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The
third National Festival of Underwater Photography - Cameras
Beneath the Waves - was held at queen Elizabeth Medical Centre,
Birmingham, and was organised by United Birmingham Hospitals
branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club and Diver Magazine.
Attended
by some 260 people from all over the country, Cameras was
the culmination of a national underwater photography competition
for British citizens with separate sections for beginners
and experienced underwater photographers.
The award for the Best British Photographer went to David
George, who was given a close run by Alan Youngs. In the beginners,
Chris Chiles was a clear winner with a strong portfolio which
would have competed well in the advanced section.
The event itself began on the Saturday evening with a film
show hosted by Horace Dobbs, For the 300 who attended, this
turned out to be a re-showing of a selection of diving films
which emphasisea the low number of films currently being completed.
The
evening climax was reached with Mike Portelly's film 'Ocean's
Daughter', which was the most modern film show but this is
now over two years old so let's hope that more films are being
made to provide us with fresh inspiration.
The
main event of Cameras Beneath the Waves took place on the
Sunday with the morning session chaired by Peter Scoones.
The first speaker was Peter Rowlands, who outlined various
ways of improving underwater photographs. The main improvementg
he said, would come from one's attitude to underwater photography.
Concentrating on and planning specific shots would help to
give consistency while darkroom work can turn average shots
into effective slides wither by selective enlarging, colour
alteration or sandwiching two images.
Finally,
Peter voiced an opinion on the current state of British underwater
photography saying that the general standard was higher now
than ever before but that there did not seem to be the creative
images coming through as there seemed to be in the past. He
felt that the creative category had been stifled with the
result that we were seeing too many straight-forward marine
biology shots with little in the way of artistic exploitation.
The solution, he suggested, was to encourage land photographers
and artists to sample the underwater medium and to allow more
creative images in future photography competitions.
David
George then followed with a talk on Underwater Photography
of Marine Life. He described the simple close-up equipment
that most marine biologists use to take record shots and discussed
the need for composition to lift an ordinary shot into a pleasing
image which still communicates marine information. He showed
how various angles of approach produce differing results and
how cropping unwanted areas can improve effects by concentrating
on the important areas. Not restricted to close-up, David
showed wide-angle shots which are not as widely used in the
marine identification world.
After
coffee, Bernard Eaton showed some slides of Samantha in the
Red Sea and of other buddies with comments on how to brief
your buddy to achieve better diver shots. Bernard has dived
in several exotic locations but finds himself teamed up with
non-photographeers who are not always sure how to pose or
act for an underwater photographer.
Mike
Portelly then continued on the same theme but from a different
standpoint. His work with models has earned him a reputation
for quality results with excitingly different images. He described
the lengths to which he has to go in order to achieve a successful
result and the time and expense involved. His shots varied
from basically simple diver shots to underwater ballooning
on a Red Sea reef. He attributed his success to determination
to produce results combined with the help of several assistants
who ensured that the diving was safe and that the equipment
was functioning at all times.
Prior
to lunch, John Hall described the type of shots and stories
which Diver Magazine are looking to publish. Himself not an
underwater photographer, he used slides from the competition
which he felt were suitable for publication.
Tom
Hawkyard followed with a brief talk on submitting shots to
larger circulation magazines such as the Sunday colour supplements.
He ended his talk with a three projector AV shot in Caribbean
waters.
After
lunch, Bernard Eaton took the chair to introduce Mike Portelly,
who had the task of presenting the results of the competition.
He showed shots which had not quite made the grade and built
up to the presentation of the trophies which, when displayed
on the rostrum, were a very impressive sight. A list of the
winners is printed at the end of this report.
Once
the audience had settled down again, Steve Birchall talked
on his specialist subject - Putting Together Audio Visuals.
He showed the basic equipment need to put on AVs and showed
how different voices can affect the overall presentation.
In addition, he talked of the music choice and also of atmospheric
sound - all of which help to produce a professional product.
All of these elements were well illustrated on their own and
then shown all together in Steve's latest AV - Britain's Underwater
Kingdom.
Steve
works with Peter Rowlands to produce AVs and this latest show
is aimed at schools to illustrate what the underwater world
is like round the British coast. The show was well received
and was followed by a few illustrations of AV techniques aimed
at improving presentations.
Continuing
on the AV theme, Martin Edge and Jim Eldridge showed their
six-projector AV entitled 'Sea of Dreams', This excellent
show illustrates the beauty of the Red Sea both during the
day and at night, and is a constant flow of sympathetically
coloured images blending from one fade to another. The applause
at the end voiced the audience's enthusiastic response to
this splendid AV. Martin gave a brief talk on the history
behind the AV.
With
time ticking away, the final slot of the day was Peter Scoones
talking on Underwater Film Making. Peter is without doubt
our most talented underwater cameraman but when films are
being made he is one of a crew, all of whom have specific
responsibilities, Underwater filming poses different limitations
to the normal roles and the cameraman becomes a director/cameraman
as only one person can look through and operate the camera.
Peter
has been involved in filming for BBC TV's Natural History
Unit together with companies producing both documentary footage
and commercials. His description of some of the hurdles to
be overcome during filming would make most mortals retire
but the film must be shot whatever the difficulty.
