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News - February 2005

The Magic of Mike Portelly
Alex is a happy chappy!
February BSoUP meeting

At the London International Dive Show (LIDS) on Sunday, March 6, this brilliant and innovative underwater film maker shows The Ocean's Daughter, the unique film, shot 25 years ago, that made him internationally famous. Also featured will be his stunning underwater TV commercials, and he reveals the secrets of the making of both the film and the advertisements. Mike will conclude with a pilot film made to drive conservation, and discusses his vision for the future of the undersea world and the land. His presentation will be at 3.30 p.m. in Platinum Suite One. Not to be missed.

ALEX IS A HAPPY CHAPPY!

Alex Mustard writes: 'I am very happy today because I am once again a photographer with a camera!

And it is very nice. For those with more than a passing interest in the D2X there is a detailed review by Norwegian photographer Bjorn Rorslett
http://www.naturfotograf.com/D2X_rev00.html

Alex'

Next BSoUP Meeting

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Wednesday 16th February 2005 at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m.

The Holland Club, Imperial College, London SW7 5BD.

The evening will start with three short talks on Photoshop techniques. Our Chairman Martha Tressler will kick the evening off with 'Getting Started with Photoshop'. One of her main qualifications is that she can still remember, just, what it was like at the very beginning. While this talk is aimed at those who have done very little (or nothing) with Photoshop, we are sure some of the more experienced users among you will also pick up a few ideas.

Dave Lloyd will then talk about using Selections and Layer Masks. This topic is aimed at those with both limited and intermediate experience with
Photoshop.

The final talk will again be given by Dave, this time covering Advanced Photoshop Techniques.

After the competition (see below) and break we will move into workshop mode, using all of the laptops brought along by various members. We will devote some laptops to each of the three talk topics above, while others may be used to experiment. We will have a number of coaches in the form of Dave (but there is only one of him!) and various Committee members, but if you
have a bit of Photoshop experience, note you may be 'encouraged' into a coaching role on the night!

For this section please bring some images to play with. If you have an image or two that you like but which perhaps need a bit of help, bring them
along on a memory stick or CD. At the Beginner end of the scale this probably means images that need a bit of brightening or darkening, cropping
or spotting.

FOCUS ON COMPETITION

The 'focus on' competition topic this month is 'Big Animals'. If you wish to enter digital images please submit them on CD or by email by end of day
MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY to:

alex@amustard.com

73 Briarswood
Southampton
SO16 6GD

See also Rules & Guidelines and Resizing images

We hope you enjoy this special evening and take something useful away at the end of it.

gill mcdonald

An underwater photography competition is being held in conjunction with Britain’s newest dive show, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 18–20 March. Go Diving! is part of the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show, and is where the best pictures will be displayed.

The contest is run in association with DIVE magazine, and entries are welcome until the closing date of Friday 25 February. The competition is themed around the concept ‘My Favourite Dive’, which entrants are invited to interpret in any way they like.

First prize will be a £500 Casio digital camera with housing and a Casio watch; second prize is the camera and housing and third place will win a camera on its own. A selection of the best shots will be judged by Arctic adventurer Graham Dickson.

All entries for the photography competition must be submitted as prints, and all underwater photographers are welcome to enter. Send entries to: Photo Competition, DIVE, 83-84 George Street, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1HE. Entries will not be returned.

New rules brought in by the Red Sea Association for Diving and Watersports have set stricter requirements for liveaboard and day diving charter boats, and the divers who holiday aboard them.

The rules cover ratios of dive guides to diving guests, surface cover, guide qualifications, guest experience and certification, and equipping of guides and guests alike.

They come in the wake of a number of diving incidents, culminating in a serious emergency last summer off the Brother Islands. A group of 12 divers, including a dive guide, were lost and drifted 26 miles during 13 hours in the sea.

They were picked up after dark when a boat spotted their waved torches. Two of the hypothermic divers would probably not have survived the whole night at sea.
Under the new rules, all Red Sea liveaboard dive charter boats need to provide:
* One guide for every eight guests;
* One guide for surface support and supervision, which effectively means that all dives away from the main vessel require continuous small-boat cover;
* All guides possessing a valid Red Sea Association professional ID card;
* All guides carrying an SMB, reflective mirror, strobe and torch.
Guests on such holidays will need to:
* Show evidence of at least 50 logged dives;

* Each carry an SMB and, within buddy pairs, possess at least one torch, even on morning dives;
* Possess medical certification of fitness to dive, issued less than one year before the start of the trip;
* Possess diving accident insurance from a "reputable company".
Meanwhile all day-diving boats need to provide: * One guide for every ten divers, where the divers have at least 25 loggeddives;
* One guide for every six divers, where divers have fewer than 25 loggeddives;
* All guides possessing a valid Red Sea Association professional ID card.
Day-diving guests will need to:
* Present diving logbook and agency certification;
* Possess medical certification and accident insurance, as above.
Before the introduction of the new rules, charters in designated marine park areas only were subject to "clearly spelled out regulations", says the Red Sea Association. The 1:8 guide-to-guest ratio was specified, along with the requirement that guests had logged at least 50 dives.

The association would welcome comments on the new regulations from dive charter guests or boat operators. Divers can also contact the organisation if they see any practice they think breaks the rules.

Red Sea Association for Diving and Watersports - association@redseaexperience.com

L'Estartit-Illes Medes, right at the heart of the Costa Brava-Gerona (Spain), will be host from 13 to 18 September 2005 to the X WORLD UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY CHAMPIONSHIP 2005.

Twenty years of submarine pictures form the background to this championship which is once again paying homage to the Medes Islands Natural Reserve and the biodiversity of its seabed. Aside from its competitive aspect, this championship is again aiming to increase people's awareness and to promote respect for the environment and the need to preserve this space, at times subject to non-regulated human presence.

As members of the organising committee, this is the first time we are contacting you on this matter to let you know about this championship's website and the e-mail address that will be used to centralise all the championship organisation and publicity measures:

- www.mundialfotosub.com (under construction)
- info@mundialfotosub.com

Genís Dalmau
Councillor for Tourism and Education
Torroella de Montgrí-L'Estartit Town Council

Tourist Office - Passeig Marítim s/n - 17258 L'Estartit -Costa Brava - Spain
Tel.: (+0034) 972 75 19 10 - Fax: (+) 0034 972 75 17 49 -

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