Paul Kay

Aliases: paul kay, pgk
Role: Professional underwater photographer, author, marine conservation advocate
Website: marinewildlife.co.uk (^[1]), paulkayphotography.co.uk (^[2])
First appearance: 2003-12-25
Forum username: paul kay
Posts: 1,763
Active years: 2003–2023
Primary forums: Photography Gear and Technique (50%), General Chat (22%), Shooting Technique/Workflow/Editing (6%), Lighting (5%), Conservation and the Environment (4%)

Biography

Paul Kay is a British professional underwater photographer who specializes in temperate marine photography, particularly around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Wales. He is one of the longest-serving and most intellectually engaged contributors to the Wetpixel forums, with 1,763 posts across 969 threads spanning two full decades from 2003 to 2023. His career bridges the film-to-digital transition in underwater photography, and he is notable both for his photographic work documenting British and Irish marine life and for his passionate advocacy on marine conservation and photographer copyright issues.

Kay is the author of several books on marine life. He co-authored a comprehensive Welsh fish identification guide with Dr Frances Dipper, published on behalf of the UK’s Marine Conservation Society (MCS) with grant aid from the Countryside Council for Wales. The guide was designed not only for species identification but also as a mechanism for recording fish sightings to improve distribution data (^[3]). In 2011, he wrote and illustrated Ireland’s Hidden Depths for the Sherkin Island Marine Station in County Cork, Ireland, drawing on photographs taken over 30 years of diving Irish waters. The book was shortlisted for the Mountbatten Maritime Media Award for Best Literary Contribution at the Maritime Media Awards 2011 (^[4]). He also contributed photographs to the earlier Ireland’s Marine Life - a world of beauty (1992) published by the station (^[5]).

Kay has an interest in the history of underwater photography. In 2010, he published a piece in the Royal Photographic Society Journal on the Calypsophot, exploring how the Leica rangefinder may have influenced the design of both the Calypsophot and the subsequent Nikonos system (^[6]). He also collects historical underwater camera equipment, including a Rolleimarin housing (^[7]).

At the Visions in the Sea 2003 festival in London organized by Ocean Optics, Kay gave a presentation titled “Composing like a Pro” on photographic composition (^[8]). He was also present at the Birmingham Dive Show 2003 (DIVE 2003), where he signed copies of his books on underwater photography alongside Constantinos Petrinos (^[9]).

Kay contributed workflow techniques to UwP Magazine issue #27 (November/December 2005), alongside James Wiseman, Alex Mustard, David Nardini, and Mark Webster (^[10]).

As a competition photographer, Kay received Highly Commended awards in both British Waters Wide Angle and British Waters Macro at the Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) 2018 competition (^[11]).

Contributions

Technical Expertise: Optics, Lenses, and Dome Theory

Kay brought deep optical knowledge to Wetpixel’s technical discussions. He contributed detailed comments on dome port theory, explaining how the entrance pupil can shift with wide-angle zooms across focal lengths, and how domes produce a curved image field that can affect sharpness across the frame (^[12]). He argued that no wide-angle lens with a field of view exceeding 90 degrees would produce truly sharp frame corners unless substantially stopped down, a contention that was featured as a Wetpixel article by Eric Cheng (^[13]). His forum thread “Acceptable sharpness with wide-angles” prompted discussion among leading photographers about whether corner softness was a real problem or merely a consequence of “pixel peeping” in the digital era (^[14]).

In 2010, Kay proposed a standardized methodology for testing lens/port combinations underwater, suggesting defined test distances (1m, 0.3m, 3m from sensor plane), downloadable test charts, and a comparative database of results. He noted that unlike land-based photography where MTF data was readily available, underwater lens testing lacked comparable standards (^[15]).

Kay also shared practical knowledge on travel-friendly setups, documenting how a Canon 5D with the Canon 15mm fisheye lens could produce surprisingly good results through Seacam’s smaller Wideport rather than the bulky Superdome, provided small apertures (f/16) were used (^[16]).

