Wetpixel.com

Type: Online community / publication Founded: 2001 Co-founders: Eric Cheng, David Harasti (unpaid co-operators, 2001–2002), originally created by David Breitigam Current owner: Adam Hanlon (since 2018) Corporate entity: Wetpixel Ltd (UK Company #11657743, incorporated 2018-11-03, dissolved 2024-04-16)

Overview

Wetpixel.com is the leading online community for underwater photography and videography, founded in 2001 by Eric Cheng and incorporated as Wetpixel LLC in 2002. The site emerged at the exact moment underwater photography was transitioning from film to digital, and became the central gathering place for this new generation of digital underwater photographers.

At its peak, Wetpixel comprised over 35,000 registered members — described as “serious underwater photographers, not casual snorkelers.” The site combined editorially curated articles (gear reviews, news, features) with active community forums where photographers discussed equipment, techniques, destinations, and conservation.

History

Origins and founding (2001)

Wetpixel was originally created by David Breitigam as an offshoot of Steve’s Digicams, a popular early digital camera news site that Breitigam operated. Wetpixel was a single-page news service focused specifically on underwater digital photography. In 2001, Breitigam recruited Eric Cheng — whom he found online — to provide satellite-based web coverage of a digital photography expedition to Kona, Hawaii. The two became friends through the trip. Cheng was already building his own online community for digital underwater photography; after meeting Breitigam and learning about Wetpixel, they decided to combine efforts. As Cheng later recounted: “For various reasons, I took over Wetpixel shortly after, re-launching it as a community site and online magazine of sorts, focused on digital underwater photography.” (NWP Photo Forum interview, 2005)

Cheng had just returned from his first dive trip to Palau (April 2001) with an underwater housing for a digital camera. During the Kona expedition, he met photographer Jim Watt, who introduced him to the wider underwater photographic community. Cheng recognized that underwater photographers were geographically isolated and needed a virtual community. He relaunched Wetpixel as exactly that, and it quickly became the definitive resource for the film-to-digital transition in underwater photography. A 2002 forum post by Cheng (posting as “Guest wetpixel”) confirms David Harasti as an unpaid co-operator of the site in its earliest days: “no one pays me or David” to run Wetpixel. ([1])

Key early milestones:

2016 anniversary and podcast launch

COVID-19 pivot and Wetpixel Live (2020–2021)

The pandemic forced Wetpixel to pivot from in-person events to online content. The most significant initiative was Wetpixel Live, a YouTube video conversation series hosted by Adam Hanlon and Alex Mustard, which launched July 10, 2020. ([17]) Wetpixel Live reached 200+ episodes and became one of the most comprehensive video archives of underwater photography conversation available. Wetpixel also organized a Virtual Trade Show to replace DEMA 2020 and 2021. See COVID-19 Impact on Underwater Photography for full coverage.

DPG/Wetpixel Masters competition

Beginning around 2020, the DPG/Wetpixel Masters competition — previously associated with Our World Underwater and DivePhotoGuide — was rebranded to more prominently feature the Wetpixel name, cementing Wetpixel’s identity as a major competition organizer alongside its editorial function.

Cenote workshops with Natalie Gibb (2021–2022)

Among the first post-pandemic in-person events Wetpixel organized were cenote photography workshops in Mexico in partnership with underwater photography educator Natalie Gibb (2021–2022). These workshops reflected Hanlon’s continued effort to maintain Wetpixel’s expedition and workshop program despite the pandemic disruption.

Editorial transition (2011–2018)

In May 2011, Cheng appointed Adam Hanlon as Editor while retaining the role of Publisher and Editor-at-Large, focusing on “strategic and continued development.” This reflected Cheng’s growing involvement in technology ventures (Lytro, DJI). Hanlon became the most prolific article author on the site, publishing over 4,900 articles.

Ownership transfer to Adam Hanlon (2018)

On December 1, 2018, Eric Cheng formally transferred ownership of Wetpixel to Adam Hanlon. ([18]) Cheng had been Editor-at-Large and background owner since appointing Hanlon as Editor in 2011; the formal transfer recognized the operational reality that Hanlon had been running the site entirely. The change of ownership announcement was dated November 30, 2018, with the effective transfer on December 1.

Hanlon incorporated Wetpixel Ltd in the UK on November 3, 2018 (Company #11657743), registered at 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk, IP28 7DE, under SIC code 79120 (Tour operator activities) — reflecting the Wetpixel Expeditions travel business. ([19])

2013 redesign

In February 2013, Wetpixel underwent a major redesign featuring a new layout, the “Full Frame” photo essay feature, a forum software upgrade, and Tapatalk mobile support.

Community features

Moderating team

The Wetpixel team expanded as the community grew: (forum community)

Wetpixel Quarterly staff

Wetpixel Quarterly Issue 2 (January 2008) listed the full staff photographer roster: Alex Mustard, Eric Cheng, Mike Veitch, Luiz Rocha, Cor Bosman, Julie Edwards, Herb Ko, James Wiseman, Todd Mintz, Matt Segal, Elijah Woolery, William Heaton, Leslie Harris. Based at 434 Napa St., Sausalito, CA 94965. ([25])

Community charity and advocacy

Forum community traditions

The Wetpixel forums were the community’s heart, generating distinct traditions documented across thousands of threads: (forum community)

Organized expeditions

Wetpixel organized recurring community dive trips documented in forum threads: (forum community)

Platform history

For a detailed visual history of every design era with Wayback Machine snapshot URLs, see Wetpixel Design History.

