NCUPS 2022 Holiday Party

It’s time to celebrate the holidays with other NCUPS members in PERSON. 

WHEN:   Friday, December 2, 2022 – 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. (brewery closes at 11).

WHERE:  Barebottle Brewery, 2520 Augustine Drive, Santa Clara (located just off 101) https://www.barebottle.com/santa-clara

DETAILS:  Cost:  $16   We’ll order empanadas (2/person).  The brewery does allow us to bring in additional food.  So if you want to bring a snack to share, you’re welcome to do so.

BEVERAGES:  Beer, Wine, Coffee – Not included in above; Buy on your own.

We will reserve a couple long tables for our club.  Look for the NCUPS banner!

South Australia is not just about the dragons even though they are our specialty! We have so much more; unique macro and super macro, jetties with sunbeams, mating cuttlefish, big sharks, fresh water caves and even lots of ship wrecks. Diana will talk about the animals, the variety, the possibilities and the logistics.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84810735970?pwd=eFhlSVNoblNQZ2k2dXNTUDZNVmwyZz09

Meeting ID: 848 1073 5970

Passcode: 218174

We're not meeting in person, of course. But we are meeting and it will be festive! I suggest a festive beverage of some sort. Egg nog? (Yes, please.) Unicorn hot chocolate? (Umm??) Be creative. Show it off on the zoom.

The evening's program

For this year, we're doing both photo and photographer of the year AND a member night.

For the member night, please select up to 5 pictures on whatever theme you like.  And upload by Wednesday to avoid the last minute rush.  Please name your files like this: <month><name><sequence>.jpg  So, for example, "12JaneDiver1.jpg", "12JaneDiver2.jpg", "12JaneDiver3.jpg".  That way we'll know who the pictures belong to and the order you'd like to show them in.  Upload them here.

Meeting starts Friday at 7pm .  But I strongly urge you to arrive by around 6:45 to make sure there are no zoom difficulties.  (And if you have difficulties with zoom or with uploading images for the minicomp, contact meand I'll be happy to help.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83351768307?pwd=MDFaLzNHRHNWdW43T1dNbGU2STl4Zz09

Meeting ID: 833 5176 8307
Passcode: 2021

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83351768307?pwd=MDFaLzNHRHNWdW43T1dNbGU2STl4Zz09

Meeting ID: 833 5176 8307
Passcode: 2021

Finding and Photographing Fishes and Their Behaviors

No doubt about it, the amazing diversity in the world of fishes brings many people to diving. But there is a lot more to enjoying the world of fishes than just seeing them and moving on. Learning where and when to look for different species, watching fishes go about their daily lives, gaining some understanding of their nuanced behaviors, and photographing them can add a lot of fun to your diving. Certainly, photographing fishes well is an endeavor filled with challenges. But it is also very educational in terms of getting to know Mother Ocean, and it is lot of fun and extremely rewarding when you capture the images you have in mind. 
Marty plans to share insights into how to find various fish species in the reef communities and muck at the Atlantis Dive Resorts in Dumaguete and Puerto Galera in the Philippines, insights into their behaviors, and his thoughts and techniques about what he does to try to capture his fish photographs. He has been trying to get those perfect shots for almost 50 years.

About Marty

Honored with the 2018 NOGI Award in the Arts by the Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences, an EMMY Award winning cinematographer and author, a recipient of DEMA’s Reaching Out Award in 2008, and a widely published still photographer, Marty Snyderman has worked to conserve and share the magic of the undersea world for more than four decades. 
He serves as the Marine Life Editor of Dive Training magazine, producing at least three columns in every issue including a photography column entitled Behind the Lens, and is the Senior Editor of California Diving News. Marty’s still photography has also been used by the National Geographic Society, Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Sport Diver, Diver, Ranger Rick, Smithsonian, Ocean Realm, Discovery books, Discover Diving magazine, Scuba Times magazine, and Skin Diver magazine, where he served as the photography columnist for all three magazines, and many major publications, natural history museums, and aquaria including the Monterrey Bay, Shedd, National, Seattle, Shedd, and Miami aquaria. Marty has worked with Nikon Inc. teaching courses at destinations around the world and authored an underwater camera course for Sea&Sea USA. 

