital underwater camera and housing that has a suggested retail of less than $400.

Here’s some excerpts of the release:

Epoque USA has begun distribution of its EHD-800Ai underwater digital camera and housing to photo dealers. The EHD-800Ai is an 8MP digital camera in its own dedicated housing capable of protecting the camera down to 150 feet underwater. The form fitted housing is compact, lightweight, and easy for any underwater photographer to handle. Its ergonomic controls offer easy access to all the camera functions so changing important settings underwater is possible. It is constructed from molded ABS plastics for maximum strength and durability for reliable protection and performance in rugged activities.

The EHD-800Ai features an autofocus 3X optical zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent range of 36mm-108mm. It also has a macro focus setting for shooting the smallest underwater subjects. The lens is equipped with a 55mm threaded lens attachment ring for mounting the Epoque DCL-20 wide angle conversion lens with a magnification factor of .56, or the DML-2 macro conversion lens with a 2X magnification factor.

The EHD-800Ai has a built-in flash and programmed auto exposure. To expand the system for greater photographic challenges, external slave strobes can be attached with an accessory strobe tray and arm system and a fiber optic cord for flash synchronization. Epoque ES-150 DSα and the ES-230 DS Auto strobes can function as slaves for use with the EHD-800Ai. The strobes are compact, high performance strobes which can be used with any underwater camera system via their Nikonos type sync cord connector, a fiber optic cord, or as a wireless slave.

In addition too being perfect for scuba divers who enjoy underwater photography, the EHD-800Ai is also the perfect outdoor camera for capturing great digital images in activities like surfing, ocean kayaking, and white water paddling. Like every Epoque photo system, the EHD-800Ai can be used as a stand alone photo tool, or it can become the center of an expanding system of accessories for increased creative control. Epoque is the most diverse and affordable high quality product line in underwater and outdoor photography.

Epoque underwater products, with worldwide corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Japan, offers a full line of underwater photo and video products. Epoque products have been a favorite of novice and advanced underwater photographers for over 20 years, and are distributed in 35 countries. Epoque USA, a division of Proteus Adaptive Devices LLC with over 30 years experience in underwater photography, is the exclusive authorized distributor of Epoque products in the USA.

For specific details, visit the website at : http://www.epoqueusa.com/epoque_EHD_800_AI.html

For complete information visit the web at www.EpoqueUSA.com, or call 203-599-1203.

Underwater Digital Photo System for under $400

Scuba Divers on Astrolabe Reef - Indo-Pacific Underwater Photography Gallery 6

Scuba Divers on Astrolabe Reef - Indo-Pacific Underwater Photography Gallery 6

Winning Eco Image Nets Diving Package

Underwater photographers contribute to conservation in unique photo contest

Rather than typical beauty shots, Project AWARE Foundation and SeaWeb’s Ocean in Focus Conservation Photography Contest attracted hundreds of images not seen in calendars or proudly placed in one’s living room. Rather, these shots delivered a more sobering message about the human impacts to our ocean. 


Grand prize winner Tom Campbell received highest honors for his shot, a California sea lion caught in a deep water drift net. Campbell believes that most images with visual impact are not taken by design. “When a photographer comes across such an unfortunate sight as I did, we have the opportunity to shoot and share a compelling, disturbing image to help show what’s happening beneath the surface of the sea,” said Campbell.


Campbell will receive a total Grand Prize package worth more than $2,000 including a seven-night stay at Plaza Resort Bonaire, $250 gift certificate to Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo, 16 tons of carbon offsets from NativeEnergy and a signed copy of the National Geographic book Wild Ocean by authors Dr. Sylvia Earle and Wolcott Henry. .


Contest categories were: Species of Concern/Ecosystem Decline and Humans and the Ocean: Impacts and Solutions. Photos were judged by Dr. Sylvia Earle – Oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer in Residence; Bob Talbot, world renowned photographer and filmmaker; Wolcott Henry, world renowned photographer and President of The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation; and Ty Sawyer, Editor-in-Chief of Sport Diver magazine. Prizes were donated by Plaza Resort Bonaire; Backscatter Underwater Video and Light; NativeEnergy; and National Geographic. Winners Claire Fackler, Steve Spring, Marco Carè and Steve Whitford were also awarded prizes recognizing their photographic achievements.

“The impacts to our ocean environments go unseen by most of society,” said Earle. “This photo contest has illuminated those perils through imagery and engaged hundreds of photographers worldwide to point their cameras more towards the threats and challenges facing our ocean.”

The winning photos and other noteworthy submissions can be viewed at www.marinephotobank.org, a project of SeaWeb.




Photographers and conservationists of all experience levels are encouraged to contribute environmental images to SeaWeb’s Marine Photobank and show support for conservation through Project AWARE Foundation. These images help researchers, educators, non-governmental organizations and the media depict ocean issues.