As
a finale, Peter showed some footage not being used for a film
on cave diving in the Blue Holes of the Bahamas. Edited together
rapidly with a sound track on a separate cassette, his final
showing was a ten minute sequence taken inside the caves using
lighting laid down days before with time allowed for the visibility
to clear.
The
result was a fantasia style sequence of spectacular eaves
full of underwater stalagtites and stalagmites. The Planets
Suite music provided superb accompaniment to compliment the
images and produce an eventual result which would be hard
to improve. If this is what can be done with the 'out-takes',
one can't wait to see the final film which should be shown
on BBC in the very near future.
With
eyelids dropping after a full day of images and words, it
was decided to drop the Open Forum and Bernard Eaton closed
Cameras at around 6-30pm.
Those
who attended saw high quality presentations which were for
the most part well prepared and well illustrated. However,
the presenters were marred and I felt that the organisers
were hindered by the choice of venue. The blackout facilities
were far from perfect and before emergency measures were taken
to cover offending windows, the first two speakers suffered
as their images were projected on to a screen covered with
stray light. The internal lighting on each speaker affected
the screen and could have been avoided by the provision of
a small anglepoise light. The seating was all on one level
and can never be as visually comfortable as the tiered seats
normally used in proper photographic venues.
In addition to the lighting/blackout, the venue suffered by
having the catering area right next to the speaker's rostrum
and screen. The result was a very distracting noice as lunch
was firstly prepared and then cleared up afterwards.
Despite
the venue and lax time-keeping which led to a late finish
with the final discussion being axed, Cameras was well received
and was supported by a trade show from local and national
companies.
However,
how much better it could have been in a more sympathetic photographically
orientated venue. The idea/principle behind Cameras is sound
in its intentions and correct in its programme but would be
enhanced immeasurably by a different venue for the next event.
A
total of 121 people entered 475 prints and 1,257 slides. Of
these 120 were from laveon Wood and 100 from Chris Chiles.
Others who contributed to this massive total of entries were
Mike Glover (54), David George (50), Alan Youngs (45), Jack
Jackson (42), David Nance (37), Steve Page (35) and Martin
Edge (30).
Two
others entered between 25 and 30 prints or slides, five put
in between 20 and 25, nine accounted for 15 to 20 entries,
thirteen for 10 to 15 prints or slides, thirty-nine for five
to 10 entries and forty-four people submitted between one
and five entries each.
Broken
down in another way, there were 97 black and white prints.
Of these, 21 were from beginners and 76 from advanced workers.
The total of oolour prints was 315. Of these 198 were submitted
by beginners and 117 by more experienced underwater photographers.
A total of 1,035 slides was entered. Of these, 606 came from
beginners and 429 from advanced photographers.
In
the macro category, there were 63 prints and 222 slides. Beginners
submitted 42 of the prints and 131 slides. Advanced workers
accounted for 21 of the prints and 91 slides.
Saturday
night's film spectacular was attended by 300 people. Sunday's
symposium had an audience of 260.
RESULTS OF CAMERAS BENEATH THE WAVES
Black
and white prints. United Kingdom, moving life, gold medal,
Alan Youngs, silver and bronze medals, David George; still
life, gold, silver and bronze medals, Warren Williams. Mike
Portelly Trophy for the beat black and white print (UK), Warren
Williams. O-ent moving life, gold and silver medals, David
George, bronze medal, Alan Youngs; still life, gold medal,
David George. The silver and bronze medals were not awarded.
The BSoUP Trophy for the best black and white print (open),
David George.
Colour
prints. United Kingdom, moving life, gold medal, Kevin Cullimore,
silver medal, David George, bronze medal, Ian Goddard, still
life, no medals were awarded. The Derek Berwin Trophy for
the beat colour print (UK), Kevin Cullimore. Open, moving
life, gold medal, Alan Youngs, silver medal, Jack Jackson,
bronze medal, Linda Pitkin; still life, silver medal, David
George, bronze medal, Alan Youngs, The gold medal was not
awarded. The BS-AC Trophy for the best colour print (open),
Alan Youngs.
Colour
slides. United Kingdom, moving life, gold medal, Kevin Cullimore,
silver medal, Brian Pitkin, bronze medal, M.D. Griffins; still
life, gold medal, Charles Hood, silver medal, Alan Youngs
, bronze medal, Ian Irving, highly commended, Warren Williams.
Horace Dobbs Trophy for the best colour slide (UK), Kevin
Cullimore. Open, moving life, gold medal, Alan Youngs, silver
medal, Doug Allan, bronze medal, Alex Double; still life,
gold medal, Lawson Wood, silver and bronze medals, Keith Cunningham.
Spirotechnique Trophy for the best colour slide (open), Alan
Youngs.
Macro.
Slides, gold medal, Jim Greenfield, silver medal, Brian Jubb,
bronze medal, Keith Cunningham; prints, gold medal, Alan Youngs,
silver medal, Charles Hood, bronze medal, Ian Goddard. Lady
Jenny Trophy for the best macro shot, Jim Greenfield.
Beginners,
gold medal, Christopher Chiles, silver medal, Martin Edge,
bronze medal, Jack Jackson. UBH BS-AC Trophy for the best
beginner, Chris Chiles.
Best
British underwater photographer. Diver Magazine Trophy, David
George.
Reproduced
from in focus 13 (February
1986) |