There's more about Marty and great images on his site: martysnyderman.com

Join us for a virtual meeting(via Zoom) with Hergen Spalink, Nauticam Ambassador and co-owner of travel company of Gotmuck.

Take a trip across the various dive regions of the Indonesian Archipelago with Nauticam Ambassador Hergen Spalink. Hergen and his wife Kerri Bingham spent over a decade living and working throughout Indonesia as Liveaboard Cruise Directors, Dive Center Managers and Group Leaders visiting and capturing imagery from across the diverse underwater landscapes and inhabitants.

Hergen Spalink is at the forefront of underwater imaging, capturing sublime images and video using the latest gear, provided by industry-leading equipment manufacturer Nauticam. Hergen is also co-author of the online Underwater Photography Course for Lynda.com along with award winning graphic designer Deke McClelland. Since 2010, Hergen and his wife Kerri Bingham have been leading exclusive underwater photography safaris and workshops in the world's best dive destinations through their travel company Got Muck. Their guests benefit from the couple's deep passion for the underwater world and fifteen years of experience living and managing dive businesses in Indonesia and the Caribbean. Hergen is a PADI scuba diving instructor and also an Adobe Certified Expert in Lightroom. Dedicated to making underwater imaging accessible and gratifying to divers and non-divers alike through inspiration as well as instruction, Hergen is a frequent contributor to leading underwater photography websites and magazines worldwide.

A SPECIAL EVENING OF GO ASK ERIN IN COLLABORATION WITH NCUPS

Join us for this very special event on Friday, August 14 at 7:00-9:00pm (approx.) PDT when Go Ask Erin Live Events (via ZOOM) combines with NCUPS for their monthly club meeting. All are welcome! Registration is Required.

Hawaii 4:00pm
West 7:00pm
Central 9:00pm
East 10:00pm
Singapore 10:00am (08/15/2020)
Sydney 12:00pm (08/15/2020)

ABOUT THE EVENING

NCUPS will hold their monthly mini competition (must be a NCUPS member to enter) with August’s theme, Cleaning Behavior.
A special prize – Go Ask Erin On Demand gift card – will be awarded to the underwater image with the most votes. All attending the Live Event may vote for his/her favorite (one vote only per computer).

Then, Erin will share with the audience her mind-blowing mastery of both Lightroom and Photoshop for underwater photographers using images submitted by YOU!

NEW TO ZOOM?

If you are new to Zoom or new to Go Ask Erin Live Events, you must sign up with Zoom (one time), then you must register for our event(s) – this added level of security keeps the Zoom-bombers out.
To get started, go here for step-by-step instructions.

MINI COMP SUBMISSIONS

NCUPS members, submit your Mini Comp entries per usual method here. Deadline to enter is August 11th.
If you’d like to become an NCUPS member (only members are eligible for Mini Competition), learn more visit the NCUPS Membership Page.

IMAGE SUBMISSION FOR GOASKERIN

For those wanting to submit an underwater image for consideration to be worked on by Erin during the Live Event, please use the image uploader below. Deadline to enter is August 11th.
Submit ONE image per person only.
Max file size 100MB.
Submit RAW file.
If your image has Lightroom adjustments, then submit DNG.
By uploading an image for consideration to be used during a Go Ask Erin Image Clinic, you agree to allow your image to be displayed and worked on during our Live Events. Additionally, you grant Go Ask Erin On Demand permission and rights necessary to include your image(s) in their On Demand Recorded Products.

Clay says: I plan to chat about a couple things. Some are a return to my earlier explorations into using the iPhone as an underwater image-making device. Then, also and again, methods of nicely sneaking up on marine life that allows creatures to reveal their secret behaviors. 

