Paul Kay

Forum username: paul kay Posts: 1,763 Active years: 2003–2023 Primary forums: Photography Gear and Technique (50%), General Chat (22%), Shooting Technique/Workflow/Editing (6%) Specialization: Full-frame underwater photography, film-to-digital transition, UK marine photography, copyright advocacy

Community Role

Paul Kay is a well-known British underwater photographer and a long-standing Wetpixel forum contributor, with 1,763 posts across 969 threads spanning two decades. His posting history covers the entire arc from film to digital underwater photography — his most-engaged thread is “Nikon F6 Underwater? (AKA Digital vs. Film, part infinity)” (16 posts), reflecting his deep involvement in the community’s transition debates.

Kay’s expertise centers on full-frame DSLR systems, particularly Canon 5D-series and Seacam housings. He contributed extensively to threads on wide-angle distortion with the 5D and Ikelite 8-inch dome (11 posts), Seacam 5D reviews (11 posts), and Seacam Canon full-frame travel configurations (9 posts). His engagement with the Nikon 14-24mm sharpness thread (14 posts) and the 39-megapixel underwater discussion (15 posts) demonstrate his focus on image quality at the highest level.

Kay’s forum distribution shows a strong secondary interest in conservation and copyright — he contributed 70 posts in Conservation and the Environment and 39 posts in Copyright Issues/Non-Payment/Fraud/Theft. His involvement in the UK seahorse photography licensing discussion (9 posts) and the Orphan Works bill thread (11 posts) reflect his advocacy for photographer rights and marine protection in British waters.

Notable Contributions

• Prominent voice in the film vs. digital debate (thread 7881, 16 posts)
• Major contributor to high-resolution and medium-format underwater photography discussions (thread 21062, 15 posts; thread 21134, 8 posts)
• Active in Seacam Canon 5D housing discussions and reviews (threads 12815, 27911)
• Engaged in Nikon 14-24mm underwater sharpness evaluation (thread 28444, 14 posts)
• Copyright and licensing advocate: Orphan Works bill (thread 33478, 11 posts), UK seahorse photography licensing (thread 41440, 9 posts)
• Participated in the “Is it art or is it reality?” image manipulation ethics debate (thread 15066, 10 posts)
• Contributed to “Time For A Major Philosophy Change?” discussion (thread 45346, 8 posts)
• Active in Tokina 10-17mm vs full-frame digital discussions (thread 19100, 9 posts)
• Late-career engagement with Sony 20-70mm f/4 evaluation (thread 70610, 8 posts)

Activity Profile

• Peak years: 2006 (357 posts), 2005 (266 posts), 2007 (257 posts)
• Second wave: 2010 (196 posts), 2009 (129 posts), 2011 (127 posts)
• Forum focus: Photography Gear (50%), General Chat (22%), Technique/Workflow (6%), Lighting (5%), Conservation (4%), Video (3%), Copyright (2%)
• Thread participation: 969 threads, averaging 1.8 posts per thread
• Gear trajectory: Film (Nikon F6) to Canon 5D/Seacam to Sony mirrorless

References

• Forum posts: 1,763 across 969 threads
• Source: person_matrix.json, forum database