Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dive Photo Guide Offers Free Online Tutorials

New York (Jan 27, 2010) – In response to the global demand from photographers, scuba divers, surfers and snorkelers around the world, leading underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has launched a highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials.

The underwater photography guides offer easy-to-read tutorials for photographers all levels to learn how to take great underwater photos. The tutorials are written by professional underwater photographer Jason Heller and DivePhotoGuide.com editor Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard. Each tutorial includes beautiful underwater photos and equipment set-up shots that illustrate each technique.

Underwater photography can be incredibly rewarding, but it does pose unique challenges and requires an understanding of basic principles and techniques. Beginners will find the Getting Started Guide very intuitive, including the top ten basic principles of underwater photography and how to select your first underwater camera system. Other tutorials include macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and a number of creative techniques. New and advanced techniques and tutorials will be added on a regular basis.

Popular underwater photography website DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from the top pros and amateurs in the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.


Shark Research Isla Guadalupe - Complex Emotional Data

Science is not always pretty. Field science even less so. The headlong rush to extract data from big charismatic mega fauna like the white shark has lead us to a real debate within the shark community over invasive tagging methods.

SPOT tagging is a questionable method of tagging whites that involves catching them with baited hooks and attaching a "drilled on" dorsal tech package. The argument is these packages last longer and deliver more data to researchers which is then used to protect the species.

We have been supporters of this method until recently.

Unfortunately when reviewing videos of SPOT tagging, one comes to the conclusion that these efforts are in dire need of set protocols that do less invasive harm to magnificent breeding aged animals. The loss of just one of these animals through invasive research would be a major blow to the entire western pacific population.

At no point should anyone on this team be lacking for any contingency, seconds count, and the lack of basics, like support tires for this animal, multiple and conflicting directive voices, and a fresh sea water tube that is 10% effective is appalling to watch:



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