Photography Ethics and Philosophy

Kay was one of Wetpixel’s most prolific initiators of philosophical discussions about photography. Alex Mustard described him as “the initiator of many of Wetpixel’s most interesting debates” (^[17]).

His 2005 thread “Optimisation, enhancement or manipulation?” laid out a three-tier framework for classifying digital post-processing: optimisation (global adjustments in RAW converter), enhancement (backscatter removal, local adjustments), and manipulation (content alteration). He noted that backscatter removal was particularly relevant to temperate water photography where suspended matter is unavoidable, creating a unique challenge for underwater image ethics (^[18]).

In “What is your motivation?” (2006), promoted to a Wetpixel article, Kay asked the community why they take underwater photographs, exploring whether people are driven by marine science, wreck documentation, visual storytelling, or other reasons (^[19], ^[20]).

His “Too much technology?” thread (2009) argued that photographic forums had veered too far toward technical gear discussion, and that the image itself should matter more than the equipment used to create it. He called for 2009 to be “a year of consolidation” focused on better image-making rather than chasing specifications (^[21]).

The “Thinking differently” thread (2006), also highlighted by Mustard in a Wetpixel article, questioned whether photographic innovation was sustainable and how much truly new territory remained to explore in underwater imaging (^[22], ^[23]).

In “When is enough, enough?” (2007), Kay questioned the community’s pursuit of ever-higher megapixel counts, noting that underwater optical limitations were often the true bottleneck in image quality, not sensor resolution (^[24]). He returned to this theme in his final year on Wetpixel with “Why do we obsess over image quality?” (2023), noting that his own equipment had met his needs for nearly a decade and that further upgrades were likely overkill (^[25]).

Kay also started the “Most enduring or iconic image!” thread (2005), asking whether any underwater photographs could be considered truly iconic in the way that famous land-based images like the napalmed children of Vietnam or Cartier-Bresson’s work were universally recognized (^[26]).

He contributed to the “Is it art or is it reality?” debate on digital manipulation in underwater photography (^[27]) and participated in Alex Mustard’s “Time for a major philosophy change?” discussion about whether the slide-era mentality of getting everything perfect in-camera should be abandoned in the digital age (^[28]).

Raw vs. JPEG and Digital Workflow

Kay was an early advocate for RAW file shooting, compiling a comprehensive list of RAW vs. JPEG advantages and disadvantages (^[29]). He also demonstrated RAW’s scientific value, showing that RAW processing could extract data from underwater images shot in 1-2m visibility during Seasearch survey dives off North Anglesey that was invisible in JPEG versions (^[30]).

Marine Conservation Advocacy

Kay was a consistent voice for marine conservation on the forums, with 70 posts in Conservation and the Environment. He raised alarms about Natural England’s 2011 decision to ban flash photography of seahorses in English waters, arguing it would alienate the very citizen scientists who documented sightings, while anchoring in the seagrass habitat of Studland Bay continued to be permitted (^[31]). He had earlier started a thread questioning whether photographing seahorses with strobes was genuinely harmful (^[32]).

He criticized the BBC’s 2008 “Oceans” series for showing presenters with poor buoyancy, handling marine creatures, and sitting on reefs, calling it a setback for diver environmental awareness (^[33]). He campaigned against the Scottish Government’s licensing of seal killing by salmon farms (^[34]), lobbied UK MPs to oppose scallop dredging (^[35]), and promoted the overfishing documentary End of the Line (^[36]).

Copyright and Photographer Rights

Kay contributed 39 posts in the Copyright Issues/Non-Payment/Fraud/Theft forum. He was actively engaged in the UK Orphan Works bill debate, warning about the implications for photographers of legislation that would allow use of images whose creator could not be identified, with fees set by government departments rather than creators (^[37]).