Marine Photobank

Reef Check's International Photo Contest

Reef Check's International Photo Contest is up and running and photos can be submitted until August 31st. This is a great opportunity to win some fantastic prizes!

 

You can enter and read more here: http://reefcheck.org/photo_contest

 

There are 3 Tropical Reef categories as well as a category for photographers 16 years old and younger:

 

People and the Reef
Images entered in this category must be powerful and memorable, showing the relationship between coral reefs and human beings (positive or negative); originality is key. Contestants must be 17 or older by the entry date. Image manipulation in this category is limited to global adjustments of white balance, tonal range, color balance, saturation, minor backscatter removal, cropping, dodge & burn, sharpening, and noise reduction. Digital composites are not allowed in this category. See rule 7.

Creative Visions of the Reef
Entries to this category should reveal new ways of seeing coral reefs and what they mean to you. Represent your vision in an imaginative or abstract way that captures the essence of the coral reef environment. Judges will be looking for originality and artistic vision. Contestants must be 17 or older by the entry date. Image manipulation in this category is limited to global adjustments of white balance, tonal range, color balance, saturation, minor backscatter removal, cropping, dodge & burn, sharpening, and noise reduction. Digital composites are allowed in this category. See rule 7.

 

Animal Behavior
Submissions must show memorable, unusual or striking behavior of any of the multitude of animals found on the reef. As with all categories, originality is key. Contestants must be 17 or older by the entry date. Image manipulation in this category is limited to global adjustments of white balance, tonal range, color balance, saturation, minor backscatter removal, cropping, dodge & burn, sharpening, and noise reduction. Digital composites are not allowed in this category. See rule 7.

 

Young Photographer

Submissions must capture scenery or a beautiful composition of tropical coral or California rocky reefs; originality is key. Contestants must be 16 or younger by the entry date. Image manipulation in this category is limited to global adjustments of white balance, tonal range, color balance, saturation, minor backscatter removal, cropping, dodge & burn, sharpening, and noise reduction. Digital composites are not allowed in this category. See rule 7

 

You can also vote for your favorite photos entered into the Reef Check Australia Photo Contest: www.reefcheckaustralia.org

 

underwater.com.au | Listing | Essential Digital Download | Bali 11-17 August 2007

Essential Digital Download | Bali 11-17 August 2007

"The Essential Digital Download program is designed to fast track your digital photographic skill, empowering you with techniques to produce artistically pleasing and technically correct images. The six day program is challenging, fun and your results measurable by the quality of your graduation portfolio. Digital Download includes daily lesson modules on the techniques of successful Underwater Photography, from the basics of lighting, to advanced composition and essential elements of post editing using Photoshop and various tested software to create multi-media presentations. Though the program schedule allows for maximum shooting time, the lesson modules, formal and informal critique sessions ensure participants with essential techniques to acquire publishable images.

The Download Instructors: this is your chance to learn from the PRO

Michael AW : author Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography, 2 times winner BBC Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer, 3 times winner Antibes World Festival of Underwater Pictures, 3 times winner Nikon International Photographic competition.

Mathieu Meur: author Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography, author of PADI Digital Underwater Photographer distinctive specialty, jury member - CMAS World Championship of Underwater Photography"

New Book! A Diver's Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography

FiNS Magazine Associate Editors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have just released a new book titled The Art of Underwater Photography. The book showcases first-rate underwater images from the Ferraris and contributors around the world, as well as setting out the Ferrari’s personal philosophy of the art behind creating outstanding marine images...

The book offers eight very enjoyable chapters covering topics such as motivation, equipment, technique, mindframe, artistic and media influences, housings, strobes, macro, wide angle, portraits, topside dive integral photography and much much more.

The illustrations are spectacular and also include the works of world class photographers such as: Doug Perrine, Charles Hood, John Scarlett, Alex Mustard, Eric Cheng, Tony Wu, Stephen Wong, Takako Uno and many more. There are over 300 amazing photographs and each is extensively captioned explaining the technique used, the equipment, location, creative goal and more.

About the Ferraris

Andrea (born 1957) and Antonella (born 1960) Ferrari have been happily married since 1986 and have no children. He is a movie journalist and film critic by profession and she works in the same publishing company as a technical printing advisor.

They live in the cold, foggy countryside south of Milan, Italy, in an old and beautifully restored farm going back to the eighteenth century, with their beloved third English Bull Terrier (yes, they're addicted to that lovely breed!), which comes by the name of Undaunted (he's Scottish) but has been rechristened Glen (he likes it better). They share a true love of nature and of course are just crazy about diving and the sea.

After having published two major photographic books on land wildlife in the early '90s (Wild Edens and Venezuela - In the Kingdom of the Jaguar) they finally turned their attention to underwater marine biology and photography.

