 |
 |
Quality DVDs Sought for Underwater Film Festival
Assemble now your best underwater video film footage for the SCUBA Show 2006 underwater film festival. The 19th SCUBA Show is the largest dive expo of its type in the Western U.S. and this year takes place June 24-25 at the Long Beach Convention Center.
One of the most popular portions of the annual Southern California SCUBA Show has been the unique continuous film festival. Films will be screened digitally on a massive screen with state of the art equipment and viewed by thousands of attendees. Featured at past film festivals have been footage and films from some of the world’s greatest underwater cinematographers. Even so, some of the most well received films have been from non-professional and semi-professional underwater camera operators.
For this year’s show, the film festival will be wide open to this talented group. The management of the popular annual dive convention is conducting an aggressive all-out search for the best in underwater video films. They are also opening up the category to include digital still presentations set to music or narration. Submissions for consideration should be new material, never before shown in a film festival setting or on television. Films and digital slide shows of 3 to 30 minutes in length are preferred, but shorter is usually better. Footage can be from anywhere in the world, but the video should contain at least 50 percent underwater footage. Those films accepted for screening will be paid an honorarium. Firm deadline for DVD submission is April 3, 2006. For a complete guideline sheet on submissions, call (310) 792-2333, fax (310) 792-2336, or view the guidelines web page at www.saintbrendan.com/filmguid.htm.
 |
|
Cheryl Slabey holds her award while chamber director Karl Huggins praises her 20+ years of service. Photo by Ken Kurtis.
|
Slabey Awarded for 20 Years of Service
Cheryl Slabey, a volunteer supervisor at the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, was given a 20-year service plaque during the awards ceremony at the Avalon Underwater Cleanup. The award was presented to her by Chamber Director Karl Huggins. Slabey started volunteering at the Chamber in December of 1984 and has been a fixture ever since. In addition to her supervisory duties, she also coordinates the Chamber booth for the Avalon Cleanup, as well as for other diver-oriented events where the Chamber has a presence.
— from Ken Kurtis
 |
|
Jeff Reimer emerges from the Harbor with some of his “treasure.” Jeff was later awarded the “Financial” prize for finding a card-holder that contained 5 credit and, separately, a $1 bill. Photo by Ken Kurtis.
|
Avalon Underwater Cleanup a Big Success
A record 554 registrants descended upon Avalon on Saturday, February 25, for the 25th annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup. The divers enjoyed a picture-perfect day with balmy topside weather and underwater visibility that approached 50 feet.
Starting en masse at 9:30 a.m., divers entered from the Green Pleasure Pier, Step Beach, and around the Casino and the Underwater Park in search of trash and treasure. When all was said and done, over two tons of trash (4150 pounds) was recovered.
Trash awards and raffle prizes were given out in the afternoon. Among the award winners was Jeff Reimer who won the “Financial” award for finding a small case that contained five credit cards and, separately, a single $1 bill. Reimer is working to track down the owner of the cards so he can return them and the case. Other items of interest this year included a full tackle box, a set of billiard balls, a boat windshield, and the requisite golf balls.
All told, Boivin estimates that the event raised about $15,000, which is split equally between the Catalina Conservancy Divers and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The official presentation of the check to the Chamber will happen during Chamber Evening on May 3 at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
“25 years and still counting,” said Boivin, with a nod to the fact that the 26th annual Cleanup will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2007.
— from Ken Kurtis
San Diego UPS Honored in Smithsonian
The San Diego Underwater Photography Society (SDUPS) is celebrating its 45th anniversary in style. It started in the fall of 2005 when the group was selected as Winner in the Camera Club category of the 2005 “Nature’s Best Photography” Awards competition. Only 130 photographs were chosen from more than 14,000 images submitted. Twelve SDUPS photos by eleven different members were then published in the Awards Special Edition of “NATURE’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY” in mid-October.
That wasn’t all! “Nature’s Best Photography” then chose the SDUPS photos from among the Awards Special Edition issue as the centerpiece in their current exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. The SDUPS photos are in good company, surrounded by the winning cover photos of the past ten years and other 2005 category winners. This Smithsonian exhibit is on display at the Museum of Natural History from December 2005 until approximately May 2006.
The manner in which the Smithsonian exhibit was made known to the SDUPS membership is a story itself. Two SDUPS members, Dick Gamble and Juli Tracy, just happened to be at the Smithsonian during a Christmas visit with their twin four-year-old grandsons and chanced upon the exhibit. It turns out that Dick was one of the winners and in the exhibit! Juli captured the momentous occasion appropriately using her digital underwater camera sans housing. When they returned to San Diego they created a slide show of the occasion and surprised the SDUPS members during the Jan. 2006 monthly meeting. It goes without saying all members were extremely pleased to win the annual magazine award but were then astounded and further honored to see their images in the Smithsonian.
As Gamble said, “It was very difficult for us to absorb the full extent of this honor when my image and those of my colleagues were discovered in the Smithsonian. And this astounding honor came on top of being awarded first place out of the thousands of photos submitted to the annual ‘Nature’s Best Photography’ magazine too! This was a lifetime treat to find our very own images, out of all those other magazine category winners, on display in the prestigious Smithsonian. It is a major tribute to our members’ professionalism and depth of talent. All our members owe a special thanks to Don Hill who spent considerable effort to organize the Club entries and liaise with ‘Natures Best Photography’ magazine.”
Carrier to be Sunk
The Navy’s pilot program to create a reef of retired warships off the coast of Florida finally got approval from the EPA to sink the USS Oriskany in the waters of Pensacola, Florida. The “Mighty O,” which saw action in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts and was home to U.S. Senator John McCain during the Vietnam war, will become the world’s largest intentionally created man-made reef. On May 17, explosives will be placed in the hollowed-out shell and will plummet 210 feet to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The sinking has been delayed two years, but locals hope that the sinking will boost tourism after this past season’s hurricanes that devastated the local economy.
Fisheries Recovering?
According to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, “The West Coast lingcod stock has been successfully rebuilt after being designated ‘overfished’ by the federal government in 1999.” They also state that some rockfish species have recovered.
Many divers are, however, saying “where?”