9th San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition was a Blast!

Hi all,

Just wanted to tell all you folks who didn't get a chance to go to beautiful San Diego for the UFEX show what you missed. It was our first time and we were extremely impressed with the quality of the films and the great forum to show them at Qualcomm Hall. The hall has this huge high def screen. It was fun watching the filmmakers as they saw their creations 30 feet across for the first time. I'm guessing there were about 400 people in attendance each night.

If you missed it, 32 five minute videos were shown over two nights and they were all great. I like the fact that there are no awards for 1st or 2nd etc. just being chosen is an honor. They had entries this year from 8 countries. You know many of the people whose film's were shown; The Realdrew, wagsy, Eric hanauer, Chuck Nicklin, it's a long list. The program from the show can be seen here http://www.sdufex.com/program/index.html Our video hero from the Digital Shootout in Bonaire, Mary Lynn Price was making sure it all went off like clock work. The entire UFEX group should be very proud of what they accomplished.

At a local pub after the show we had the chance to rub shoulders with some of the folks and tell sea stories long into the night. The highlight of our trip was getting to meet Drew(the realdrew) and Sandra (clearly the brains of the outfit & beauty too). They flew in from New York for the premier of their film "Akumal in Decline" which was very well recieved by the way. We had a great time together closing down restaurants and bars.

So put it on your calendar for next year, I'm betting the tenth year will be something special. Now, if we can just figure out a way for them to show still photography.

Steve

My wife and I came over from the east coast (Ft. Lauderdale) to see the show. It just gets better every year and their new giant HD venue is amazing. It is easy to forget about all the work that goes into organizing something like this while your watching the incredible videos selected, but you really have to give it to those folks that make this possible. Great job and Thank you! One of the best things about the two night show is getting to meet some of the film makers and learn more about what goes into making winning underwater video. That is always inspirational for us. Special thanks to Eric and Karen, great show. John and Kelly

At a local pub after the show we had the chance to rub shoulders with some of the folks and tell sea stories long into the night. The highlight of our trip was getting to meet Drew(the realdrew) and Sandra (clearly the brains of the outfit & beauty too).

Well at least I am in the top two in both departments of the outfit

We had a great time together closing down restaurants and bars.

So put it on your calendar for next year, I'm betting the tenth year will be something special. Now, if we can just figure out a way for them to show still photography.

Steve

They do show still photography, it is just many many many stills all in a row

Dang! Sorry I missed you guys. I was only able to attend Saturday and was looking for you Steve, but the event has gotten so popular, it was impossible to find anyone. Glad you all enjoyed our fair city The event was great and I can't wait until next years fest!

Phil

Dang! Sorry I missed you guys. I was only able to attend Saturday and was looking for you Steve, but the event has gotten so popular, it was impossible to find anyone. Glad you all enjoyed our fair city The event was great and I can't wait until next years fest!

 

Phil

S.D. was great, had not been there before and was only able to make it out for a few days. Hopefully next year again. The people running the Film Exhibition did a wonderful job and it was alot of fun meeting people in real life.....

Hi guys,

Sorry we missed you Phil, glad to hear you made the show. We were the guys with the blazing red sunburn from driving around all day with the top down. Hey Drew you've got me calculating how many CF cards I'll need to bring to put together a video at 6 frames a sec. I think I'm going to need some bigger batteries.

I sent a note to Eric offering that they might want to think about putting the award winning still shots from local photographers up in the lobby for next year. I think it would be fun to see images that have won or placed in an u/w photo competition. Might not be too hard to do.

Have fun!

Steve

Thanks for the report, Steve. Sounds like a great event.

I'm in SD right now. Lovely city.

Alex

Hey Drew you've got me calculating how many CF cards I'll need to bring to put together a video at 6 frames a sec. I think I'm going to need some bigger batteries.

Going to be alot, but with the 40D shooting RAW you should get some good results, though you may want more than 6 FPS Wonder if you can waterproof a car battery and rig that up. (Now that I throw that out there, I am sure one of the DIYers here willl figure it out. Always impressed by what comes up in the DIYs )

Alex,

With your new found interest in Video you should seriously think about attending the show next year. It's a great way to see what everyone is creating. Maybe you can time it so your on your way to somewhere. Galapagos, Cocos, etc.

Hey Drew, Not sure car batteries and saltwater go that well together but I'd love to be there when you try it. Let me know.

Steve

Hey Drew, Not sure car batteries and saltwater go that well together but I'd love to be there when you try it. Let me know.

Steve

Steve sorry about that. I meant the car battery should only be used in fresh water. I will try it out in the next couple of days and let you know how it goes. If for some reason you do not see me around here for awhile then, well probably not a successful idea