LAUPS: The Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society
Founded 1957 - Celebrating 50 years of underwater photography

[If you know a film shooter, please print this out for them or read it to them. ;-) ]

FUJIFILM INTRODUCES FUJICHROME VELVIA 50 FOR PROFESSIONALS

PMA 2007 Booth # E100
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/pma

Valhalla, NY, February 22, 2007 - FUJIFILM U.S.A., Inc. is introducing new Fujichrome Velvia 50 for Professionals (RVP 50), a high color saturation, high contrast transparency film at the PMA 2007 Annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV.

At the beginning of 2005 Fujifilm announced the discontinuation of previous Fujichrome Velvia for Professionals (RVP) due to difficulties in procuring some of the key raw materials used to produce the product. However, since the last stocks were sold earlier last year, the company received many requests from photographers worldwide to restart manufacturing, as they had used Velvia for many years and consider it unmatched in terms of quality and character. One of Fujifilm’s main priorities is to nurture the culture of photography, so those requests were taken very seriously. As a result, Fujifilm research and development teams have been working hard to develop substitute raw materials and new manufacturing technologies that enable the company to restart production of this famous emulsion.

"We are so pleased to respond to requests from our photographer customers in this way and we look forward to seeing the work they will produce with this wonderful new film," said Christian Fridholm, Director of Marketing, Picture Taking, Imaging Division, Fujifilm USA.

The characteristics of new Velvia 50 will mirror that of the previous Velvia. Velvia 50 will be the film of choice for leading landscape, nature and other photographers who will appreciate its high color saturation, image depth and dramatic color reproduction.

Velvia 50 offers the following noteworthy features:

Vivid color Reproduction with Ultra-high Color saturation: Velvia 50 delivers the vivid color and high saturation for which the original Velvia was famous
Fine Grain: Velvia 50 features a fine RMS granularity of 9.
Neutral Grey Uniformity and Unsurpassed Shadow Depth: A uniform neutral grey is reproduced all the way from the highest highlights to the deepest shadows
The initial shipments of the new Velvia 50 are scheduled for early summer 2007.

For additional information, go to www.fujifilmusa.com/pma

How Californians Can Help Sea Otters: State Tax Check-Off

In 1938, a lone colony of California sea otters, once feared hunted to extinction, was discovered off of Big Sur. Conservation efforts ensued, but by 1977 sea otters were listed under the Endangered Species Act. They remain there to this day, still threatened with extinction. This tax season, Californians can help sea otters through a simple act of generosity: checking a box on their tax returns that sets aside funds for otter research and recovery. The Ocean Conservancy helped pass legislation to create this easy check-off, but the box will disappear unless California taxpayers donate $250,000.So, this April, please give to the CA Sea Otter Fund when filling out your tax forms. Learn more about sea otter conservation in California:


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From LAUPS Sponsor Paul's photo:

It's that time of the month already!!

March 1 Advanced Thursday “Stay on Target” -6pm Mexican Dinner 7:15 class
March 3 Saturday Intermediate Travel “People”- 8am
March 5 Monday Intermediate Portrait “Lighting Patterns”- 7pm
March 6 Tuesday Intermediate Exposure “Right White”- 7pm

FYI... You snooze, you lose!
March 17 Rob Sheppard’s Photoshop Essentials 1- 4 openings
June 2-3 Lewis Kemper Photoshop Plus- 8 openings
May 17-20 Weston- Carmel figure Workshop- 3 openings
Oct 25-28 Yosemite Fall Adventure- 3 openings

Mark Comon
PAUL'S PHOTO
23845 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505
www.paulsphoto.com

We wish to remind all our friends and fans the XXIXth International Underwater Photo and Video Contest "Città di Faenza" 2007.

MARCH 28th 2007: Deadline for submitting all the works in competition.
APRIL 1st 2007: Judges' meeting.
APRIL 21st 2007: Exhibition opening.
APRIL 28th 2007: at 17.00 hrs. Prize-giving Ceremony of all the winning works and "Visitors' prize" 2007 award.
APRIL 29th 2007: at 19.30 hrs. Exhibition close.

The new 2007 Regulations, the registration forms, the list of the sponsors who have already joined the 2007 exhibition until now and supported it are available on the exhibition site: www.ameba.org/csf

Many thanks to everybody and looking forward to meeting you in Faenza!

