David Breitigam

Aliases: dbreitig (email handle)
Role: Photographer, writer, gear reviewer, website founder
First appearance: 2000-03-21 (Wetpixel launch)
Affiliation: Wetpixel (founder, 2000–~2003), Steve’s Digicams (underwater forum moderator), Deep Blue Travel (partner), What Digital Camera (UK contributor), Fathoms magazine (columnist)
Location: US Southwest
Family: Charla Breitigam (wife, Deep Blue Travel bookings), Tyler (son, b. ~1989), Tannor (son)

Biography

David Breitigam founded 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 had no underwater-specific coverage. Breitigam created Wetpixel to fill that gap. The site’s first post read: “OK, I’m biting the bullet and taking this site live. I’ve done a rapid redesign that will make for faster maintenence, and I’m going to update this page on a semi-regular basis as the news comes in.” It referenced “The Digital Advantage” feature article, DEMA 2000 coverage, and a gallery of underwater photos. The copyright notice read “(C) 1999, 2000 By Wetpixel and David Breitigam,” suggesting the domain or concept predated the March 2000 launch. (Wayback Machine, 2000-10-18)

The site was part of the Underwater Photo Webring, a linking network through which early visitors discovered it. Forum member mandarinfish recalled finding Wetpixel “way back in late 1999 or early 2000 after following the Underwater Photo Webring.” ([1])

Breitigam was an active underwater digital photographer himself. His primary rig was an Agfa ePhoto 1680 in a Marine Camera Arrow aluminum housing with dual slaved Ikelite substrobe AQ/S illumination. He described this as “without a doubt (with modifications and ingenuity) the best UW digital still camera system available in its day,” noting the Agfa competed against the Nikon Coolpix 900, which was “with its IR focus, virtually blind UW.” (Wayback Machine, 2001-09-03)

He took this setup to Cabo San Lucas and Belize early on (images featured in the Wetpixel gallery at launch), and then to Fiji in June 2000 (Naigani Island and the Princess II liveaboard), producing a gallery of 70+ images. He proclaimed that these demonstrated “great lighting, color and composition underwater are no longer the exclusive domain of the film photographer.” His Agfa camera was destroyed during the Fiji trip. (Wayback Machine, 2000-08-14, Wayback Machine, 2000-07-12)

In September 2001, Breitigam auctioned the Agfa/Arrow system on eBay for $600, listing its components in exhaustive detail: housing, wide-angle dome port, Kenko KUW-045 macro adapter, Tiffen diopters (+7, +10), two Ikelite AQS strobes, Ikelite VideoLite 45, 28 Iomega Clik! disks, and two PCMCIA Clik! drives. He noted he had “over US$3,000 into this setup” and described it as “a piece of digital UW photography history.” (Wayback Machine, 2001-09-03)

Forum member mikeyk4 later recalled: “I wonder if Dave Breitigam still has that old Agfa ePhoto 1680 1MP with the Arrow Underwater housing for sale? I bet I can get better looking images with that setup than I can with my 5050.” ([2])

In August 2000, Breitigam was published in the September issue of What Digital Camera (UK print magazine), writing about underwater digital photography — one of the first mainstream print features on the subject. He referred to himself wryly as “an obscure underwater photographer from the US Southwest.” (Wayback Machine, 2000-08-18)

He also wrote a column on underwater digital photography for Fathoms dive magazine in the United States, illustrated with photos from his Agfa/Arrow system. (Wayback Machine, 2001-09-03)

Authored articles

Breitigam authored “The Digital Advantage,” an editorial advocating for digital over film in underwater photography, published as one of Wetpixel’s first feature articles. The piece opened with an anecdote about a dive buddy whose entire week of film slides came out underexposed, contrasting this with the instant feedback of digital. ([3])

He also wrote the review of the MCD/Arrow aluminum housing for the Agfa ePhoto 1280/1680, noting the emerging tension between quality built-to-fit housings and rapid digital camera obsolescence: “As digital cameras move into the same obsolescence cycle as personal computers, quality built-to-fit housings such as this aluminum beauty from Marine Camera Distributors and Arrow Machine will become a rare site if not a distant memory.” ([4])

DEMA coverage

Breitigam covered multiple DEMA shows for Wetpixel:

DEMA 2000 (Las Vegas): Featured in the site’s launch content, with a digital photography product roundup. (Wayback Machine, 2000-03-21)

DEMA 2001 (New Orleans, January 2001): Wrote an extensive report documenting every digital photography product at the show — from Light & Motion’s best-of-show Tetra booth to Ikelite’s DS-50/DS-125 prototypes, Sea & Sea’s YS-90DX strobe, Seacam’s Nikon D1 housing, and Epoque’s Sanyo packages. His report included editorial commentary about digital photography’s potential to revitalize the dive industry by attracting “a new, younger, more sophisticated, sport diver” and noted that digital photography “steers away from the polluting chemical processes associated with film and relies coincidentally on durable, high-power, environmentally friendly, rechargeable, Nickel Metal Hydride batteries.” (Wayback Machine, 2001-01-29)

