For my coverage of DEMA 2006, I focused on "the stuff." However, many other attendees were as interested in the people as they were in the stuff. Take, for example, DivePhotoGuide's Jason Heller. When I strolled the floor with him, we couldn't move 10 feet without someone stopping to speak to him. It was amazing.

It should come as no surprise, then, that DivePhotoGuide's show coverage focuses more on the human side of the event -- the people behind the stuff. If you've ever wondered what Ty Sawyer, or David Doubilet, or Amos Nachoum, or alligator butter look like, check out DPG and get an eye-full.

Yes, Jason got a photo of "alligator butter."

When I was thinking about what kind of DEMA show coverage I wanted to provide, I decided to focus on dive gear and interesting equipment that was NOT related to underwater imaging. Though I briefly covered some of the Sea & Sea housings, Top Dawg housings, and, of course, Light & Motion's sleek, sexy housings, when it came time to spotlight imaging products, I decided to defer to the professionals. And by "professionals," of course, I mean the geniuses at Wetpixel.

Providing in-depth, detailed analysis, Eric Cheng and Drew Wong covered camera and video camera equipment (respectively) like crazy. Each time I passed them on the show floor, they were scribbling furiously, snapping pictures, grilling vendors, and inspecting equipment. (Well...at least Eric was.) If you want the lowdown on Fisheye, L&M, Seacam, SeaLife, Patima, Ultralight, Sea & Sea, Aquatica... -- Whew! You get the idea! -- then check out Eric Cheng's exhaustive DEMA Show coverage. More interested in video? Check out Drew's video products round-up. In either case, you'll get the low-down on all the newest underwater imaging equipment.

(If you think imaging equipment is boring, then at least check out Eric's fun people-at-DEMA photo galleries. Pay particular attention to my favorite shots.)

Of course, not everything on display at the DEMA Show was tangible, purchase-able dive gear. Some of the booths featured dive-related organizations that were more service-oriented as opposed to profit-motivated. For example, Diveheart was present. The purpose of Diveheart is to provide and support educational scuba diving and snorkeling experience programs for physically impaired children or adults. Inspiring confidence and independence helps these people face life's challenges and overcome barriers that might otherwise seem insurmountable. After all, what greater fear is there to overcome than the fear of not breathing?!

Organizing events, and facilitating dive trainings and trips (lots of trips), Diveheart works hard to help disabled divers -- like Matthew Johnston, who was there at DEMA -- achieve their dreams. Divehearts' booth may not have been the biggest or most crowded on the show floor, but it was certainly filled with the most passion. If you're interested, Diveheart has plenty of ways for you to get involved.

While having somebody talking in your ear throughout a dive might be annoying, if you're a new student, an underwater researcher, into search-and-rescue, or just really crazy about the guy driving the boat, you might be interested in Aquacom's SSB-2010 transceiver. A 3 watt, multichannel single sideband underwater telephone, the SSB-2010 can be configured to operate with virtually any style full face mask or mouth mask.

Divers can use the transceivers to talk to one another underwater. Alternatively, with the addition of a CDK-6 Surface Accessory Kit, the SSB-2010 is easily converted into a portable surface station.

Wandering the DEMA show's aisles, I stumbled upon an un-manned table with brochures scattered loosely atop it. Wondering who would leave their table unattended, I approached cautiously and grabbed a flyer. Was this a trick? Was Alan Funt behind me? Nope. It turns out that the flyer was for the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame Awards Night, to be held January 25th, 2007. Why wasn't anybody at the table? Dunno...bathroom break?

In any event, upon returning home, I decided to learn a bit more about the Awards. It turns out that there's a whole she-bang planned, from a week-long dive extravaganza (January 22-28) with the induction ceremony scheduled for the evening of the 25th. Don't ask me why the Scuba Hall of Fame has inductees for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and then completely skips 2006. I don't know if nobody qualified last year, or if something weird was going on, but in any event, the Hall of Fame plans to induct 5 famous divers in January of '07, including:

• Neville Coleman
• Rodney Fox
• Paul Humann
• Carl Roessler
• Ralph Erickson

Wish you could attend the gathering in the Caymans? Guess what? You're invited! Simply choose your accomodation and book your flight. You even get to enjoy some diving with one of the inductees!