Best regards

Andrea Giulianini e Rosa Donati
Centro Sub Faenza

All three species of thresher sharks and the scalloped hammerhead shark have been moved to the endangered Red List, with increasing pressure on blue sharks (a 70% decrease in number).

Read the article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070222/sc_nm/climate_sharks_dc

Two compact HD video cameras recently announced, both 720p with 7 megapixel stills:

The Canon Powershot TX1

The Sanyo Xactia HD2

Now we're getting somewhere... Canon make the first SLR anouncement of the 2007 PMA season: the EOS-1D Mark III, "the world's fastest digital SLR camera."

Canon press release

-10 frames per second
-10.1 megapixels, APS-H size CMOS sensor, 28.1 by 18.7mm, 1.3x magnification factor.
-bursts of 110 Large JPEGs or 30 RAW files
-ISO range of 100 to 3200 with extensions to ISO 50 and a highly usable ISO 6400
-Liveview LCD with remote capability [Ed: great for composing and polecams!]
-integrated cleaning system, dust-removing vibrating sensor cover
-14 bit raw images
-Highlight tone priority extends the dynamic range of highlights by about one stop and improves gradation within highlight areas [Ed: could this be the first digital to do sunbursts?]
-estimated shooting capacity has significantly improved from 1200 shots for the 1D Mark II N Digital SLR to approximately 2200 shots for the EOS-1D Mark III Digital SLR under normal shooting conditions.
-Up to six frequently used menu options and Custom Functions can be registered in a new user-friendly feature, called "My Menu."
-Up to 10 sets of camera settings can now be saved to one recording medium and moved from one camera to another.
-Up to five Personal white balance settings and five custom white balance data items can now be registered.
-Another breakthrough option is the ability to record to external USB storage devices connected to the camera via the optional WFT-E2A Wireless Transmitter [Ed: download with a sealed housing?]
-Yet another new option is automatic switching of recording media

Furthermore, Canon today unveils several new accessories, including the EF-16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens and the Speedlite 580EX II Flash.

This week brings the release of Adobe Lightroom 1.0, at an introductory price of $199, then up to $299. (Next week may bring a rev to Apple's Aperture, they have a booth at PMA). Both apps have free 30 day trials and probably have enough of a learning curve that you should take advantage of a good fraction of that before deciding which one works the way you do.

In honor of the release, the OReilly blogs "Inside Aperture" and "Inside Lightroom" are having a 10 day comparison between the two applications.

Inside Aperture

Inside Lightroom

We've got our club meeting coming up this wednesday.

Speaker: Allan and Barbara Jones on Diving the Banda Sea and Raja Ampat Region

Allan and Barbara Jones have been dive buddies for the past 30 years.

Starting with the Sea Sabres Dive Club where they learned to dive and survive in California waters, they have progressed from underwater tourists, to game takers and now as serious amateur photographers.

They consider themselves fortunate that as husband and wife they can pursue their mutual interest in diving and photography as a team. Allan handles the technical aspects, equipment repair and gear cleaning, while Barbara has the artistic flair required for recognition of subjects and composition. Their diving experience includes California, Caribbean, and Indo-Pacific waters.

Their images have been published in various magazines including Islands, Discover Diving, Dan’s Alert Diver, AustralAsia Scuba Diver, Asian Diver and Ocean Realm. They have placed in numerous contests and have received the David Doubilet Award for Excellence in Underwater Photography.

They are long term members of the Orange County Underwater Photographic Society and are volunteer divers at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA

Workshop: Tony Frank, monitor calibration

Comp: MiniComp. Theme: Pairs

Submit your images with the following names, please:

0702_open_title_yourname
0702_novice_title_yourname

Bring the images with you or submit them ahead of time to comp_entry@laups.org. Thanks and good luck!

Interested in tracking the camera announcements leading up to PMA or the action at the show? DP Review has set up two web pages with RSS feeds for you. Bookmark the RSS feeds to stay up to date.

DP Review PMA 2007


feed://www.dpreview.com/feeds/shows/pma2007_products.xml


feed://www.dpreview.com/feeds/shows/pma2007.xml

Need help identifying rockfish?

Check out these guides.

