Wetpixel.com

Type: Online community / publication
Founded: 2000 (by David Breitigam); relaunched 2001 (by Eric Cheng)
Created by: David Breitigam (2000); expanded by Eric Cheng (2001–2018)
Current owner: Adam Hanlon (since 2018)
Corporate entities: Wetpixel LLC (incorporated 2002, US); Wetpixel Ltd (UK Company #11657743, incorporated 2018-11-03, dissolved 2024-04-16)
Headquarters: 434 Napa St., Sausalito, CA 94965 (2007–2018); Mildenhall, Suffolk, UK (2018–2024)
URL: https://wetpixel.com

Overview

Wetpixel.com is the leading online community for underwater photography and videography, created in 2000 by David Breitigam and transformed into a community platform by Eric Cheng starting in late 2001. It was 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. As one long-time member put it in 2013: “I consider wetpixel the most comprehensive source of information on underwater photography in the world.” ([1])

The archive comprises over 8,000 articles posted primarily by Adam Hanlon (~4,930, including ~200 guest contributions), Eric Cheng (1,084), Abi Smigel Mullens (728), and Matt Segal (354); approximately 400,000 forum posts across 23,000+ threads; 5,700+ article comments; and 1,500+ news items.

History

Origins (2000)

David Breitigam launched Wetpixel.com on March 21, 2000 as a dedicated news page for underwater digital still photography — “The Digital Photography resource for SCUBA divers.” There was no equivalent resource online at the time. Steve’s Digicams was a popular digital camera news site with general discussion forums but no underwater-specific coverage; Breitigam created Wetpixel to fill that gap, and used Steve’s Digicams forums for the community discussion component (where he served as the underwater subject moderator). Wetpixel was a hand-maintained static HTML page with news items, a gallery, links, reviews, and a message board link. The copyright notice on the earliest captures reads “(C) 1999, 2000 By Wetpixel and David Breitigam.” (Wayback Machine, March–October 2000)

Breitigam ran the site for nearly two years, covering DEMA shows, breaking product announcements (including the Light & Motion Tetra 3030), curating user galleries, launching the Digital Photograph of the Week feature, and organizing the first all-digital underwater photography liveaboard charter (“Film-Free Diving,” Kona Aggressor II, November 2001).

Cheng and Breitigam join forces (2001–2003)

In 2001, Breitigam recruited Eric Cheng — whom he had found online — to provide satellite-based web coverage of the Kona charter. Cheng’s Palau trip photos had been featured on Wetpixel as early as May 2001. Cheng was already building his own online community for digital underwater photography; the two became friends through the Kona trip and decided to join forces. 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 a community site and editorial platform while Breitigam handled the business side, and Wetpixel quickly became the definitive resource for the film-to-digital transition in underwater photography. Around 2003, Breitigam stepped down due to time constraints, and Cheng became the sole owner. A February 2002 forum post by Cheng (posting as “Guest wetpixel” — the site’s admin account, later also suspended by Hanlon) confirms the unpaid partnership: “no one pays me or David, and we run this site” — referring to Breitigam. ([2])

Early community discovery varied widely: members found Wetpixel through Google searches for underwater housing information, recommendations at dive photography events like Celebrate the Sea in Singapore, word of mouth from other underwater photographers, and crossovers from sites like DivePhotoGuide and Video University. ([3])

Early milestones (2002–2005)

Growth and expansion (2006–2010)

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.” Cheng announced: “Wetpixel has been in existence for over 10 years and has fostered a close-knit community of passionate underwater image makers. Here’s to another 10 years of sharing what we find under the surface of the earth’s oceans!” ([35]) This reflected Cheng’s growing involvement in technology ventures (Lytro, DJI, Facebook Reality Labs). Hanlon became the most prolific article poster on the site, publishing ~4,930 articles (including ~200 guest contributions by other authors).

