Whales under Threat

United States Urged to take a strong stance against Whale Hunting

If you haven't heard yet, there's actually a chance that the ban on whaling could be repealed.  I feel strongly, that that would be the wrong step to take.

Diving Underwater with giant jellyfish

Underwater photographers hit the jackpot

It was my 5th day of blue-water diving over the last 3 weeks for pelagic jellyfish in Southern California, and my 2nd charter I was bringing out to experience the jellies.

Dropping down our line, at about 70ft the water was getting clear. The ocean floor was 1,000ft below us.

Wow, we really hit the jackpot. A giant 15ft purple jellyfish, with an entire squadron of fish being sheltered, started to swim by. 

Interview with Underwater Photographer Vincent Kneefel

By Scott Gietler

The other day I caught up with Underwater Photographer Vincent Kneefel, who lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Although Vincent is only 25 years old, he has had experiences in diving, underwater photography and marine conservation that many of us will not have over the course of a lifetime.

Sperm Whale, Azores, photo by Vincent Kneefel. Canon 5D, Sigma 15mm fisheye lens

The following is an edited version of some of the discussions that we had.

New Nexus Glass Dome Port for Nexus Underwater Housings

These new ports from Nexus are for housings with the M6 port size. You can read about the different Nexus port sizes on our Nexus underwater housing page.

Nexus glass dome port for the Nikon 14-24mm lens

Nexus has released a new glass dome port for use with the Nikon 14-24mm lens. The 14-24 dome with the 60mm extension has manual focus control, and the Zoom is operated from the control on the housing.

Using the right Arms and Clamps in your Underwater Photography

See what happens when you go cheap

The importance of good Underwater Photography Equipment

When I go underwater to take photos, I want my equipment to work, to be easy to use, and not cost an arm and a leg. 

Back in 2006, after shooting with a point and shoot camera for a while, I decided to upgrade. Did I want a more expensive point and shoot with wet lenses and two strobes? Or did I want a dSLR? 

Underwater Photography Guide starts new Travel Column

Biweekly travel column will come out the 1st and 15th of each month

"Across the Globe Behind the Lens"

Welcome to “Across the Globe Behind the Lens” a new feature column designed to give the traveling underwater photographer the travel end of everything you need to know to go out and get those coffee table book images you’ve always wanted. Unfortunately, most of us don’t live in a place where we can walk out our back door and dive a site worthy of thousands of exposures with endless tantalizing subjects. Those amazing images, the ones we want to shoot and the ones that win contests not only take great technique and great gear but a great dive location as well.

Blue Water Diving for Pelagic Invertebrates

Underwater Photography in 2,000ft of water

After finding very unfavorable conditions on shore, our boat captain suggested we try a "blue water" dive and see what comes by. The idea sounded very exciting, and I quickly said "yes!".

We were near Point Vincente, in Los Angeles County California. We then motored 4 1/2 miles off the California coast towards Catalina Island, where the bottom was 2,000ft below us. The boat engine was turned off, the anchor was dropped down 80ft into the depths, and we started suiting up.

Santa Cruz, Channel Islands Dive Report

Photos from the first Underwater Photography Guide trip of 2010

24 of us set sail on the Peace boat to Santa Cruz Island for some Channel Islands diving, with camera and video recorders in hand. We left at 3AM, and the 3 1/2 hour journey to Gull Island, at the southwest corner of Santa Cruz, was fairly smooth except for an hour of bumps as we crossed the channel from Ventura to Anacapa Island.

As we arrived at Gull island, Santa Cruz - The sun was out, and California Grey whales surrounded the boat! They were all over the place.

Photo by Carl Gwinn. F11, 1/1250th, 300mm

Careful Composition in your Underwater Photos

A lesson on underwater composition

With a little bit of work, you can get good compositions in your underwater photography. Very good compositions, however, can be very difficult. 

No matter if you are using a compact camera or a dSLR, sometimes the slightest movement of the camera can throw off a composition. Such is the case for a composition like this 3-inch long Coralline Sculpin, taken at Santa Cruz island in the northern Channel Islands.

Underwater Images - are they being stolen?

The other day I was doing a search on twitter for "underwater photography", and I noticed something interesting. The most popular results were for titles like "10 amazing underwater photos", "50 best underwater photographs", and "20 stunning underwater images".