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

The results of the 2007 - 45th Annual LAUPS International Competition are now posted!

Link to Results

Congratulations to all the winners!
Thanks to our judges and sponsors, without whom the contest would not be possible.
And thanks to all out entrants. The judges had a tough time this year. We'll soon post comments from them on the competition, as we have in years past.

Our apologies for the delay in posting results, many of our members helping to run the competition had trips to make after the competition (and not all for diving!)

International Results will be posted this saturday. Sorry for the delay.

Our members have been traveling a lot lately, and here are two great trip reports.






First, from Jim Lyle, a report on his trip to Lembeh Straits and Wakatobi. Several LAUPS members were on this trip including Scott and Margaret Webb, John Nolan, and Roger and Judy Carlson.

Indonesia – Part I Lembeh

Indonesia – Part II Wakotobi


Next, from LAUPS and OCUPS member Kevin Lee, a report on his Malaysian Sea Slug expedition with Dave Behrens of Sea Challengers:

The 1st Malaysian Sea Slug Expedition, organized by David Behrens, included twelve enthusiastic nudiphiles, all in serious search of opisthobranchs. Larger, colorful and conspicuous slugs were easy to spot and photograph, in situ; however, the majority were mighty small, even as tiny as a grain of rice, well camouflaged, and hiding, making them very challenging to see, let alone photograph. The most favorable and productive hunting results came from keen concentration on food sources or recognizing tell-tale signs such as egg masses. Also, overturning rubble and rocks, and simply waiting for something to "move" yielded nice finds. Only uncommon or unrecognized specimens were gathered in collection bags and brought aboard. Of course, care was taken not to harm live coral or disturb other marine life, during the collection process.

Once on board, the slugs were gently placed in a shallow tub of ocean water and allowed to settle on some rocky substrate for more photographs, identification and recording. Known species were returned to the ocean, at the approximate depth they were found. The rarer or unknown specimens were preserved for further examination and analysis (electron microscopy, dissection, DNA) by the California Academy of Sciences. The expedition found 153 species, 8 previously unknown to science and 18 still un-described. The process of identifying, publishing and naming new species is arduous and can take years to complete. Studying sea slugs helps us understand evolutionary patterns, from which we can better understand our planet (and hopefully make it better, not worse).

We can expect to see some of the Malaysian opisthobranchs in print for the first time, next June, when a new book, with 1500 species, will be published by Dave Behrens and his associates. Many of the Malaysian Opisthobranchs, found during our expedition and photographed by me, have been uploaded, to the Photo Gallery of www.ocdiving.com. There's more to come, pending proper identification.

http://www.ocdiving.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=21354

Some topside pix of our Malaysia Sea Slug Expedition:

http://www.ocdiving.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=21758

DEMA 2007: Complete Coverage from DivePhotoGuide.

The guys from Wetpixel have posted some show coverage from DEMA, take a look!