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. Eric Cheng, though no longer running day-to-day operations, still participated in the redesign feedback, commenting on design decisions like fixed-width columns for readability. ([36])

2016 anniversary and podcast launch

Ownership transfer to Adam Hanlon (2018)

On December 1, 2018, Eric Cheng formally transferred ownership of Wetpixel to Adam Hanlon. The announcement stated: “Eric worked for 17 years to build Wetpixel in an active and vibrant community where techniques, imagery, and information are freely shared.” Eric would “continue to be involved with Wetpixel as an advisor.” ([37], [38])

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. ([39])

Community member “oneyellowtang,” drawing on years of web industry experience, later estimated that Wetpixel was never truly profitable as a web property: annual costs were minimal (hosting and registration), there was zero paid staff (all moderators were volunteers), and Cheng likely sold it for a modest sum. The primary revenue model was Wetpixel Expeditions trip bookings rather than advertising. ([40])

2019 server migration

In July 2019, Wetpixel underwent a server migration managed by Tom St. George. The migration introduced various bugs. The site was hosted at Arcustech LLC (Rochester, MN), a managed virtual private server provider, with the domain registered through Tucows. ([41], [42])

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 with regular contributions from Alex Mustard. Described as “a regularly refreshed series of video conversations with leading underwater image makers about topics that are of interest to all those that venture beneath the surface with a camera,” it launched July 10, 2020 with the first episode covering “5 important tips for those starting out as underwater photographers.” ([43], [44])

Wetpixel Live grew rapidly: the YouTube channel produced 302 episodes (numbered to 264, plus extras) totaling ~89 hours with ~329,000 total views, covering topics from dome port essentials to strobe triggering advice to camera body reviews. It featured 15 guest experts and was sponsored by Nauticam, Backscatter, Ikelite, Inon, Seacam, and others. Wetpixel also organized a Virtual Trade Show in 2021–2022 when DEMA attendance was impractical. The series ended in January 2024, with Mustard launching a successor show. See Wetpixel Live for full coverage.

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.

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.

Decline (2022–present)

In April 2022, Hanlon implemented admin-approved memberships due to scammers targeting the Classifieds section: “We have a small number of unscrupulous individuals trying to defraud community members in the Classifieds.” He called it a “short term change.” ([45])

In July 2022, Adam Hanlon claimed he had suffered a heart attack. Publishing began to slow noticeably; Hanlon was absent from DEMA 2022, marking an unusual gap for a site that had covered every DEMA since 2001. Hanlon was absent from DEMA 2022 — “I was sadly unable to attend” ([46]) — and cited the heart attack in his later DeeperBlue rebuttal, but no independent medical confirmation appears in the record; Alex Mustard later documented that Hanlon was teaching a workshop via Zoom in May 2023 and working as a dive instructor while claiming to be too ill to process payments ([47]).

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. ([48]) The last article published on Wetpixel appeared in April 2023.

In August 2023, multiple community threads addressed Wetpixel’s future:

Financial controversy

In the aftermath, Hanlon cited his illness as the reason he could not process refunds and payments — but continued accepting payments for forthcoming expeditions ([53], [54]). Multiple customers accused him of withholding payments collected for Wetpixel-organized dive trips, with community estimates reaching in excess of $100,000 total (Mustard’s own calculation: “well over 100,000 dollars” in [55]). The withheld funds included dive operator fees, gratuities pre-collected from guests and never passed through to boat and resort staff ([56], [57]), workshop instructor fees, and refunds owed to participants who cancelled or were replaced ([58]). Community member “Draq” documented a specific loss of $8,600 for a liveaboard trip where money was collected “long after he failed to pay for the boat” and “pocketed the money.” Draq wrote: “Adam Hanlon and Wetpixel are one and the same, and they ripped me off, along with many others.” ([59])

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.