Andrea and Antonella Ferrari have published several ground-breaking and very successful photographic books and hundreds of magazine articles on travel and marine life.

Their books - published in Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Great Britain, Malaysia, the Unites States of America and Japan - include Malaysia Diving Guide (1997) Malaysia - An Underwater Paradise (1998), Layang Layang - The Island of Dreams Come True (1998), Top Nature and Dive Resorts of Borneo (2001), Reef Life (1999), Sharks (2000, with a foreword by Doug Perrine and contributions by Valerie Taylor, Marty Snyderman and Howard Hall), A Diver's Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife (2003) and the spectacular coffee-table photographic volume Oceani Segreti (2004), which has been awarded the prestigious World Grand Prize at the Underwater Image Festival at Antibes.

Andrea and Antonella have also recently been honored as associate editors of Singapore-based FiNS dive magazine, on which they author a regular column on underwater critters.

To learn more and/or order the book visit:




Source: FINS

Wetpixel launches Wetpixel Quarterly

Magazine focuses on spectacular underwater imagery and the marine environment.

Wetpixel LLC announces the arrival of a new quarterly print magazine devoted to high-quality underwater photography. Wetpixel Quarterly brings fans of the underwater realm spectacular imagery in a landscape-oriented, high-resolution format. As well as celebrating the beauty of the deep, Wetpixel Quarterly provides a forum for a necessary dialog on marine conservation among photographers, researchers, conservationists, and the general public. To help foster this community, the magazine accepts and encourages contributions from professional and amateur photographers alike. Wetpixel.com is the most respected online destination for all things related to underwater imaging; Wetpixel Quarterly presents an exciting new venue for showcasing the work of this community in print.

The magazine's founders, Eric Cheng and Elijah Woolery—both avid divers and underwater photographers—hope to foster environmental stewardship by highlighting conservation concerns in Wetpixel Quarterly's theme-based issues. "By drawing attention to the links between the beauty of the underwater world and the action required to sustain these environments," says Woolery, "we're hoping to increase interest in preserving threatened areas around the globe—and to help protect those areas that are still pristine." Through interviews, articles, open contests, and, most importantly, the lenses of its contributors, Wetpixel Quarterly brings to the page a new sense of the fragility and splendor of underwater life.

About Wetpixel Quarterly:

Wetpixel Quarterly was founded in 2007 by Eric Cheng and Elijah Woolery to create a high-quality quarterly showcase of the best in underwater imagery in conjunction with news and information about marine research and conservation. Wetpixel Quarterly is printed in landscape orientation using 50% recycled materials. For more information, visit http://www.wetpixelquarterly.com

Photography Guru Joins DivePhotoGuide as Technical Editor

Popular site for underwater photographers continues to generate interest as its serve the diving world.

DivePhotoGuide.com, a leading website for underwater photographers and videograpghers is pleased to announce that Micahel McNamara, Popular Photography & Imaging Magazine's Executive Technology Editor, a renowned expert on digital cameras, imaging products, color printing, and color management systems, and also an underwater photographer, has joined the growing editorial team as a Contributing Technical Editor

In his position at the largest consumer photography magazine in the US, Mike gets to play with all the toys before the rest of us mere mortals. “DivePhotoGuide.com is fortunate to have Mike reporting on the latest and greatest DSLR's and compact digital cameras that are relevant to the underwater photographer.”, says Jason Heller, CEO.

Since 1999, Michael McNamara has also been the Editor of PP&I’s annual Digital Imaging Guide. Michael studied Ocean Science for three years at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. In 1992 Mike won the Mexican Government's prestigious "Pluma de Plata" (Silver Quill) journalism award for his feature story and underwater photographs on Cozumel, Mexico. He has also been interviewed numerous times on ABC, CBS, CNN, QVC, and PBS, and has been quoted by USA Today, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, the Photo Industry Reporter, and several other publications.

It's a brave new world out there - the cameras are getting more powerful, workflow, and image storage are necessary skills for today's photographers. Mike's an expert on it all, and he's now here reporting it to the underwater community.

http://www.divephotoguide.com/mike-mcnamara.php

Cool pics from Jane @ Lalati

Some very cool pics from Jane Carlson at Lalati on Beqa, Fiji.

These were all taken on the dive site "Jane's Lane" RIGHT OFF THE WHARF in front of the resort. Walk in, start clicking!

(c) all photos copyright Jane Carlson, Lalati Resort Fiji

SubStrobe DS-125 Intensity

SubStrobe DS-125 Intensity

By Ikelite

Our first big strobes 25 years ago were embraced by professional underwater photographers; but they teased us that the light was 'tinny' looking, so we embarked on developing a reflector coating to soften and warm the light. The result was a special soft-lite reflector that produces softer, warmer, and more natural colors. The effect is like the soft lighting of a surface photographer aiming the strobe into a light umbrella."

