Adam Hanlon

Aliases: adamhanlon Role: Editor and owner of Wetpixel, underwater photographer, PADI Course Director First appearance: 2011 (appointed Wetpixel Editor) Affiliation: Wetpixel (editor 2011–present, owner 2018–present), Capernwray Diving

Biography

Adam Hanlon is a British underwater photographer, PADI Course Director, and the current owner and editor of Wetpixel.com. A 30+ year dive veteran based near Lancaster, UK, he operates Capernwray Diving and specializes in Bahamas diving (wrecks, caves, sharks). He was appointed Bahamas Dive Ambassador and in 2020 was invited by the United Nations to become a Champion in Image Making for the Ocean Decade (2021–2030).

Hanlon was appointed Wetpixel Editor by founder Eric Cheng in May 2011, with Cheng retaining the role of Publisher and Editor-at-Large. He became the sole owner when Cheng sold the site in 2018. He is the most prolific article author on Wetpixel, with over 4,900 articles published.

He co-hosted Wetpixel Live, a YouTube video conversation series with Alex Mustard, covering underwater photography techniques, gear, and industry news across 200+ episodes. Hanlon was also one of the most active article commenters: his reply on the “Wetpixel Live: Full Frame vs Cropped” episode clarified the editorial position that cropped sensors were the better choice for many underwater applications, and his detailed response to Canon EOS 70D coverage pushed back against readers who misread a press release repost as an endorsement. His 542-character comment on the “Ethics of Octopus imagery” series firmly stated that removing octopus from their habitats for photos was indefensible. (article comments)

Contributions

Editorial output

Hanlon published 4,931 articles across 14 years (2010–2023), far exceeding any other contributor. At his peak — 552 articles in 2011 — he was publishing more than 1.5 articles per day while simultaneously managing every other aspect of the site.

YearArticlesYearArticles
20103352017357
20115522018288
20125432019298
20134112020373
20143762021298
20154602022172
20163642023104

His first article was a Dive Fest 2010 report ([1]). His output declined visibly from 2018 onward, dropping to 104 in 2023 (only ~24 real articles; the rest were junk URL-named files from an apparent crawler error).

Trade show coverage

Hanlon wrote 429 DEMA-related articles — continuing and expanding the booth-by-booth tradition Eric Cheng had established. He also covered Boot Düsseldorf (2012, 2016–2019), ADEX Singapore (2015–2019, some delegated to Drew Wong), the UK DIVE/Go Diving Show (2012–2022), Golden Dolphin Moscow (2013), Marseilles (2014), and CMAS championships ([2], [3], [4]).

Gear reviews

Authored or commissioned 130+ gear review articles. His own field reviews include:

Competition coverage

Published results from virtually every major UW photo competition annually (~150 competition articles): Wildlife Photographer of the Year, UPY, Ocean Art, DPG/Wetpixel Masters, Beneath the Sea, Deep Indonesia, World Shootout, and dozens of regional events.

Wetpixel Live

Co-hosted 258 Wetpixel Live episodes with Alex Mustard, launching July 10, 2020 as a COVID-19 pivot. Production was intense: 121 episodes in 2020 alone (nearly one every other day), 99 in 2021, 34 in 2022, and 5 in 2023. Topics ranged from strobe technique and macro photography to competition strategy and guest interviews. The series became one of the most comprehensive video archives of UW photography discussion ever assembled ([11]).

Expeditions program

Continued and expanded Wetpixel’s expeditions with 178+ trip-related articles spanning 15+ destinations:

Forum presence

Mentioned in 1,044 forum threads (2,494 mentions). Active across gear discussions, site administration, and community management. During COVID, he started the first travel restrictions thread and rallied the community with “Calling All Underwater Image Makers.”