Community member “oneyellowtang,” analyzing the site’s advertising state, observed that the banner ads were “all quite old, and haven’t been changed (at all) over the last number of months” and estimated the site was receiving “$0” in ad revenue. They estimated the Wetpixel Live YouTube series could have generated approximately $175/year based on views and subscribers. ([60])

Lockdown and aftermath

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 co-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. Hanlon deactivated his social media accounts and essentially disappeared from the internet ([61]); when one community member attempted to reach him through his wife’s Facebook page, it went private within days ([62]). New membership requests went unprocessed for months. As the sole administrator, Hanlon became increasingly unreachable. Moderators lacked authority to fix the issues. Forum member chrisross noted that “new members still can’t join and the forum is not viewable by guests any longer, nor can it be archived by the wayback machine or crawled by search engines.” ([63])

In April 2024, moderator Tim G confirmed: “As far as I’m aware precisely nothing has been done or happened. There has been no word from Adam. The site continues as, for the moment, no interventions are necessary. Nothing is being updated in the background that we know of. At some stage licenses will need renewing or updating. Then comes the acid test.” ([64])

On April 16, 2024, Wetpixel Ltd was officially dissolved by UK Companies House for failure to file required accounts. Community member mackman noted: “Sadly it looks like Wetpixel LTD has officially been dissolved due to lack of recent required filings. It had a good run.” ([65])

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.

Editorial team

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. ([71])

Community features

Forums

The heart of Wetpixel. Expert-oriented discussions on gear, technique, destinations, and conservation across 15 forums in five categories: Gear and Tips, The Galley, Planet Earth, Administration, and Other. Key contributors by post count: James Wiseman (8,600+), Drew Wong (7,800+), Alex Mustard (7,100+). The forums also served as a commercial channel: publishers approached members about image licensing after seeing work posted in forum threads. ([72])

Photo contests

Wetpixel Live (YouTube series)

Launched June 28, 2020 during the pandemic, co-hosted by Adam Hanlon and Alex Mustard. Produced 302 episodes (numbered to 264, plus extras) totaling ~89 hours with ~329,000 views across nearly three years. Topics covered the full spectrum of underwater photography: gear (strobes, lenses, housings, ports), technique (lighting, exposure, composition, autofocus), workflow (Lightroom, color science, publishing), competition reviews (UPY, WPotY, Ocean Art), location guides, conservation, and business advice. Featured 15 guest experts including Edward Lai (Nauticam), Daniel Keller (Keldan), Mike Bartick, Erin Quigley, and Natalie Gibb. Hosted a Virtual Trade Show in 2021–2022 replacing DEMA. Series ended January 2024; Mustard launched The Underwater Photography Show as a successor. Community member “waterpixel” archived 294 of 301 videos (65 GB) in August 2023 as a preservation effort. ([74], [75], [76])

Wetpixel Expeditions

Photography-focused dive trips for advanced underwater photographers, organized first by Eric Cheng and later by Adam Hanlon. See Organized expeditions below.

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 design milestones:

DateEventDetails
2000-03LaunchStatic HTML page by David Breitigam
2002Forum launchXMB forum software
2004-01Version 3.0Migration to IPB (Invision Power Board)
2005-02Major redesignExhibition Engine + IPB 2.0, dedicated dual-CPU server, RSS feeds, member blogs, community galleries
2006Podcast partnershipDiveFilm video podcasts via iTunes
2008-01DDoS attackServer and network switch taken down
2008-07Software upgradeCor Bosman + Eric Cheng
2009Social media expansionFacebook, Twitter, Flickr groups
2013-02Major redesign”Full Frame” photo essay feature, Tapatalk mobile support
2017Forum fraud warningCompromised accounts used for Western Union/MoneyGram scams
2018-12Ownership transferEric Cheng to Adam Hanlon
2019-07Server migrationArcustech LLC hosting, managed by Tom St. George
2020-07Wetpixel Live launchYouTube video series, 300+ episodes
2022-04Admin-approved membershipAnti-scam measure; became permanent bottleneck
2023-04Last article published
2024-04Wetpixel Ltd dissolvedUK Companies House, failure to file accounts

