Giles Shaxted

Aliases: giles, digitallywet (early forum username)
Role: Wetpixel moderator (2009), article author, underwater photographer, dive instructor
Location: UK; previously Cayman Islands
First appearance: 2003 (forum, joined August 27, 2003)
Affiliation: Fisheye Photographic (Cayman Islands); Wetpixel.com
Website: giles.shaxted.co.uk

Biography

Giles Shaxted has worked in the diving industry since the age of 15. His passion for diving took him from the UK to the Cayman Islands, where he worked as a dive instructor for Fisheye Photographic. At Fisheye, he adapted underwater photography lessons from film to compact digital around 2000, making him an early adopter of digital underwater photography instruction (^[1]). He eventually transitioned underwater photography from a professional activity to a personal pursuit, noting that “underwater photography has remained part of his personal life without being work any longer” (^[2]).

Based in Grand Cayman for an extended period, Shaxted became deeply familiar with the island’s marine environment and diving community. He was identified on the Wetpixel members’ map as the community’s resident in Grand Cayman and frequently provided local diving information to visiting members (^[3]). His knowledge of the Cayman Islands’ reefs, Stingray City, and local environmental issues like algae blooms and water temperature changes informed both his forum discussions and authored articles (^[4]).

His philosophy on the hobby was characteristically straightforward: “diving and photography should be fun, if it isn’t then why do it!” (^[5]).

Shaxted primarily shot Canon cameras. He used a Canon D60 for his DSLR underwater work as early as 2005, paired with a 100mm macro lens (^[6]). He also used Canon compact cameras including the SD20, and briefly switched to a Nikon Coolpix S3 after losing his Canon at a Christmas party in late 2005 — his first non-Canon camera, a fact he noted with some remorse (^[7]).

Cover Model and “Supermodel” Nickname

Shaxted gained a humorous and enduring nickname within the Wetpixel community as “International Supermodel” after appearing on the cover of Alex Mustard’s book The Art of Diving (2006). Alex Mustard described the cover as featuring “Giles ‘supermodel’ Shaxted” (^[8]), and the joke stuck. Eric Cheng referred to him in a 2006 article as “International Supermodel (and Wetpixel member)” (^[9]).

The nickname originated from Alex Mustard’s underwater photographs of Shaxted taken during diving in Grand Cayman. One such image — Shaxted swimming through silversides in the wreck of the Oro Verde, shot with a D100 and 10.5mm fisheye — was shared on the forums in August 2004 (^[10]). Another of Mustard’s images of Shaxted appeared as a two-page spread advertisement for the Cayman Islands in Scuba Diving magazine (Jan/Feb 2006 issue). Mustard commented that “Giles benefits much more than I do from that image, although I do feel sorry/guilty for female visitors to the island who happen to meet supermodel-Shaxted” (^[11]).

Shaxted himself also claimed to appear on the cover of UwP Magazine Issue #19 (May 2004), commenting “and has a photo of me on the cover!” (^[12]).

Shaxted leaned into the joke enthusiastically, once describing himself as a “plus size international supermodel” on the forums (^[13]).

Wetpixel Moderator and Article Author

In February 2009, Eric Cheng named Shaxted as one of four new Wetpixel moderators, alongside Darren Jew, Ryan Pedlow, and Ellen Quale (^[14]). Cheng described him as a “long-time member” and enlisted him to help manage Wetpixel’s Twitter feed (^[15]).

Shaxted authored 17 Wetpixel articles between February 2009 and April 2010, covering a range of topics:

Gear news:

• Sea & Sea MDX-D700 and MDX-5D MKII housing announcements, with details on pricing ($3,995 for the D700 housing), depth ratings (200ft/60m), and bulkhead configurations (^[16])
• Canon Powershot G11 release, noting the drop in megapixels from the G10 as a positive move for image quality (^[17])
• Best underwater point-and-shoot cameras for 2009, in partnership with Backscatter (^[18])
• DivePhotoGuide’s iPad first impressions for underwater photographers (^[19])

Technique and tutorials:

• Housing fog and condensation prevention, drawing on a favourite forum discussion and offering practical advice including assembling gear in air-conditioned rooms and using desiccant packs — with the quintessentially British aside that “no Brit would waste a good tea bag!” (^[20])
• Cal Mero’s creative swimming pool photography, a feature article profiling the emerging underwater studio photography genre and tracing its evolution from Alex Mustard’s canine pool shots through James Wiseman’s dancers to Cal Mero’s theatrical work (^[21])

Marine biology and conservation:

• Spawning striated frogfish at Blue Heron Bridge, covering Ned and Anna DeLoach’s rediscovery of the site (^[22])
• Hawaiian manta ray bill (HB366) crossing to the Senate, supporting the Manta Pacific Research Foundation (^[23])
• Lionfish invasion coverage, sharing resources on the growing Caribbean lionfish crisis (^[24] — comment)
• Coral mutilation and conservation awareness (^[25])

Competitions and events:

• NCUPS 45th Annual International Underwater Photographic Competition (^[26])
• British Wildlife Photography Awards 2009, noting Alex Mustard’s win in the “Coast and Marine” category (^[27])
• 10th Annual San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition (^[28])
• Film Festival at Benthic Ecology Meeting 2010 (^[29])
• 2009 International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame inductions in Grand Cayman (^[30])

Cayman Islands:

• Grand Cayman’s Stingray City floating bar controversy, rallying the community to protest a liquor license for a bar in a Marine Park (^[31])
• USS Kittiwake sinking as Cayman’s newest artificial reef, with first-hand diving account (^[32])

DiveFilm HD:

• Episode 33 of DiveFilm HD, featuring Christian Fries’ Canon 5D footage (^[33])

Competition Results

Shaxted placed 3rd in the inaugural BSoUP (British Society of Underwater Photographers) International Focus On Competition in August 2005, representing the Cayman Islands with 22 points, behind winner Mike Veitch (47 points) and Charles Hood (42 points). The competition drew entries from 17 countries (^[34]).

