El Domingo 13 de Septiembre estuve haciendo una charla con imágenes submarinas de todo el mundo en la II edición de Festival del Mar. La asistencia de 200 personas llenó la sala, lo cual siempre se agradece.
Los grandes veleros que acuden a Santander con motivo del Festival del Mar son un espectáculo y realmente merece la pena pasarse a visitarlos. Gracias a todos los que acudieron a la charla.
Finally ! After months of hard work, BLUES, the biggest exhibition of underwater photography is open to the public.
400 m2, 140 meters of walls, highest quality photographs in large format, 5 computer screens, 42” plasma TV and 3 meters video screen… You have never seen something like this in Underwater Photography. Plus all the antique cameras that show the history of underwater photography.
Only until November 1st.
You can’t miss it !
During the last weeks I have been working hard on the next photo exhibition that opens next week (July 27).
Until November 1st you can visit this exhibit in the Bilbao Marine Museum where you will see not only lots of beautiful underwater photos, but also few images of what is really happening under the oceans nowadays.
There will be cameras showing the history of underwater photography and some films of some of the most awarded film makers in the world.
So do not miss this special event !
See you all in Bilbao
With so much traveling to exotic locations I barely have time to dive in Spain. So this year I made an effort to go to Cabo de Palos, in the Mediterranean and to push some local diving near home. Cabo de Palos was a nice surprise. Lots of Marine Life. I hadn’t been diving the Med for many years and didn’t expect so many big groupers, schools of barracudas and many other fish.
In the north, Atlantic coast, we have had very good diving conditions, with even good visibility which is unusual over here. So I have been doing some diving in the coast near home, where I took this shot.
I´m back in the Philippines, this time doing a photo seminar in Donsol and Tubbatah.
In Donsol we expect to be able to snorkel with whale sharks and in Tubbataha we will explore the most pristine coral reefs of the Philippines. I´ll show you a photo or two when I am back to the computer
The website for the next photo exposition (28 May – Bilbao) is ready. Take a look at http://www.art.villoch.com and if you are near by feel free to come to the exhibit opening on the evening of May 28
Estoy preparando una nueva exposición en la galería de arte fotográfico www.photogallery20.com. Se trata de una selección de mis imágenes más sutiles y personales. Nueve piezas de 112 x 75 cm en blanco y negro, acabado semi-mate, montadas sobre aluminio Dibond. Disponibles en serie limitada de 8 unidades más dos pruebas de autor por fotografía, a través de la galería Photogallery 20.
Os espero en la inauguración del día 28 de Mayo a partir de las 19:30
Durante estos días, del 14 al 18 de Abril, estoy realizando una exposición fotográfica en la sala de la Kutxa de la calle Andía en San Sebastián, coincidiendo con la 33ª edición del Ciclo de Cine Submarino de San Sebastián.
Esta es la cobertura del diario vasco:
http://www.diariovasco.com/20090415/cultura/ningun-posado-20090415.html
Ya estamos de vuelta de un magnífico viaje por Indonesia. He estado impartiendo un seminario de fotografía submarina en un crucero de buceo, recorriendo algunos de los mejores arrecifes que he visto nunca desde Lembeh a Raja Empat pasando por las Molucas. Hemos fotografiado los animales más extraños en Lembeh, descubierto nuevos arrecifes en Molucas y hemos alucinado con el color y cantidad de vida en Raja – la coesta Oeste de Papua.
Podeis ver un breve relato del viaje en http://comunidad.tubuceo.com/_Los-Mejores-Arrecifes-del-Planeta/blog/240131/86514.html
El año que viene repetiremos este alucinante viaje.
During the show DEEP Indonesia I was given the “Honorable Mention” prize in the “Environment and Conservation” category for this photo of a green turtle being open and showing the eggs inside.
The image can be strong for the heart fainted, but it shows the everyday reality in many beaches where turtles go to lay their eggs. Green Turtles are killed to obtain their green fat tissue which is used to make soup. Although this impacting photo may look cruel, it was actually taken during a scientific study in a keen act of mercy. The turtle was very sick and had been sitting on the sand for few days, without being able to move neither towards the sea or to dryer sand to lay eggs. She could bare breathe. Knowing that the animal only had few hours of agony left, the scientist decided to sacrifice her and made a necropsy “in situ” to determine the origin of the sickness.
Del 13 al 15 de Mayo he realizado una exposición de fotos submarinas en el Salón del Submarinismo de Cornellá.
La afluencia de gente ha sorprendido a los expositores y ha habido mucho interés en la imagen subacuática. También se ha roto el mito de que “En España la gente no copra fotos” ya que ha habido bastantes ventas de cuadros. Algún suertudo se ha llevado (comprado quiero decir) una de mis fotos favoritas que tenía reservada para el salón; pero así es la cosa.
