The Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival, “a competitive filmmaking event developed to bring the finest ocean films from around the world to Santa Barbara,” will be held on October 20-21, 2007. Sponsors include the Ocean Channel, Brooks Institute of Photography, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and the festival is currently accepting entries in ‘short form,’ ‘long form,’ and ‘feature’ categories.

The submission deadline of August 31, 2007 is quickly approaching, so be sure to send a preview copy of your entry on DVD. Accepted films will be screened at Arlington Theater and the Maritime Museum in Santa Barbara, CA, and tickets to attend can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

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Ken Weemhoff of Galapagos Aventures has written up an informative update concerning the situation in the Galapagos that resulted in all dive trips being canceled last month. A meeting in Ecuador yesterday resulted in a decision “to accept a moratorium on the ban on diving until December 31.” Ken writes, “beginning next Monday (August 27) all previously booked dive trips to Galapagos which are scheduled for 2007 will operate as planned.  The authorities were instructed that they are to issue new tourist (diving) patentes to begin in January 2008 and that the local fishermen are to be given priority in acquiring these new patentes.”

Despite the good news for tour operators and divers with plans to travel to the Galapagos, it may take Ecuador a long time to recover from the incredible stupidity of its actions.  After all of this, what diver is going to believe that a trip planned to the Galapagos won’t have a high likelihood of being disrupted by local corruption and bureaucracy?  It’s a good thing its waters are still productive enough for people to take the risk.

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Nikon has just announced two new digital SLR cameras and a slurry of new lenses.  The long-awaited flagship, the D3, features a 12.1 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor and is crammed full of modern features including 14-bit A/D conversion, super-fast frame rate, live view with auto-focus, and more.  The new D300 digital SLR offers nearly all of the same features, and will surely be a worthy successor to the venerable D200.  Nikon also announced two new professional-quality zoom lenses, the AF-S 14-24 mm and 24-70 mm F2.8G ED, as well as an entire line of VR-stabilized long primes.

DPReview has a detailed preview of all of the new products: [D3] [D300] [Wide Zooms] [Telephoto Lenses]
Update: Gizmodo has posted some hands-on photographs.

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The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS) has announced the 43rd Annual International Underwater Photographic Competition and the Bob Commer Award of Excellence in Underwater Photography.

Starting this year, SEA2007 will no longer accept 35mm slides, but scanned images entered in the digital or print categories are acceptable. Also new is the addition of the Marine Conservation category to complement the Macro, Wide Angle, and Underwater California categories. Prizes include liveaboard trips on the Nai’a, Bilikiki, Febrina, and Pindito and an assortment of underwater photography and videography gear. Entries must be received by October 12, 2007 - continue reading for the full press release, or visit SEA2007 to enter…

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Interested in capturing images of the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island, Mexico? Three spots have just opened up on a September 15-19, 2007 digital imaging and editing trip with underwater imager Marty Snyderman and video editing and DiveFilm podcasting pro Mary Lynn Price.

Along with the experience of diving with the sharks, the trip will feature daily workshop presentations by Marty and Mary Lynn to help underwater photographers and videographers get the most out of their digital imaging, covering topics including lens selection, archiving, and visual storytelling. For more information, visit San Diego Shark Diving Expeditions.

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