Community Contributions

With 1,709 forum posts over a decade-long active period (2003-2013), Shaxted was a consistent and engaged community presence. He started 108 forum threads across photography technique, gear, travel, and conservation topics.

Environmental advocacy: Shaxted started a widely-discussed thread in September 2006 on rising ocean water temperatures and their effects on marine life, drawing on his observations of algae blooms in Grand Cayman’s North Sound and comparing sea surface temperature data from 1998 and 2006. The discussion prompted Eric Cheng to feature it in a front-page article (^[35], ^[36]).

Travel discussions: He created the popular “Airports that Suck” thread (73 replies), born from frustration with Miami International Airport while traveling from the Cayman Islands (^[37]).

Technical contributions: Shaxted started a thread on digital photo storage solutions for traveling photographers, discussing iPod Photo as a backup device (2005) (^[38]). He also created a Firefox search plugin for Wetpixel, demonstrating web development skills (^[39]).

Photography portfolio: He launched his personal portfolio site (giles.shaxted.co.uk) in June 2006, using Photoshop-generated Flash galleries. Alex Mustard commented positively on his “painted technique” applied to underwater images (^[40]).

Community engagement: Shaxted was an active commenter on articles from the earliest days of Wetpixel, leaving 26 comments across the site. His comments ranged from competition questions to local Caribbean diving knowledge to good-natured banter. He was part of the tight-knit early Wetpixel community, meeting Eric Cheng and Dave Patchen in person in Grand Cayman in February 2006, where Cheng described it as “pub food — the only culinary experience available past 10pm here on Grand Cayman” (^[41]).

Relationship with Alex Mustard

Shaxted and Alex Mustard developed a close friendship through diving together in Grand Cayman. Mustard made multiple extended visits to the Cayman Islands (August 2004, March 2005, December 2005-January 2006) and frequently dove with Shaxted. When Mustard brought his new Nikon D2X to Cayman in March 2005, Shaxted accompanied him with his Canon D60, and Mustard observed that the D60 “was struggling” with autofocus in low-light spawning conditions compared to the D2X (^[42]). Mustard photographed Shaxted both underwater and topside, producing images that appeared in his book The Art of Diving, in Scuba Diving magazine, and in UwP Magazine. Their relationship was marked by mutual ribbing — when Mustard announced joining Wetpixel, Shaxted’s comment was “the poor lad … wont have anytime for dancing and drinking soon!” (^[43]).

Timeline

• 2003-08: Joins Wetpixel forums (^[44] — person_matrix first_appearance: 2003-08-27)
• 2004-01: Alex Mustard identifies fish Shaxted spotted in Grand Cayman shallows (^[45])
• 2004-02: Comments on Beneath the Sea competition, mentioning past work at Fisheye Photographic (^[46])
• 2004-05: Appears on the cover of UwP Magazine Issue #19 (^[47])
• 2004-08: Photographed by Alex Mustard swimming through silversides in the Oro Verde wreck, Grand Cayman (^[48])
• 2005-03: Dives with Alex Mustard using his Canon D60 alongside Mustard’s new Nikon D2X at Turtle Reef, Grand Cayman (^[49])
• 2005-08: Places 3rd in BSoUP International Focus On Competition representing the Cayman Islands (^[50])
• 2005-12: Photo by Alex Mustard of Shaxted appears as two-page Cayman Islands ad in Scuba Diving magazine (^[51])
• 2006-02: Meets Eric Cheng and Dave Patchen in person in Grand Cayman (^[52])
• 2006-03: Featured on cover of Alex Mustard’s The Art of Diving; “Supermodel” nickname established (^[53])
• 2006-06: Launches personal photography portfolio website (^[54])
• 2006-09: Starts widely-discussed thread on ocean warming and marine life impacts (^[55])
• 2009-02: Named Wetpixel moderator; begins contributing to Wetpixel Twitter feed (^[56], ^[57])
• 2009-02: Authors first article: Sea & Sea MDX-D700 and MDX-5D MKII housing announcements (^[58])
• 2009-03: Authors guide to best underwater point-and-shoot cameras for 2009 (^[59])
• 2009-08: Authors articles on housing fog prevention, frogfish spawning, Cal Mero pool photography, Canon G11, and competition announcements (^[60])
• 2010-01: Authors article on Stingray City floating bar controversy (^[61])
• 2011-01: Authors article on USS Kittiwake sinking as Cayman’s newest artificial reef, having dived it personally (^[62])
• 2013-07: Last recorded forum activity ([source: person_matrix.json])

References