Don in Colorado

Forum username: don in colorado
Posts: 295
Active years: 2002–2014
Primary forums: Lights/Strobes/Lighting Technique, Photography Gear and Technique, Shooting Technique/Workflow/Editing
Specialization: Filters and color correction, GoPro video, wide-angle diver photography

Community Role

Don in Colorado was one of Wetpixel’s founding-era members, joining in September 2002 — just a year after the site launched. His very first post was a complaint about forum performance when logged in, a thread that notably prompted a response from Eric Cheng (as “Guest wetpixel”) acknowledging the speed issues and discussing forum dynamics, while another member (sharpdiver/Jeff) identified a competing forum, DigitalDiver.net (^[1]). Don remained active for over twelve years, contributing steadily through 2014.

Based in Colorado, Don was an enthusiastic recreational underwater photographer who dove regularly in tropical destinations including Belize, Bonaire, and other Caribbean locations. He was notable for his persistent curiosity about color correction and filtration — a recurring theme across his many posts. He was also one of the most active article commenters in the community, leaving 17 comments across Wetpixel articles on topics ranging from housing reviews to lighting techniques.

Notable Contributions

• Filter and color correction expertise: Don started multiple threads exploring the use of filters on both lenses and strobes for wide-angle diver photography. His 2005 thread on using Singh-Ray orange filters with Sea & Sea YS90DX strobes on an Olympus 5050 system drew helpful responses from community experts (^[2]). In 2013, he started a memorable thread titled “I hate the dead blue faced zombie diver photos,” seeking solutions for the blue cast that afflicts diver portraits shot at distance with strobes, exploring Lee Straw filters, Tiffen filters, and FL-B corrections (^[3]).

• GoPro Hero3 Black discussion: Don started one of the early community discussions about the GoPro Hero3 Black’s 4K capabilities in November 2012, seeking advice on frame captures and video editing workflow. The 30-reply thread became a useful resource for GoPro users, with Drew Wong and Nick Hope providing guidance on CineForm Studio, Photoshop frame grabs, and VLC media player (^[4]).

• Active article commenter: With 17 article comments, Don was among the more engaged commenters on Wetpixel editorial content, providing feedback on housing reviews, lighting articles, and DIY projects.

Equipment

• Olympus 5050 in PT-015 housing (early setup)
• Ikelite DS-125 strobes (later setup)
• Sigma 17-70mm lens
• Singh-Ray filters, FL-B filters
• GoPro Hero3 Black

Activity Profile

• First post: September 18, 2002 — feedback about forum speed (^[5])
• Peak years: 2005, 2012–2013
• Threads started: 27
• Last appearance: December 2014
• Forum focus: Primarily lighting and technique discussions, with regular contributions to gear forums