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Each
year The British Society of Underwater Photographers holds
a competition to find the Best Beginner's Portfolio. Relative
newcomers to underwater photography are invited to submit
a portfolio of six 35 mm slides of their own choice, taken
anywhere in the world in freshwater or the sea, to compete
for the prestigious DIVER Trophy and a £50 prize kindly
donated by Bernard Eaton of Diver Magazine. The only restrictions
are that the photographer must never have won a medal in a
National or International competition and that none of the
six slides were taken in an aquarium. All submitted portfolios
are projected at the November meeting of the Society and the
audience present invited to vote for their favourite three.
The
latest competition, held only weeks after Brighton '87, attracted
19 entries from all parts of the country. Third place went
to JOHN MOSS from London for his selection taken in the Cayman
Islands.
Second
place went to JENNY GEORGE from Holyport for her portfolio
taken in the Gulf of Aqaba. Jenny has been taking pictures
for a number of years, whenever she has the chance. Although
she has taken some very pleasing pictures, she has never previously
won a place in competition. Her six slides included macro
shots of yellow colonial sea-squirts and a white Xeniid soft
coral; close-ups of a feather-star at night and a beautiful
pink soft-coral; and wide-angle shots of a bumphead wrasse
and a red anemone. Jenny used a Nikonos II or III with with
either Nikonos extension tubes, a Nikonos close-up lens or
a 28 mm lens and a small housed Soltron flashgun to capture
her subjects on Kodachrome 64.
The
winner of the DIVER Trophy this year was MARK TAYLOR, from
Verwood in Dorset, Mark has been taking pictures for about
six years and, although he came fifth in the previous year's
competition, he has never wan a medal in competition. Mark
used to work in the oil exploration business until its crash,
when he left and joined the police force for a short time
before accepting an offer to work as a divemaster an a luxury
charter boat in the British Virgin Islands for three months.
It was whilst in B.V.I. that Mark took four of his winning
shots, an evil looking barracuda, a grouper bearing a large
parasite, a shoal of grunts and small fish in a cave entrance.
The remaining two shots, close-ups of a french angel and a
lobster at night were taken whilst on holiday in Cozumel.
Mark used a Pentax ME with 50mm and 2Bium lenses in an Ikelite
housing with an Aquaflash strobe. Mark was married last year
and is now working from home with a fire alarm company. He
has taken very few films since, although his wife Alison has
just started to learn to dive. This and his win have encouraged
him to resume underwater photography in earnest in the coming
months. After the winners were announced, Mark was presented
with the DIVER Trophy by last year's winner Mike Wong.
BSoUP
BEGINNERS PORTFOLIO COMPETITION |
