acuevas

Forum username: acuevas
Real name: Andres (based on forum interactions)
Posts: 238
Active years: 2009–2013
Primary forums: Photography Gear and Technique, Video Gear and Technique, General Chat
Specialization: Aquatica housings, Nikon DSLR underwater photography, video lighting

Community Role

acuevas was an active Wetpixel community member based in Chile, contributing regularly between 2009 and 2013. His posts centered on underwater photography gear, particularly Aquatica housings and Nikon DSLR systems. He was one of the few Chilean contributors to the forum, and his willingness to share both successes and failures — including a dramatic housing flood — made his posts valuable learning resources for the community.

His participation spanned gear discussions, trip reports from Caribbean and South American dive destinations, and video lighting research. He was an enthusiastic diver who combined technical diving interests (cave diving, wreck diving) with underwater photography and videography.

Notable Contributions

• Aquatica AD7000 expertise: acuevas was a dedicated user of the Aquatica AD7000 housing for the Nikon D7000, documenting his experience purchasing and using the system. He shared the difficulty of sourcing the housing internationally, including contacting B&H Photo and Backscatter from Chile (^[1]).

• Housing flood documentation: His detailed account of flooding his D7000 in saltwater became an important cautionary tale. The flood was caused by the housing’s microphone cable interfering with the flash lever mechanism, preventing proper closure. His thorough post-mortem analysis — including identifying the root cause and recommending cutting the unused microphone cable — helped other AD7000 users avoid the same mistake (^[2]).

• Video lighting research: He initiated a discussion about high-powered LED video lights, specifically the WASP light system with its 18,000-lumen output, gathering community feedback on unconventional lighting solutions for underwater videography (^[3]).

• Trip reports: He shared images and experiences from diving in Cozumel and the Riviera Maya, openly requesting critique to improve his underwater photography skills. His posts from the Riviera Maya trip combined cave diving training with reef photography (^[4]).

Activity Profile

• Peak activity: 2011–2012
• Started 27 forum threads
• Active in Photography Gear and Technique, Video Gear and Technique, General Chat, and Photo/Video Showcase forums
• Equipment: Nikon D7000, Aquatica AD7000 housing, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, Inon Z240 strobes