Gear and Technical Evolution

Kay’s gear trajectory across two decades illustrates the full arc of the film-to-digital transition in professional underwater photography:

• Film era: Used Ektachrome film; his early career images taken over 30 years held up well against later digital captures (^[38])
• Early digital: Used a Fuji S2Pro (with masked F80 viewfinder) in a Seacam housing with S45 Sportsfinder (^[39])
• Canon full-frame: Used Canon EOS 1Ds and later Canon EOS 5D Mark II in Seacam housings with S45 Sportsfinder, paired with Seacam flash units for buoyancy compensation. Used Canon 15mm fisheye and various wide-angle lenses (^[40], ^[41], ^[42])
• Leica: Also used a Leica M8 for some underwater work, unusual in the diving community (^[43])
• Late career: Engaged with Sony 20-70mm f/4 G lens discussions as mirrorless systems matured (^[44]); noted in 2023 that his equipment had met his needs for “moving towards a decade” (^[45])

Timeline

• 2003-10: Gave “Composing like a Pro” talk at Visions in the Sea 2003 festival, London (^[46])
• 2003-11: Signed books at Birmingham Dive Show 2003 / DIVE 2003 (^[47])
• 2003-12: First appearance on Wetpixel forums
• 2004-10: Contributed technical analysis on dome port theory and entrance pupil positioning (^[48])
• 2005-06: Started “Most enduring or iconic image!” discussion (^[49])
• 2005-08: Started “Optimisation, enhancement or manipulation?” ethics debate (^[50])
• 2005-09: Demonstrated RAW images as a scientific tool during Seasearch dives off North Anglesey (^[51])
• 2005-10: Started RAW vs. JPEG discussion thread (^[52])
• 2005-11: Published workflow techniques in UwP Magazine #27 (^[53])
• 2006: Peak forum activity year with 357 posts
• 2006-09: Started “Motivation” thread, promoted to Wetpixel article (^[54])
• 2006-11: Started “Acceptable sharpness with wide-angles” discussion, featured in Wetpixel article (^[55])
• 2006-12: Started “Thinking differently” thread on photographic innovation, highlighted by Alex Mustard (^[56])
• 2007-08: Started “When is enough, enough?” megapixel debate (^[57])
• 2008-12: Criticized BBC “Oceans” series for poor environmental practices (^[58]); shared Seacam Canon FF travel setup using 15mm fisheye with Wideport (^[59])
• 2009-01: Started “Too much technology?” discussion (^[60])
• 2009-06: Published Welsh fish identification guide with Dr Frances Dipper for the Marine Conservation Society (^[61])
• 2009-12: Participated in UK Orphan Works bill copyright debate (^[62])
• 2010-04: Proposed standardized methodology for testing lenses underwater (^[63])
• 2010-05: Published Calypsophot article in the Royal Photographic Society Journal (^[64])
• 2011-02: Campaigned against Scottish Government seal killing licenses (^[65])
• 2011-05: Published Ireland’s Hidden Depths for Sherkin Island Marine Station; raised alarm about UK seahorse photography flash ban (^[66], ^[67])
• 2011-11: Ireland’s Hidden Depths shortlisted for Mountbatten Maritime Media Award (^[68])
• 2015-02: Acquired a Rolleimarin historical underwater housing (^[69])
• 2018-02: Highly Commended in British Waters Wide Angle and British Waters Macro at UPY 2018 (^[70])
• 2023-04: Started “Why do we obsess over image quality?” — his last major forum contribution (^[71])
• 2023-10: Last recorded forum activity

Activity Profile

• Peak years: 2006 (357 posts), 2005 (266 posts), 2007 (257 posts)
• Second wave: 2010 (196 posts), 2009 (129 posts), 2011 (127 posts)
• Forum focus: Photography Gear and Technique (50%), General Chat (22%), Technique/Workflow (6%), Lighting (5%), Conservation (4%), Video (3%), Copyright (2%)
• Threads started: 48 in the archive, 132 total
• Thread participation: 969 threads, averaging 1.8 posts per thread
• Gear trajectory: Film (Ektachrome) → Fuji S2Pro/Seacam → Canon 1Ds/Seacam → Canon 5D II/Seacam + Leica M8 → Sony mirrorless interest

References