Significance

Wetpixel’s significance to the underwater photography world includes:

SiteRelationship
DivePhotoGuide.comPartner; co-hosted competitions and DEMA events
Waterpixels.netSuccessor community (launched December 2023)
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
Steve’s DigicamsPredecessor; Breitigam moderated UW forum there before Wetpixel had its own

References


Sources

  1. Forum thread: Wetpixel A Breath Of Fresh Air
  2. Forum thread: Online Courses
  3. Forum thread: How Did You Find Wetpixel
  4. Forum thread: Whats Busted On The Message Board
  5. Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report
  6. Wetpixel article, Feb 17, 2003: Bi Monthly Photo Contest
  7. Wetpixel article, May 6, 2003: Wetpixels 1000th Forum Member
  8. Wetpixel article, May 18, 2003: Wetpixel Surpasses 250000 Unique Visitors
  9. Wetpixel article, Oct 28, 2003: Antibes Festival 2003 Coverage
  10. Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2003: Wetpixel Wins At Antibes
  11. Wetpixel article, Jan 23, 2004: Wetpixel V30
  12. Forum thread: Wetpixel Migration Thread Jan 2004
  13. Wetpixel article, Jan 28, 2004: Wetpixel Unveils Classifieds Section
  14. Wetpixel article, Feb 24, 2004: Wetpixel Launches Photo Contest
  15. Wetpixel article, Feb 27, 2004: Alex Mustard Joins Wetpixel
  16. Wetpixel article, Mar 28, 2004: Wetpixels 2000th Forum Member
  17. Wetpixel article, Mar 21, 2004: Wetpixel Announces Bi Monthly Photo Contest
  18. Wetpixel article, Jun 21, 2004: Wetpixel Marchapril Contest Winners
  19. Wetpixel article, May 25, 2004: Wetpixel Server Status Important
  20. Wetpixel article, Feb 26, 2005: New Wetpixel Design
  21. Wetpixel article, Aug 13, 2005: Wetpixel Hits 4000 Members
  22. Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2005: Wetpixels Reaches 10000
  23. Wetpixel article, Oct 29, 2005: Wetpixel Receives Scuba Diving Magazine Editors Choice
  24. Wetpixel article, Sep 6, 2005: Charity Auction Galapagos Expedition October 9 23 2005
  25. Wetpixel article, Oct 30, 2005: Wetpixelcom Divephotoguidecom International Photo Competition
  26. Wetpixel article, May 10, 2006: Wetpixel Partners With Divefilm For Video Podcasts
  27. Forum thread: Please Help Keep Wetpixel On Wikipedia
  28. Forum thread: Wetpixel Takes Over Inon Artist Of The Month
  29. Forum thread: Wetpixel Hit By Ddos Attack Last Night
  30. Forum thread: Wetpixel Google Map
  31. Forum thread: Wetpixel Software Upgraded
  32. Forum thread: Changes Due To Spammers On Wetpixel
  33. Forum thread: Wetpixels Greater Online Community
  34. Forum thread: Wetpixel Charity Drive For Oxfam Asia Pacific Disaster Fund
  35. Forum thread: Adam Hanlon Appointed As Wetpixel Editor
  36. Forum thread: Wetpixel Redesign Feedback
  37. Wetpixel article, Nov 30, 2018: Change Of Ownership At Wetpixel
  38. Forum thread: Wetpixel Changes Ownership
  39. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  40. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others
  41. Forum thread: Wetpixel Planned Outage Weds 24 July 2019
  42. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  43. Wetpixel article, Jul 10, 2020: Announcing Wetpixel Live
  44. Forum thread: Announcing Wetpixel Live
  45. Forum thread: Membership Change Please Read
  46. Wetpixel article, Nov 8, 2022: Dema 2022 Coverage From Tom St George
  47. Forum thread: Wetpixeltravel Issues
  48. Forum thread: Front Page Updated Announcements
  49. Forum thread: Is Wetpixelcom Dead Or Dying
  50. Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel
  51. Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel
  52. Forum thread: Is Wetpixelcom Dead Or Dying
  53. Forum thread: Wetpixeltravel Issues
  54. Forum thread: How Is Adam Doing
  55. Forum thread: Wetpixeltravel Issues
  56. Forum thread: Wetpixeltravel Issues
  57. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others
  58. Forum thread: How Is Adam Doing
  59. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others
  60. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others
  61. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  62. Forum thread: Wetpixel Defrauding Customers And Others
  63. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  64. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  65. Forum thread: What Is The Story Of Wetpixels Survival
  66. Forum thread: Best Place To Sell
  67. Forum thread: Wetpixel Expands Moderating Team
  68. Forum thread: Charter And Introductions
  69. Forum thread: Paul Waghorn Wags New Video Moderator
  70. Forum thread: Please Welcome Our New Moderators
  71. Forum thread: Wetpixel Ships Issue 2 Of Wetpixel Quarterly
  72. Forum thread: Have You Sold An Image Because Of Wetpixel Forums
  73. Forum thread: Wetpixel Photo Of The Week Now Supports Public Voting
  74. Wetpixel article, Jul 10, 2020: Announcing Wetpixel Live
  75. Source: wetpixel_live/extra-introducing-the-underwater-photography-show.md
  76. Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel
  77. Forum thread: Wetpixel Dema Cocktail Party 2008
  78. Forum thread: Wetpixel Google Map
  79. Wetpixel article, Sep 6, 2005: Charity Auction Galapagos Expedition October 9 23 2005
  80. Forum thread: Wetpixel Charity Drive For Oxfam Asia Pacific Disaster Fund
  81. Forum thread: Wetpixeldivester T Shirts Arrive
  82. Forum thread: Team Wetpixel Stickers
  83. Forum thread: Wetpixel Bahamas Sharks Dolphins Trip Report July 2008
  84. Forum thread: Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia
  85. Forum thread: Wetpixel Whalesharks 2012
  86. Forum thread: Wetpixel Lembeh Workshop 2013
  87. Forum thread: Wetpixel Bahamas Goliath Groupers Sharks Dolphins Expedition 2010
  88. Forum thread: Wetpixel South Africa Ocean Safari Sardine Run
  89. Forum thread: Sperm Whale Expedition To Ogasawara Japan
  90. Forum thread: Wetpixel Papua New Guinea Eastern Fields 2012 Trip Report
  91. Forum thread: Wetpixel Solomon Islands Expedition Sep 11 25 2007
  92. Forum thread: Wetpixel Oceanics Trip 2009
  93. Forum thread: How Did You Find Wetpixel
  94. Forum thread: Have You Sold An Image Because Of Wetpixel Forums
  95. Change of ownership at Wetpixel (article)
  96. Announcing Wetpixel Live (article)
  97. New Wetpixel Design! (article)
  98. Wetpixel surpasses 250,000 unique visitors (article)
  99. Wetpixel unveils classifieds section (article)
  100. Alex Mustard joins Wetpixel (article)
  101. Wetpixel partners with DiveFilm for Video Podcasts (article)
  102. Wetpixel.com/DivePhotoGuide.com International Photo Competition (article)
  103. Adam Hanlon appointed as Wetpixel Editor (forum)
  104. Wetpixel changes ownership (forum)
  105. Please help keep Wetpixel on Wikipedia (forum)
  106. How did you find Wetpixel? (forum)
  107. Wetpixel, a breath of fresh air (forum)
  108. Have you sold an image because of Wetpixel forums? (forum)
  109. Preservation of Wetpixel (forum)
  110. Is wetpixel.com dead (or dying)? (forum)
  111. What is the story of Wetpixel’s survival? (forum)
  112. Wetpixel defrauding customers and others (forum)