Clay's bio: He ran live-aboards around the world for Aggressor Fleet for 10-years. During that time he also taught underwater photography and videography. He published a book with Marty Snyderman called Guide to Marine Life…; He has a villa in Bali (Alami Villa) represented by VRBO, Booking.com and AirBnb that is perfect for groups going through Bali before or after diving in Indonesia and he partners in a small biotech focused on bioactive compounds produced by marine sponges.

Join us for a presentation by Patrick Webster!

The tools available to the modern underwater photographer and filmmaker are powerful beyond measure—and that's not just the cameras! Today's image-capturing super-computers in a box provide a vast playing field for your imagination to run wild in the creative sandbox of "post-processing." From concept, storyboard, shooting, editing and publishing, we'll talk about how to go out of your mind and into the world with your underwater artwork and stories. In-camera perfectionists, avert your eyes! ;)

Please join us at NCUPS 2019 Holiday Party Friday, December 6th.

Cocktails at 6:30. Dinner will be served at 7:30.

Once again, the party will be hosted at 16 Mile House in Millbrae. Cost is $39/person (includes tax and tip). This includes your choice of Prime Rib, Chicken, Salmon or a vegetable entree. A dinner salad is also included. Drinks are not included. No corkage fee will be charged for the first four bottles of wine.

We’ll check out the best minicomp images from the year and we’ll vote on image of the year and crown the photographer of the year.

Use the PayPal link below to purchase tickets. If you intend to order two or more meals with different entree types you will need to return to this page (browser tab) and add a second meal to your shopping cart.

"Natural snowflake" image by Attila Kovács Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Trip account from NCUPS member Linda Reisinger:
Nine intrepid divers traveled from the bay area to Papua New Guinea for a 10-day stay on the liveaboard boat, Taca, aka Solomons PNG Master (https://www.masterliveaboards.com). Kathy Mendes, Holly Ong, Tim Nelson, Bob Yee, John Thackara, Lauri Perry, Patty Harris, Mark Krag, and I booked through Worldwide Dive and Sail, an NCUPS and Backscatter sponsor for several years. We boarded our ship on May 27th in Rabaul, PNG, and sailed to the city of Munda in the western province of the Solomon Islands. This trip was exploratory in nature and many of the sites had never been dived before. We saw plenty of wrecks above and below water along with the many sea creatures. At the end of the ten days, Mark, Bob, and I decided to extend our trip for another seven days traveling further into the Solomon Islands—from Munda to Guadalcanal and Honiara while the others either stayed in Munda longer or traveled to Guadalcanal for some land based adventures. Since most of us are photographers and long standing NCUPS members, we have a variety of underwater and above water pictures to share with you. Please come join us as we relive our trip!

Robin Dodd, Backscatter's Media Producer will be here!

Robin says: As the Media Producer for Backscatter Underwater Photo & Video I have had the privilege of being able to shoot some of the latest and greatest camera gear on dives in both Monterey and around the Caribbean. My job is to test out new systems and equipment and produce detailed test results and comprehensive reviews of equipment specifically tailored for underwater imagemakers. I’ll be sharing my personal favorite videos and photos from my most recent trips and breaking down how the shots were conceptualized, executed, and edited. I’d also like to break down some of my editing techniques, tips, and tricks for quick and compelling video production.

Join us to see the winners from the Monterey Shootout and short portfolio presentations from NCUPS members. A night of award winning underwater photos and video.

Brent Durand is an avid California diver, writer, photographer and surfer. He has led many intensive photo workshops around the world and is currently translating this knowledge into a popular series of instructional videos and photo tutorials on his website. Brent will be sharing a presentation titled ‘Beyond the Settings’, discussing photo theories, subtle techniques, and a mentality that help bring home great photos no matter what gear you’re using. Until then, see what he’s up to at BrentDurand.com.

Jim has been around Bay Area diving longer than just about anyone you’ll come across. Come on out and hear the history.