Vincent Kneefel

Forum username: vincentkneefel
Posts: 211
Active years: 2006–2024
Primary forums: Conservation and the Environment, Photography Gear and Technique, General Chat
Specialization: Marine conservation photography, Caribbean megafauna, environmental advocacy

Community Role

Vincent Kneefel is a professional underwater photographer and conservation advocate who has been a Wetpixel community member since 2006, with activity spanning nearly two decades through 2024. Unlike many forum contributors who focused primarily on gear and technique, Kneefel’s participation was heavily oriented toward marine conservation topics, environmental policy, and the intersection of photography and advocacy. His long tenure and consistent engagement with conservation discussions made him a distinctive voice in the community.

Professional Work

Vincent Kneefel’s most significant professional project, “Giants of the Caribbean,” was featured on Wetpixel in 2015. Over four years (2011–2015), he made 10 trips to 7 Caribbean countries to photograph megafauna species threatened by oil spills, ocean acidification, overfishing, and habitat destruction. The project was motivated by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which spilled an estimated 750 million liters of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. His work focused on intimate portraits of keystone species including great hammerhead sharks, oceanic manta rays, whale sharks, and leatherback sea turtles (^[1]).

Notable Contributions

• Conservation discussions: Kneefel initiated multiple threads on environmental policy topics, including the Greenpeace campaign targeting Canon over Japanese whaling. His initial post noted “Looks like it is now up to Sea Shepherd alone,” and community member photovan expanded the discussion into whether camera manufacturers bore responsibility for condemning whaling. Eric Cheng responded with analysis of corporate targeting strategies (^[2]).

• EU fisheries policy: He sparked debate about French President Sarkozy’s proposal to ease EU fishing quotas, with Drew Wong providing detailed analysis of fisheries management politics (^[3]).

• Eagle ray incident: His thread about an eagle ray fatality in the Florida Keys generated discussion about marine wildlife interactions and safety (^[4]).

• Orca surf photo sharing: He shared a photograph (received from a friend) from New Zealand showing an orca catching a wave alongside surfers, sparking discussion about orca behavior and diver encounters (^[5]).

• Article engagement: With 19 article comments, Kneefel was among the more engaged readers of Wetpixel’s editorial content, regularly responding to published articles.

Activity Profile

• Peak activity: 2006–2010, with continued participation through 2024
• Started 72 forum threads (high thread initiation rate relative to post count)
• 19 article comments
• Strong focus on Conservation and the Environment forum
• Professional website: vincentkneefel.com