Key technical and administrative events: (forum community)

Editorial team

Decline (2022–present)

In April 2022, Hanlon implemented admin-approved memberships due to scammers targeting the Classifieds section. ([30]) Publishing began to slow noticeably in 2022; Hanlon was absent from DEMA 2022, marking an unusual gap for a site that had covered every DEMA since 2001. In June 2023, Alex Mustard publicly revealed that Hanlon had been “really unwell, especially so for the last few months,” explaining the absence of front page updates since April 8, 2023. ([31]) The last article published on Wetpixel appeared in April 2023. On April 16, 2024, Wetpixel Ltd was officially dissolved by UK Companies House for failure to file required accounts. ([32])

In July 2022, Adam Hanlon suffered a heart attack. In the aftermath, multiple customers accused him of withholding payments collected for Wetpixel-organized dive trips, with community estimates reaching ~$100,000 total. ([33]) A September 2023 investigation by John Bantin in Undercurrent Magazine documented an estimated $60,000+ in funds collected from readers for trips that were allegedly not fully booked or paid for — including an Indonesia liveaboard where divers arrived to find the boat unpaid, and Lembeh Resort workshops featuring Alex Mustard where the resort reportedly could not get confirmation or payment despite repeated contact attempts. Mustard himself was reportedly unpaid for workshop fees.

Hanlon disputed many of the specific claims in a rebuttal to DeeperBlue.com, citing his heart attack and asserting he was working to repay those owed. He denied organizing any new trips after July 21, 2022.

The forum community documented additional details. In August 2023, community member Tim G created a thread documenting unpaid dive operators, missing crew gratuities, and trips never booked despite full payment. Interceptor121 quoted Alex Mustard’s detailed account from a Facebook group. A separate July 2023 thread saw members expressing concern about Hanlon’s absence, with moderators unable to provide updates. In 2023, community member “waterpixel” downloaded 294 of 301 Wetpixel Live YouTube videos as an archival preservation effort. (forum community)

Following the controversy, Hanlon restricted forum access to approved members only, deleted complaint threads, and banned members who raised concerns. He also pre-emptively suspended Eric Cheng’s forum account — without ever contacting the founder — which is why Cheng appears as “Guest echeng” throughout the forum archive. Despite being listed as Senior Advisor on the Wetpixel masthead, Cheng was locked out of the community he had built. New membership requests went unprocessed for months. As the sole administrator, Hanlon became increasingly unreachable. Moderators lacked authority to fix the issues.

The site remains technically accessible but is effectively dormant — a quiet end to what was, for over two decades, the center of the underwater photography world.

Significance

Wetpixel’s significance to the underwater photography world includes:

SiteRelationship
DivePhotoGuide.comPartner; co-hosted competitions and DEMA events
Waterpixels.netSuccessor community (launched 2024)
DPReview UW ForumComplementary; broader photography audience
UwP MagazineComplementary; editorial publication
UW Photography GuideComplementary; tutorial-focused
ScubaBoard UW Photo ForumComplementary; diving-focused
DigitalDiver.netCompetitor (US-focused); Bob F created Strobe Finder database
DigiDeep.comCompetitor (European-focused); Andi Voeltz

References

Sources

  1. Forum thread: Online Courses ↩
  2. Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
  3. Wetpixel article, Feb 17, 2003: Bi Monthly Photo Contest ↩
  4. Wetpixel article, May 6, 2003: Wetpixels 1000th Forum Member ↩
  5. Wetpixel article, Oct 28, 2003: Antibes Festival 2003 Coverage ↩
  6. Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2003: Wetpixel Wins At Antibes ↩
  7. Wetpixel article, Jan 23, 2004: Wetpixel V30 ↩
  8. Wetpixel article, Mar 28, 2004: Wetpixels 2000th Forum Member ↩
  9. Wetpixel article, Mar 21, 2004: Wetpixel Announces Bi Monthly Photo Contest ↩
  10. Wetpixel article, Jun 21, 2004: Wetpixel Marchapril Contest Winners ↩
  11. Wetpixel article, Feb 26, 2005: New Wetpixel Design ↩
  12. Wetpixel article, Oct 30, 2005: Wetpixelcom Divephotoguidecom International Photo Competition ↩
  13. Wetpixel article, Aug 13, 2005: Wetpixel Hits 4000 Members ↩
  14. Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2005: Wetpixels Reaches 10000 ↩
  15. Wetpixel article, Oct 29, 2005: Wetpixel Receives Scuba Diving Magazine Editors Choice ↩
  16. Wetpixel article, Sep 6, 2005: Charity Auction Galapagos Expedition October 9 23 2005 ↩
  17. Wetpixel article, Jul 10, 2020: Announcing Wetpixel Live ↩
  18. Wetpixel article, Nov 30, 2018: Change Of Ownership At Wetpixel ↩
  19. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival ↩
  20. Forum thread: Whats Busted On The Message Board ↩
  21. Forum thread: Wetpixel Expands Moderating Team ↩
  22. Forum thread: Charter And Introductions ↩
  23. Forum thread: Paul Waghorn Wags New Video Moderator ↩
  24. Forum thread: Please Welcome Our New Moderators ↩
  25. Forum thread: Wetpixel Ships Issue 2 Of Wetpixel Quarterly ↩
  26. Forum thread: Wetpixel Charity Drive For Oxfam Asia Pacific Disaster Fund ↩
  27. Forum thread: Wetpixel South Africa Ocean Safari Sardine Run ↩
  28. Forum thread: Sperm Whale Expedition To Ogasawara Japan ↩
  29. Forum thread: Wetpixel Papua New Guinea Eastern Fields 2012 Trip Report ↩
  30. Forum thread: Membership Change Please Read ↩
  31. Forum thread: Front Page Updated Announcements ↩
  32. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival ↩
  33. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others ↩
  34. Change of ownership at Wetpixel (article) ↩
  35. Announcing Wetpixel Live (article) ↩