President's Message

I want to tell you about my trip last week to PNG.  Not the exotic dive destination of Papua New Guinea but Port Neches-Groves.  The PNG I am referring to is a suburb of Beaumont.  I was there speaking to the PNG High School photography and marine science classes.  Their teacher met me at a presentation I gave to The Wet Set, a Beaumont area dive club.  My presentation consisted of discussions on biodiversity, threats to coral reefs and of course, underwater photography.  The presentation was illustrated with lots of underwater slides.  This was a unique learning opportunity for the students.

All HUPS members should strive to offer similar presentations.  Make offers to share your knowledge and images with groups like schools, church youth groups, boy/girl scouts or even assisted living centers.  These groups would be thrilled to have you come in and speak and show slides.  HUPS members travel to places and see things that most people only see on the Discovery Channel.  Share your knowledge and experiences.  Tell them about your interactions with nature and people from the far corners of the world.

Okay, so you are not a marine biologist nor are you a professional photographer.  They won’t care.  Your images are too beautiful and intriguing to keep to yourself.  You have spent too many bucks to keep those images packed away.  Get them out and put them to work for a good cause.  Use them to educate non-divers about the beauty and fragility of the oceans.

See you March 4th,
David
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Camouflage 1st Place Novice - Joe Nicklo ©2002

HUPS Cozumel Shootout
July 24-28, 2002 !!!

Ken Knezick of Island Dreams Travel has been working hard to set up the Shootout.  He has secured some special treats such as three boat dives/day and a boat dedicated to the HUPS group.  The dates are July 24-28.  We will be at Scuba Club Cozumel where meals, three boat dives a day and unlimited shore diving will be included.  If you want to learn more about the hotel then checkout http://www.scubaclubcozumel.com.  The price SHOULD be finalized by the March meeting.  It will be right around $1000 per person including air on Continental, lodging, meals, diving and taxes.  If you think you would like to join in the fun please contact David Lenderman.

Help with the HUPS SEASPACE Booth!

SEASPACE 2002 is coming, and it's Saturday and Sunday June 8 & 9, 2002, at the Reliant Arena.  Pat Miller, HUPS Booth Coordinator, is still in need of large prints to display in the booth.  He also still has time slots available to work the booth.  Additionally, we will need help setting up on Friday, June 7, at 4:00 pm, and tearing down on Sunday at 4:00 pm.  This is a great way to get to know your fellow divers.  There will be a sign-up sheet at the next HUPS meeting, or you can contact Pat directly.  Come out and help support your club.

Shark Attacks Did Not Increase in 2001

A slow news period last summer had the media sinking their teeth into any story that swam their way.  According to recent article in USA Today there were a total of 76 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide in 2001.  This is actually less than the 85 attacks recorded in 2000.  Fatalities also declined from 12 to five during the same period.  During this period shark attacks in Florida declined slightly from 38 to 37.  The data for the article came from the International Shark Attack File.  They have a very interesting website here.

Thanks to Jack Allyn for sending in the article.  Hope you’re feeling better.

Ocean Memories

By Dennis Deavenport

Just what makes a wonderful memory?  We’ve all experienced those times when everything clicks together and the mosaic of life feels complete for a few minutes.  For many of us in HUPS, these transcendental moments are often found underwater and are captured on film to be relived over and over again.  This was the target for the February presentation, to explore these moments.

In a grand show of cooperation, twelve of HUPS finest were asked to dig through their slides and memory lane to pick 5-8 of their favorite images and the stories that go with them.  The goal wasn’t necessarily to pick the best images but to pick those that meant the most to each presenter.

Leonard Cichowski led off with five carefully selected slides and got the show rolling along with a fun and warm commentary.  Next up was David Lenderman showing images from trips close to home and as far away as Sipadan.  Pat Miller was in his usual wacky form with a show highlighted by his "old folks crossing" sign in the Caymans.  Drew Trent spotlighted some of his commercial diving experiences and followed up with some great images and stories from the eastern Caribbean islands.

In a great display of dedication to HUPS, Tammy Allyn showed up with eight slides and stories in spite of the fact that Jack was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery just a couple of days before the meeting.  Jack, who was doing much better, sent his regrets for having to miss giving his part of the show.  John and Kathy Ringrose nailed down the center part of the show with a series of images above and below the waterline highlighting their travels and experiences.

"Jackie’s Knob" from PNG took center stage in Dennis Deavenport’s show and Jackie Reid desperately tried to find a place to hide.  Yes, the location was named after him.  Ron Crossland (a welcome last-minute substitution for Jack Allyn) showed up with slides from Wakatobi and Lembeh Strait.  His shots of the "light-drinking" spine-cheek anemone fish and a pair of Harlequin ghost pipefish were highlights.

The triumvirate of Ken Knezick, Mary Lou Reid, and Jackie Reid gave the finale to the program.  As we have come to expect from Ken, not only were the slides awesome but the tales accompanying them equally entertaining.  Nobody can reach an audience like Ken.  Mary Lou presented slides and memories straight from her extensive travels and from deep inside her soul.  As for Jackie, with all of the fantastic slides and experiences in his resume, it was surprising that he was able to settle on only six slides.  The picture of divers peering through a cloud of copper sweepers and the circumstances around how it was shot was fascinating on several levels.  It was a great way to end a fun program.  I would like to personally thank everyone who volunteered their time, talent, and images to make this show such a surprising success.

By signing on as a SEASPACE volunteer you help to support one of the largest diving shows in the U.S.  SEASPACE is a not-for-profit organization that raises money to award scholarships to students pursuing degrees in marine related fields.  These scholarship recipients may go on to save the earth or something.  But even if they don’t, you’ll still have a cool shirt.