SubStrobe DS-125 Intensity

Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography

New book shows how to make the most of digital technology, with tips for purchasing gear, selecting camera settings and taking the first dive with a digital camera.

Also included are exposure techniques; lighting tips; ideas for close-up and super-macro photography; tips for fish photography, reducing backscatter; travelling with and caring for underwater digital equipment; and tips for reef protection.

DEMA Recap From SeaLife Cameras

SeaLife introduces new Digital PRO Flash, repositions Reefmaster Mini and introduces new Logo during Orlando event.

Digital PRO Flash

At DEMA 2007, Sealife introduced the Digital PRO Flash – SL961, which replaces the Digital Flash – SL960D.

The Digital PRO Flash is compatible with any SeaLife camera as well as all other brands of digital underwater cameras. It also features a new AUTO mode setting, which automatically adjusts the flash brightness for the optimal image exposure. A variable power adjustment setting allows the user to manually fine-tune the brightness for the desired effect.

“The best underwater photographs capture a whole other world,” said Joe Ifi, SeaLife Cameras director of sales and marketing. “This flash enables the photographer many different options in both settings and uses thus making that other world so much more accessible.”

Depth tested up to 200 feet (60m), this flash has an effective underwater distance range up to about 8 feet (2.5m), which makes it one of the most powerful flashes available in the market. Its flexible, rubberized arm allows for a sure grip and easy aiming. The flash is operated by 4 AA batteries for approximately 100 flashes.

The SeaLife Digital PRO Flash includes a universal mount, an optical cable connection which attaches to any camera as well as a deluxe carrying case. The Digital PRO Flash has a suggested list price of $399.95 and MAP of $349.95.

New Pricing

As of November 1, 2007 SeaLife has repositioned its ReefMaster Mini and Ecoshot cameras, just in time for the Holidays. The ReefMaster mini will now have a Sugg. Retail of $279.95 and MAP of $249.95 while the Ecoshot will be at $229.95 Sugg. Retail and $199.95 MAP. Both cameras are in stock and available for immediate shipment.

New SeaLife Logo

SeaLife unveiled their new contemporary logo design October 31 at the DEMA show in Orlando, Fla. The new image was reflects the ever-evolving aspects of the SeaLife brand and identity in today’s modern digital world.

“We place great emphasis on making sure that our brand image and logo reflect our dedication to providing consumers with the latest digital technology,” said Bjorn Harms, Vice President of SeaLife Cameras. “This new look for SeaLife encompasses the multi-faceted aspects of our growing business.”

For more details, visit the SeaLife Cameras website at www.sealife-cameras.com

Material posted and distributed through DiveNewswire

International Underwater Photo & Video Competition

Under the Blue 2007

Over $20,000 in Prizes!

Next in the series of UnderwaterCompetition.com underwater imagery events, and on the heels of the popular Our World Underwater & DEEP Indonesia competitions, Wetpixel, DivePhotoGuide and the 2007 SCUBA Show are proud to bring you “UNDER THE BLUE 2007”.

Photographers will compete in four still image categories, including a category for images that focus on California’s unique and beautiful underwater environment, and one video category. Winners will share in more than $20,000 in prizes, including premium dive travel, underwater photography and diving equipment! Travel prizes include trips to some of the top photo destinations in the world including Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and Australia.

2007 CATEGORIES

1. Majesty of the Oceans
2. The Macro World
3. Man & the Sea
4. California Underwater
5. Video

Rare "Prehistoric" Shark Photographed Alive

Flaring the gills that give the species its name, a frilled shark swims at Japan's Awashima Marine Park on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Sightings of living frilled sharks are rare, because the fish generally remain thousands of feet beneath the water's surface.


Spotted by a fisher on January 21, this 5.3-foot (160-centimeter) shark was transferred to the marine park, where it was placed in a seawater pool.

"We think it may have come to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," a park official told the Reuters news service. But the truth may never be known, since the "living fossil" died hours after it was caught.

See these photos and more at National Geographic

Millionaire diver wins right to explore wreck of the Lusitania

Mystery surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania may be resolved after the American owner of the Cunard liner won his case to dive on the wreck.

The decision by the Supreme Court in Dublin, the highest court in the Irish Republic, to overturn a refusal for an exploration licence from the Arts and Heritage Ministry clears the way for Gregg Bemis to realise a 40-year dream to uncover what made “the Greyhound of the Sea” sink so fast after she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off southwest Ireland in May 1915.

Mr Bemis, 78, is planning a dive on the Lusitania, lying in 300ft of water, this summer. But his main research will be conducted next year. “All the equipment that I need has already been booked for this year,” he told Irish newspapers.

Read the full story on Times Online...