Decline and controversy (2022–2023)

In July 2022, Hanlon suffered a heart attack. In the period that followed, multiple customers accused him of withholding payments collected for Wetpixel-organized dive trips. A September 2023 article in Undercurrent Magazine by John Bantin documented an estimated $60,000+ in funds collected from Wetpixel readers for international underwater photography trips that were allegedly not fully booked or paid for.

Key incidents reported:

In a rebuttal provided to DeeperBlue.com, Hanlon stated: “Despite the social media furore, I am working to ensure that those that are owed monies are being repaid.” He also denied organizing any new trips after July 21, 2022.

The forum community’s own discussion of these events provides additional detail. In August 2023, community member Tim G created a forum 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 workshop chat. Lembeh workshops reportedly left Interceptor121 unpaid for three weeks’ work plus travel expenses. A Mexico cenote workshop was described as disorganized, and Red Sea liveaboard trips were alleged to have never been booked despite full customer payment. (forum community)

A separate thread in July 2023 saw community members expressing concern about Hanlon’s wellbeing and absence from the site. Anonymous users alluded to serious allegations; moderators stated they could not provide updates. (forum community)

Following these events, Hanlon restricted forum access to approved members only, deleted complaint threads, and banned members who raised concerns. New membership requests went unprocessed for months. The community largely migrated to Waterpixels.net (launched January 2024) and Facebook groups. By early 2024, even key figures including Alex Mustard and Chris Ross were redirecting users to Waterpixels.net, with Chris Ross noting “not many posting here on Wetpixel” and “most have gone to Waterpixels.” The site remains technically accessible but is effectively dormant. (forum community)

Timeline

References

Sources

  1. Wetpixel article, Apr 18, 2010: Dive Fest 2010 ↩
  2. Wetpixel article, Nov 2, 2017: Show Report Dema 2017 ↩
  3. Wetpixel article, Feb 1, 2016: Report Boot Show 2016 ↩
  4. Wetpixel article, Feb 23, 2019: Report Go Diving Show 2019 ↩
  5. Wetpixel article, Oct 26, 2016: Field Review Nikon D500 ↩
  6. Wetpixel article, Feb 8, 2018: Behind The Scenes Strobe Testing In The Red Sea ↩
  7. Wetpixel article, Mar 29, 2017: Review Saga Trio Macro Lens System ↩
  8. Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2013: Field Review Canon Eos 6d Na 6d Housing And Zen Dp 100 Port ↩
  9. Wetpixel article, Jan 15, 2019: Field Review Seacam 60d Strobes ↩
  10. Wetpixel article, Mar 30, 2022: Hands On Nikon Z9 ↩
  11. Wetpixel article, Jul 10, 2020: Announcing Wetpixel Live ↩
  12. Wetpixel article, Apr 18, 2010: Dive Fest 2010 ↩
  13. Wetpixel article, May 27, 2011: Adam Hanlon Appointed As Wetpixel Editor ↩
  14. Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2013: Field Review Canon Eos 6d Na 6d Housing And Zen Dp 100 Port ↩
  15. Wetpixel article, Oct 26, 2016: Field Review Nikon D500 ↩
  16. Wetpixel article, Nov 30, 2018: Change Of Ownership At Wetpixel ↩
  17. Wetpixel article, Jul 10, 2020: Announcing Wetpixel Live ↩
  18. Wetpixel article, Nov 23, 2020: Wetpixel Live Turns 100 ↩
  19. Wetpixel article, Feb 28, 2021: Wetpixel Live Celebrates 150 Episodes ↩
  20. Wetpixel article, Oct 4, 2021: Live Report Cmas World Underwater Photo And Video Championships ↩
  21. Forum thread: Membership Change Please Read ↩
  22. Wetpixel article, Nov 8, 2022: Dema 2022 Coverage From Tom St George ↩
  23. Forum thread: Front Page Updated Announcements ↩
  24. Forum thread: Is Wetpixelcom Dead Or Dying ↩
  25. Adam Hanlon appointed as Wetpixel Editor (article) ↩