Las fotos están impresas con la máxima calidad disponible, un positivado por LEDs y revelado químico (como el tradicional fotográfico). El resultado es impresionante, colores vivos, transiciones suaves, buen rango dinámico. Tras muchas pruebas con diferentes tipos de papeles y consultando opiniones de expertos y profanos en el tema, me decanté por el papel brillante por su viveza. Los sujetos parecen “salirse” de la foto.
Esta es parte de una exposición itinerante que irá por varias ciudades de España, e incluso hasta Hong Kong !
A selection of 110 photographs illustrate this pictorial voyage around the world's Oceans. I have carefully chosen his favorites images for this portfolio to share his personal view of the sea.
This book is a glimpse of the magic that have I discovered during my incursions into that fantastic world. Fifteen years and thousands of dives in all six continents are condensed in these pages showing a shy representation of the variety of shapes, colors and textures of light and life below the waves. From a tiny coral polyp forming part of the Great Barrier Reef to a leopard seal in Antarctica, they are all inspiring creatures that live in a delicate balance with their environment.
Available in soft and hard cover
20cm X 25 cm
80 pages
Oh yeah, you can buy it here ;-)
Last weend took place the Our World Underwater International Photo & Video Competition in Chicago where I won the Bronze prize in the Environment & Conservation Category with this photo of a unfortunate green sea turtle caught in a abandoned fishing net. I took this images while diving the Chikuzen wreck in the British Virgin Islands.
During last years I have been seeing an obvious decay in the coral reefs due to several factors, like overfishing, global warming, dynamite fishing, drifting nets, etc.I have been capturing this situations with my camera to show the negative effects we have over the Ocean and spread the word about environmental issues. I consider this award a recognition for that effort.
Seeing this turtle was a particularly sad experience. Turtles, as reptiles they are, they need to go to the surface to breathe air. So when they are caught in a net the enter in a panic situation and drown. This turtle still had air in its lungs and there was a another turtle swimming around, maybe trying to understand what happened to his friend…
This winter is being cold, rainy (by the coast) and we have lots of snow in the mountains. There has been some crazy storms in the ocean and they even registered a 26m (80+') wave not far from here. So except for a couple of nice surfing days I have been out of the sea during this time.
But the season is being very good for snowboarding. I have only been able to go a couple of days, but really enjoyed the being in the mountains again.
Now you can keep track of my latest photos and whereabouts directly from Facebook Page.
The link is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlos-Villoch/31965437334 , You just have to become a fan to be the first one to know when new photos are added, reports on the latest trips, photo exhibitions and if I finally finish my portfolio book !
And if you know me, we have dived together sometime, met in a remote place, attended one of my photo seminars, crossed emails, bought one of my prints, pull my hair in kindergarden or have done business together you can add me to your contacts. My profile link is http://es-la.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Villoch/585552920
From the Philippines I have gone to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands - Spain to participate in a photo competition and to spend few days relaxing in this wonderful island.
I am on a one month assignment in the Philippines, a country with 1107 islands in the Indo-Pacific area or South East Asia. I have been diving in many different of these islands and each one has something special. Some are good for “muck diving”, where we look for the most strange critters hiding on sandy slopes or under piers. Others offer the most pristine coral reefs with abundant fish life, from colorful tropical fish to large groupers and sharks. The negative side is that dynamite fishing is still common around some islands, like Cebu. This causes massive coral damage and kills every living being, leaving few fish to photograph. The country is so big that it takes a long time to move from island to island, involving flights, boats and road transfers.
On land I have seen awesome landscapes, like the shallow lagoons formed between the limestone islands of Northern Palawan.
Time goes fast. It has been 10 years since MagicSea.com went online to distribute underwater images around the world.
To celebrate we have a special offer in the new gift shop in MagicSea.com FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE .
Use the coupon code '100000masterpieces' during checkout for free shipping on any order, to anywhere in the world for the next week. In case you are so lost that you still do not know where the shop is, here you have some help: http://underwaterart.redbubble.com
You can always access the shop from MagicSea.com or CarlosVilloch.com
Free Shipping coupons expire 23:59 October 30 (GMT), and are only available for our standard shipping option.
Finally !!! The 2009 “Undersea Wonders” Calendar is available here : http://www.villoch.com/calendar .
A whole year of underwater images on your wall. I have made a selection of my favorite photos from the last years. From humpback whales and dolphins to sharks and tropical coral reefs.
Order now while they last !
I am now working in Roatan, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras. There are two things that I really like about this island: Dolphins and Sharks. Both are amazing to be in the water with. This is the 3rd time I met Mika in the last 5 years, one of the trained dolphins in Roatan. Last time we met in Belize. I find her as cute as always; very friendly too.
I have been spending quite a lot of time with sharks too. They are Caribbean Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus perezi), about 20-25 of them that visit the same area, 70 feet deep. They get quite close and sometimes bump into my camera or hit the strobes with the nose. Their sleek bodies move very elegantly and I could spend hours watching them, but the dive computer only gives me about 40 minutes before going into deco mode and tell me it’s time to go back to the boat.
Soon I´ll post the Bonaire and Roatan photos in MagicSea.com