DEMA 2002 (Las Vegas, October 2002): Photographed and documented digital products across the show floor while Eric Cheng “generally hung out and partied with industry luminaries.” Cheng’s editorial note in the report acknowledged: “Dave did such a good job!” The report catalogued over 60 different production or prototype digital photography products from manufacturers including 10bar, Aquatica, Backscatter, Epoque, Ikelite, Light & Motion, Sea & Sea, and SeaCam. Breitigam noted Merlin Phillips of Advanced Design Engineering (ADE), who had been on the Kona trip, had a prototype Nikon CP5000 housing, adding “Dave has been pushing him to do something in digital UW photography.” ([5], [6])

DEMA 2003 (Miami, October 2003): Mentioned as “an old friend” of Eric Cheng alongside Merlin Phillips, though coverage was by Cheng and James Wiseman. ([7])

DEMA 2004 (Houston, October 2004): Commented on the coverage, writing “Awsome as usual - I miss DEMA! (Next year is Las Vegas though - just a sort drive).” This confirmed his location in the US Southwest and suggested he was no longer actively involved in show coverage. ([8])

SCUBA 2000 coverage

Breitigam also covered the SCUBA 2000 trade show in Long Beach, California, producing a “wetpixel pictorial report” on Ocean-brite Systems bringing the Olympus PT-005 housing to the US market. (Wayback Machine, 2000-06-06)

Community message board

In the early months, Wetpixel used a service called Coolboard for message traffic, but it saw little use. In his May 2000 site update, Breitigam noted “Lots of site visitors and no use of the message board. Perhaps Coolboard is a little clumsy and intrusive.” On March 22, 2001, he migrated Wetpixel’s community to Steve’s Digicams’ forums, becoming the underwater subject moderator. He wrote: “This new messaging location will provide wetpixel readers with a convenient one-stop location for all their digital camera discussions.” (Wayback Machine, 2000-10-18, Wayback Machine, 2001-04-05)

Forum member WaterBug later recalled learning “about it and the problems with strobes and pre-flash from Dave Breitigam on Wetpixels” — an early example of Breitigam’s role in educating the nascent community about digital underwater photography challenges like pre-flash synchronization. ([9])

Film-Free Diving and the Kona charter

On March 3, 2001, Breitigam and Oran McNiel (Deep Blue Travel) announced “Film-Free Diving” — believed to be the first exclusively-digital underwater still photography liveaboard dive charter. Scheduled for November 3-10, 2001 on the Kona Aggressor II in Hawaii, the charter originally cost US$2,195 per diver (double-occupancy), later reduced to US$1,895 after a cancellation. Breitigam and McNiel planned to offer “short light sessions and quick tips, both on underwater digital photography and on the use of the photo memory transfer and digital darkroom services provided via a local area network (LAN) of Powerbook laptops aboard the boat.” Guests would “compete in nightly digital slide shows that will choose a winning picture-of-the-day for a live website update.” Breitigam closed the announcement: “Hey group! This is a first and it’s going to be a blast. Hope you can make it!” (Wayback Machine, 2001-03-03)

By September 2001, the focus shifted toward a “live media” event. Breitigam ordered a digital projector and an Iridium satellite phone for live website updates from the boat, and expanded the charter to include film shooters using a slide scanner and one digital video shooter. (Wayback Machine, 2001-09-16)

Gear evaluation trips

To prepare for the Kona charter, Breitigam organized gear evaluation trips:

Roatan, Honduras (June 2001): Originally planned for 6 days, but TACA airlines’ “awful customer service” delayed his equipment by 2 days, cutting the schedule to 4. He tested 4 cameras (Olympus C3040, Canon A20, Sony DSC-P1, Olympus D-100), 6 housings (L&M Tetra, Ikelite, Canon WP-DC200, Sony Marine Pack, Olympus PT-007, PT-008), and 5 strobes (Ikelite DS-50, Ikelite substrobe 50, Sea & Sea YS90DX, Epoque Digital Strobe) with Ultralight Controls arm systems. He also evaluated digital storage devices: Digital Wallet, Iomega Photoshow, and Iomega Clik!. (Wayback Machine, 2001-07-10)

La Paz, Mexico (August 16-23, 2001): A family trip with sons Tyler and Tannor plus their cousins, using FunBaja’s boat for snorkeling during surface intervals and staying at the Marina Hotel. Breitigam focused on “external strobe use with the Oly PT-007, C3040, the INON lenses, dual Sea & Sea YS90DX strobes and dual Ikelite DS-50 strobes to try to perfect a technique.” He invited other digital shooters to join, directing them to contact “my wife Charla at Deep Blue Travel for more information, 1-866-591-1169.” (Wayback Machine, 2001-07-10)