The Ocean Protection Council of the state Resources Agency convened in Santa Monica to consider its own proposals to stem the tide of plastic. Amid urging by various members of the environmental community, the council also adopted all the proposals made by Heal the Bay.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/5708616.html

Text of the resolution

Algalita Marine Research Foundation

Man Tracks Down And Gets Prosecuted Baggage Handler Who Stole His Camera, Delta Still Won't Refund

Read more

Ever wonder how lenses are made?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7_wL0ZZi6k

Kodak is entering their last year of restructuring, with additional layoffs (payroll headcount at 1930's levels)


http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16653269.htm

They have had their first profitable quarter since 2004. This quarter was also the first with more earnings from digital than film).

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/rss/16589535.htm


And have released a new printer with AFFORDABLE ink.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16632962.htm

In case you are taking any of your new friends home with you:

The electronic version of the 2007 California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet is now available on the Marine Region's web site at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/sportfishing_regs2007.html

This bookmarked PDF file features bolded, italicized bookmark headings which denote sections that have changed or are new for 2007.

The booklet will be printed and distributed in February 2007.

Please note:

* New groundfish regulations are in effect as of January 19, 2007. This includes regulations pertaining to all species listed in Section 1.91 Federal Groundfish and Rockfish, Cabezon and Greenling (RCG Complex).

* All other regulation changes for 2007 are expected to become effective on March 1, 2007 after filing by the Office of Administrative Law.

In case you haven't been able to see the Redondo squid run, LAUPS member Walter Marti has recorded a video that is truly the next best thing to being there. Really great footage. Be sure to check out Walt's other award winning clips on his new homepage.

Squid run video "They Come"

Walter's Page

From Scott:

as some of you know, we had a nice squid run up here in Los Angeles over the last week...

I thought I'd share a couple videos I made (with my P&S camera) so you could experience a little bit what the squid run is like, in case you've never seen one. They come into the redondo submarine canyon each winter, although there wasn't a squid run last year.

Squid run video: Jan 26th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXdBcQVfXLM

After the squid run: bat ray city, eating the squid: Jan 30th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qAl__sJvoU

enjoy!

Scott

see Scott's web page at: http://www.ladiving.org/

Download the premiere issue of Underwater Journal:
www.underwaterjournal.com

And download issue 15 of XRay Dive Magazine:
http://www.xray-mag.com/article/295

April is the Manta Mating Season and mantas are everywhere! Just in case you miss one, Manta Ray Bay owner Bill Acker is offering a Manta Money Back Guarantee. If a diver purchases an April 2007, 7-night/10-dive package (or more) and does not see a single manta during his 10 dives, Manta Ray Bay resort will refund the diver's money. How could someone spend 10 dives in Yap's water and not see a single manta, especially during April, one of the most active times for mantas? Although it is unlikely, divers could possibly miss a manta sighting because they are distracted by Yap's many other underwater attractions: sharks, turtles, pipefish, frogfish, nudibranches and of course, Mandarin fish. We offer guests over 50 dive sites. So this April, take Bill up on his offer. He guarantees that a week in Yap will be one of your greatest diving adventures, ever! (photo by resident pro, Mike Veitch).

http://www.mantaray.com/

Beginning next week, Scripps will bring you the same high-quality features previously found on the pages of Explorations in an exciting multimedia format available through e-mail and online. Sign up for explorations@scripps and you'll receive exciting Scripps science stories and news e-mailed to you FREE every month!

* Explore Scripps science behind-the-scenes with exciting interactive multimedia features available only online.
* Dive into a rich online archive of ocean and earth science information, including high-quality videos, feature articles, and the photo of the day.
* Share your favorite Scripps news with friends and family with the click of a button.
* Surf our e-magazine online and help reduce paper waste and carbon dioxide emissions connected to print magazine production.

Sign up today at: http://supportscripps.ucsd.edu/Signup/

Kodak has released two photo enhancing plugins for photoshop, with free trials:

The DIGITAL SHO Plug-In, for ADOBE PHOTOSHOP and compatible programs, automatically reveals image details hidden in shadow areas with the professional version also revealing details from highlights and supporting 16-bit. Great for fixing common exposure problems caused by backlit subjects, uneven flash illumination and partial shade.

The DIGITAL GEM Plug-Ins, for ADOBE PHOTOSHOP and compatible programs, automatically reduces and manages noise and grain in digital images without causing excessive softening or blurring. The professional version adds a powerful new grain/noise reducing algorithm, a "Noise Preview" screen, 16-bit support, and more.

Kodak's Austin Development Center - Photoshop Plugins & More!

http://www.asf.com/