More on SEASPACE 2002

Scheduled June 8 & 9, 2002, SEASPACE draws exhibitors, speakers and attendees from exotic destinations around the globe.  This year's highlights include world renowned IMAX Cinematographer Bob Talbot; Gary Gentile, expert on diving the famed wreck of the Andrea Doria; and a ground-breaking presentation of Three-Dimensional Underwater Photography by Ed Jamison.

Four seminar rooms and an in-depth workshop series run simultaneously from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.  Topics range from underwater archeology to exotic travelogues of beautiful reefs and rain forests around the world.  Among the special presenters are professional photographers and world-travelers Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock.  Known collectively as Secret Sea Visions, Burt & Maurine will present their highly acclaimed workshop entitled Art and the Animal.  As a special treat, the U/W Photography Workshop will be presented by the Nikon School of Underwater Photography.  For a complete list of topics and speakers, visit http://www.seaspace.org.

Advance ticket order form and a complete weekend schedule may be downloaded from http://www.seaspace.org/tckt2002.htm.  You may also phone 713-467-6675 for additional information.

Our post-SEASPACE presenters on Monday evening, June 10, 2002, Burt and Maurine of Secret Sea Visions -- see the flyer -- want to help improve your photos.  They have offered to custom tailor their presentation to the needs of HUPS members.  They are asking interested members to submit in writing a list of up to five (5) topics that you would like to be addressed in the presentation.  Examples of topics/questions include, "How I can improve strobe lighting in my wide angle work?" or "How can I minimize backscatter" or "What can I do to make my macro shots more artful?"  No topic is off limits -- but Maurine did mention that she and Burt are not into digital photography.  The actual program will be put together around the topics/questions presented by HUPS members.  This is your chance to have two incredibly talented professional underwater photographers answer your specific questions.  Write up your questions and bring them to the March meeting.  Do it now so you don’t forget.

Get Out Your Flashlight

The March photo competition subject will be "night time."  So if you have a few favorite shots taken at night bring them to the meeting.  Remember that you can’t win if you don’t enter.

Camouflage 2nd Place Novice - Lee Mixon ©2002

1. Monthly HUPS Photo Contest
   Actual points scored for each slide; three judges each score from 1 to 9.  Points earned will be 3-27 for each slide.  Each member may submit 3 slides each month for each category (all months have only one category except December which has two).  For the months of January through November, the actual scored points on all entries will be accumulated.  December is not included, as it is a separate contest.

2. Other Underwater Photo Contest (see note below)

   Place	Points
   For entering	3
   1st Place	9
   2nd Place	6
   3rd Place	3

   Note: With the exception of the monthly HUPS photo contest, it is the responsibility of the photographer in item #2 to forward information to the HUPS Photo Contest Chairman(s).
   

Novice:
1st	Joe Nicklo
2nd	Lee Mixon
3rd	Joe Nicklo
Advanced:
Due to problems with the scoring machine and projector during February’s Advanced competition the judging will be repeated.  This will be done prior to the March meeting.  Results for both categories will be presented during the March meeting.

HUPS Monthly Photo Contest Rules

1. Photographs must have been taken underwater, with the exception of the "Marine Surface Slides," a category which will be announced periodically.
2. The photographs must be the work of the photographer named on the slide.  The photographer does not have to be present at the monthly meeting to enter their slide.
3. No aquarium, pool, or over/under shots.
4. Photographs with divers touching or stressing marine life will not be judged.
5. Entries that have won 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, in previous HUPS contests, or any major competition are ineligible.  The only exception being the Best of HUPS night at the December meeting.
6. Slides will be disqualified if in the opinion of the Photo Contest Chairman and monthly judge, the slides do not meet the monthly subject matter, or do not meet one of the aforementioned rules.
7. All contest judging will be performed by a judge selected by the HUPS Photo Judge Coordinator, except nights when it is announced that the general membership will judge.  In these instances the Photo Contest Chairman will tabulate all ballots.
8. If a member wishes to question the results of a contest, they must submit their complaint in contest to the Photo Contest Chairman or any club officer.  The complaint must include: complainant's name, questionable slide, nature of complaint (indicating rule broken), proof behind complaint.
9. The Board of Directors will review the complaint, and if they find merit, they may disqualify the slide.

June 8 & 9, 2002 - SEASPACE 2002

June 10, 2002 - HUPS Post-SEASPACE meeting
Burt Jones & Maurine Shimlock
See the flyer.

Quick Tip

So you are doing that big slide presentation and need some title slides and don’t know how to create them.  Well there are several options.  You can create the title slides using desktop graphics software such as Microsoft PowerPoint and then send them to a lab.  This will provide you with high quality slides.  The drawback of this route is that it will cost several bucks per slide.  If you have ten or more slides it can get pricey.

A cheaper option is to photograph your PowerPoint slides right off the computer screen.  Use a tripod to make sure the camera is "square" with the computer screen.  Turn off the lights in the room to reduce glare.  Do NOT use a flash.  Put your camera on aperture priority and f-16 and snap away.  Higher quality computer monitors will provide the best results.

For those of you who have not yet renewed your membership please fill out the form below and bring it to the next meeting or mail it to Jean Himes.

Houston Underwater Photographic Society Membership Application Name: ____________________________________________ Street Address: __________________________________ __________________________________________________ City: ____________________________________________ State: _______________ Zip Code: _________________ Home Phone: ______________________________________ Work Phone: ______________________________________ Email Address: ___________________________________ Would you like to receive your newsletter via email? Yes or No Dues (check one):   _____Individual ($30)  _____Family ($35) - after January 1, 2002