Community features

Breitigam launched several features that presaged Wetpixel’s later community culture:

Industry relationships

Breitigam cultivated relationships with key industry figures and resources:

Eric Cheng connection and transition

On May 1, 2001, Breitigam featured “Eric Cheng’s Palau Adventure” on Wetpixel — Cheng’s trip aboard Palau’s Big Blue Explorer with an Ikelite housing and Nikon Coolpix 990. Breitigam introduced it: “If you missed it on Steve’s Digicams then you won’t want to pass on it a second time.” This is the earliest documented connection between Cheng and Wetpixel. (Wayback Machine, 2001-05-01)

Breitigam recruited Cheng for the Kona Aggressor charter, where Cheng provided satellite-based web coverage. During the Kona expedition, Cheng met photographer Jim Watt, who connected him to the wider underwater photography industry. Cheng recognized that underwater photographers were geographically isolated and needed a virtual community. He built Wetpixel into a full community site and online magazine while Breitigam continued handling the business side. Around 2003, Breitigam stepped down due to time constraints, and Cheng became the sole owner. (NWP Photo Forum interview, 2005)

A photo taken by Cheng during the Kona trip shows Breitigam diving with an Ikelite Coolpix 990 housing with two Ikelite DS-50 strobes — indicating he had upgraded from the Agfa/Arrow system by November 2001. ([12])

Forum member bvanant confirmed: “We met Eric and Dave Breitigam on the Kona Trip last year.” ([13])

When Wetpixel hit 1,000 members in May 2003, Eric Cheng (posting as “Guest wetpixel”) credited: “Let’s all remember to thank David Breitigam, James Wiseman, Bob Wharton and Craig Jones.” ([14])

In a 2023 forum thread about preserving Wetpixel, a member recalled: “Actually there was Wetpixel before Eric. We did a very early trip with David Breitigam the owner of Wetpixel at the time on the Kona Aggressor. Eric was on that trip and later he bought Wetpixel.” ([15])

Tyler Breitigam

Breitigam’s son Tyler, age 12, contributed the DPOTW photo in September 2001 — a manta ray photographed while snorkeling in La Paz with his own Olympus PT-008 and D-100 camera. Breitigam wrote: “I told him I’d give him the housing if he bought the camera — He immediately went down and nearly cleaned out his bank account to buy the camera.” (Wayback Machine, 2001-09-16)

Contributions

Timeline

References

Sources

  1. Forum thread: How Did You Find Wetpixel ↩
  2. Forum thread: New 8mp Cameras May Suck Consumer Cams ↩
  3. Wetpixel article, Jun 14, 2000: The Digital Advantage ↩
  4. Wetpixel article, Feb 29, 2000: Mcdarrow Agfa Ephoto 12801680 Housing ↩
  5. Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
  6. Wetpixel article, Oct 27, 2002: Dema 2002 Show Report ↩
  7. Wetpixel article, Oct 7, 2003: Dema 2003 Show Coverage1 ↩
  8. Wetpixel article, Oct 15, 2004: Dema Show 2004 Report ↩
  9. Forum thread: Introductions Original Thread Now Closed ↩
  10. Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
  11. Wetpixel article, Oct 7, 2003: Dema 2003 Show Coverage1 ↩
  12. Forum thread: Post A Picture Of Your Rig ↩
  13. Forum thread: Introductions Original Thread Now Closed ↩
  14. Forum thread: Wetpixel Hits 1000 Members ↩
  15. Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel ↩
  16. Wetpixel article, Jun 14, 2000: The Digital Advantage ↩
  17. Forum thread: Post A Picture Of Your Rig ↩
  18. Forum thread: Introductions Original Thread Now Closed ↩
  19. Wetpixel article, Jul 22, 2002: Dema 2002 Report ↩
  20. Wetpixel article, Oct 27, 2002: Dema 2002 Show Report ↩
  21. Forum thread: Wetpixel Hits 1000 Members ↩
  22. Wetpixel article, Oct 15, 2004: Dema Show 2004 Report ↩
  23. MCD/Arrow Agfa ePhoto 1280/1680 Housing (article) ↩
  24. The Digital Advantage (article) ↩
  25. DEMA 2002 Report (article) ↩
  26. DEMA 2002 Show Report (article) ↩
  27. DEMA 2003 Show Coverage (article) ↩
  28. DEMA Show 2004 Report (article) ↩
  29. Post a Picture of Your Rig (forum) ↩
  30. Introductions (original thread) (forum) ↩
  31. DEMA 2002 forum thread (forum) ↩
  32. Wetpixel Hits 1000 Members (forum) ↩
  33. New 8MP Cameras (forum) ↩
  34. How Did You Find Wetpixel (forum) ↩
  35. Preservation of Wetpixel (forum) ↩