We have just released our Underwater Photography Course. It provides students with the technical and practical knowledge and skills to be competent digital underwater photographers and is suitable for entry level to intermediate underwater photographers.

The course comprises theory (available online or in hard copy), diving and workshop sessions. The theory section covers relevant information in relation to using your digital camera, the behavior of light underwater, composition, taking your camera underwater and post dive camera care and post production. The course also includes 4 practical photography dives and a post dive workshop including critique of your photos.

A course will be held across the January Long Weekend (24th to 26th) but may also be sheduled other times to suit student requirements <more info>

Happy Studying !!!

On Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of October 2014 the Arts Centre at Gawler St, Port Noarlunga is once again the venue for the Annual Photography Expo. Last year was a great success, and 2014 promises to be no exception. This is your opportunity to meet the professionals in retail and photographic services, and to view the stunning images on display, including black and white fine art prints, portraiture, underwater photography, digital art, and wonderful scenes from Australia and beyond, all by South Australian photographers. Special emphasis this year will be on providing a forum for visitors to listen, watch, and learn, and in some instances gain hands on experience. We proudly announce Paul Macdonald of downunderpix among the exhibitors this year.

Entry is free, with ample parking and light refreshments available, with easy access for the elderly or disabled.

Come along and be inspired by this showcase of SA talent, talk to the professionals, and perhaps take a little time to relax and enjoy the holiday atmosphere of Port Noarlunga.

For more information here

We will be leading an underwater photography focused dive trip to the beautiful Solitary Islands on the 7^th to 14^th of March 2015. The cost of $990 per person includes 7 nights at Mullaway, 12 dives with Dive Quest, tanks/weights/airfills, return airport transfers (if required). For more information see the trip brochure

We are conducting our first underwater photography contest.

All underwater photographers are eligible to enter. Just email us your favorite underwater image to info@downunderpix.com by 15 August 2014. You may also include a title and up to 50 word description (this is optional). The photograph will be placed into our contest gallery along with your name and title and description if supplied. The result will be determined by the number of votes received from visitors to our website. Once your photo is loaded on our website we will email to you a link to the contest gallery. You can use this link to invite your friends to visit the gallery and vote for your photo. Note that visitors may vote only once for as many photographs as they like. The winner will be the photographs with the most votes. The competition ends on 30 September 2014.

The winner will receive free entry to the downunderpix October 2014 Underwater Photography Workshop to be held at Edithburgh on the weekend of 11 to 13 October 2014. The prize includes Edithburgh accommodation, breakfasts and workshop dives and theory sessions. All other costs are to be borne by the winner. See our Contest website

NEW downunderpix Sports HD digital video camera

SPECIAL PRICE for July 2014 $210 + $15 shipping

(Full-HD) / Photo Resolution 12MP / 1.5” LCD Screen / 170° HD wide-angle lens / Zoom 4x / Micro SD Storage / USB2.0 Interface / Battery 900MAH / Recording Time approx. 70 min. / waterproof Housing to 30m

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Over the June long weekend downunderpix went to Whyalla to conduct a digital underwater photography workshop. Local scuba divers Teresa Court and Matt Dawson participated in the workshop. Paul conducted four theory sessions covering Light, Lighting, Exposure, Composition, Post Production and Image Review. Four practical sessions photographing cuttlefish were also held  with participants diving local dive sites, Black Point and Stony Point. 

downunderpix congratulates Teresa and Matt in also achieving their PADI Digital Underwater Photography certification as a result of completing the workshop. The cuttlefish put on a great show over the weekend and made perfect subjects for Teresa and Matt to practice their underwater photography skills. Matt and Teresa join some other accomplished underwater photographers in Whyalla, including Chris Fewster, Carlo Possagno, Peter Kaminski and Alan Paskett, who have previously attended courses and /or events conducted by Paul.

Paul has visited Whyalla annually since 2003 to view and photograph the annual cuttlefish aggregation spectacle and was pleased to see that the cuttlefish have returned this year in significant numbers following poor numbers in the previous two seasons. Paul was also invited by the Marine Life Society of South Australia to judge the MLSSA underwater photography competition held over the long weekend.

A big thank you to Tony Bramley of Whyalla Diving Services and the Whyalla Visitor Information Centre for assistance provided over the course of the weekend. See our Gallery

Downunderpix is pleased to have an association with SeaHorn Snoots. Some of you are probably asking what a snoot is. Snoots have been used in portrait photography for a long time. More recently they have become popular for underwater photography. Essentially a snoot is a funnel or cylinder used to restrict the coverage of strobe light, focusing it into a narrow spotlight beam. The aperture of the spotlight may be as large as 60mm or as small as 5mm.
The snoot(s) allow photographers to light exactly what they want to in the frame and can be used for both macro and wide angle photography. With wide-angle shots, they can be used to spotlight the subject, making it pop out of the background.  For macro shots, they can be used to create directional lighting to highlight textures or lighting the subject strongly from one side. Perhaps the greatest advantage of snoots is to use them to reduce backscatter in low visibility. By controlling the direction of the light, usually with a larger aperture, the photographer can minimise the particles in the water that are illuminated.

The SeaHorn Snoots allow apertures of approx 60mm (normal), 22mm (macro), 18mm (supermacro). SeaHorn make a snoot for most strobes on the market and range from $179 to $219. For more information or to order contact downunderpix via info@downunderpix.com.

downunderpix is introducing regular guided double dives at popular SA shore dive locations. The cost is $50 per diver and Paul promises to find many of SA’s amazing marine creatures for underwater photographers. Places will be limited to the first 4 paid up divers. See below for the upcoming schedule:

 
9 Feb 14           Port Hughes Jetty
2 Mar 14           Rapid Bay Jetty
9 Mar 14           Port Hughes Jetty
16 Mar 14          Rapid Bay Jetty
30 Mar 14          Port Hughes Jetty

Contact Paul on info@downunderpix.com or 0419 819 083 to book in.

Paul Macdonald, South Australian Underwater Photographer will be proudly running an underwater photography workshop weekend trip to Edithburgh on 28th to 30th February. It will be a fun weekend full of diving, and all things cameras. He will be on hand to answer all your underwater photography questions. The weekend will be limited to the first 8 paid up underwater photographers. Non diving partners are welcome to attend also. You need to bring: Underwater Camera Equipment including batteries and chargers, Dive Equipment with at least two tanks (airfills are available at Edithburgh Motors), Laptop Computer (if you have one), All your underwater photography questions and a big smile. The cost of the weekend is $295 and incl.: 4 shore dives at Edithburgh Jetty, an underwater photography workshop (cover ing theory, post production and your morning photographs), two nights accommodation at Sultana Point Lodge and Breakfast each morning. The cost for non diving partners is $85.

download the brochure here_>>