As a casual rec diver, I don't have much need for lift bags, but when I stumbled on Subsalve's booth at the 2006 DEMA show, I was amazed with how large some of the bags were. Some of the bags were as big as a person. These bags are for commercial use and are designed to be used by a single diver. Each of the bags comes with a Plunger Dump Valve, which provides air control with a push-button knob at the top of the bag and a lanyard at the bottom of the bag.

Subsalve also makes a Vehicle Recovery System (VRS). Used in pairs, the VRS makes floating sunken cars easier.

Much to my surprise, the booth attendant explained to me that the bags on display were actually quite small. Subsalve also produces professional-grade lift bags -- like the PF 70,000 -- which is more than 21 feet tall and is capable of lifting 77,000 pounds.

• Want the low-down on all the latest underwater camera equipment? Wetpixel is where you want to head. Featuring a very organized overview of all the displays related to camera gear, Wetpixel also has a cool gallery of "people" images.
• DigiDeep has an excellent day-by-day report, with lots and lots of pictures. Most of the shots are of beautiful, shiny camera equipment, but many are of people. Don't p[ass up the chance to see DigiDeep's favorite image!
  
• Scuba PRWire has a nice photo essay of the event.
• Deeper Blue has one of the most complete overviews available, which includes overviews of Mares gear, the world's first neutrally buoyant wetsuit, and much more.
• Scuba Diving has some interesting reports, including a summary of Pinnacle's new merino-elastiprene line of wetsuits.
• UWDV has been reporting via video podcasts. Check out the interview with John Schneider, a 17-year-old underwater videographer.

SeaBotix ROVs kick ass! Here's a short video of the SeaBotix in action at the DEMA pool. I was really amazed at how fast the unit could travel, and how nimble it was.

The ROV is controlled via a joystick. Users watch the live video that the ROV feeds to a monitor topside.

• Anybody can make videos.
• It's easy.
• It's fun.

• Camera (she uses the Sony A1U HD camera but also recommends the new, small HC3 camera, which is roughly half the price)
• External mics for interviews
• Light & Motion A1U Bluefin housing (depends on your camera, of course)
  
• Video editing programs (she uses Final Cut Pro)

• Think about what story you want to shoot on the dive
• Get tight, medium, and wide shots
• Leave "handles" before and after the action is going on
• Transition shots

11:35 AM

• Capture the footage and put it into the computer
• She uses Final Cut Pro, but she's showing how to use iMovie -- it's so, so easy.
• Edit (build sequence)
• Don't know how to begin?
• Try selecting the music first and choose the images to accompany the soundtrack
• Assembly edit -- put it together so it makes intuitive sense for a viewer (beginning of interview, middle, end...). Perhaps, begin with the audio track.
• Music
• Mark the beats in the music and match the marks to the footage.
• Use legal soundtracks.
• Make your own music.
• Buy it (smartsound.com)
• Get a musician friend to contribute.
• Google "Royalty-free sound effects"
• Output (send final product to storage or delivery medium)
  

• kenstone.net
• creativecow.net
• 2-pop.com
• wetpixel.com
• apple.com
• adobe.com
• avid.com
• dv.com
• videomaker.com
• videography.com

• DigiDeep has a narrative overview of the event, as well as a nice photo gallery.
• Scuba PRWire has been reporting live from the event.
  
• Deeper Blue is on hand, reporting from the floor, as well.
• Scuba Diving Magazine has been covering the event. They even have their own TV crew.
• DiveNewsWire has loads of press releases relating to the event.
• Eric Cheng and Drew Wong have been covering the event for Wetpixel.