Beginners Portfolio Competition 1995
Winner - Malcolm Hey
by Brian Pitkin
Reproduced from in focus 56 (January 1996)
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The annual competition for the Best Beginners
Portfolio for the DIVER Trophy was staged at the November meeting of
the Society. Entry to the competition, is restricted. Any British
underwater photographer who has never won a first, second or third
place in a National or International underwater photographic
competition is eligible to compete. Moreover, all except winners of
previous Beginners Portfolio competitions may also enter.
This year there were 28 portfolios entered
and a glorious presentation they made. Each portfolio was projected
onto a large screen using six projectors. The audience present were
invited to vote on their favourite three portfolios in order of
preference. All portfolios were projected three times.
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FOURTH
Fourth place this year went to Hilary
Driscoll from Radlett, Herts, who scored 27 points. Hilary is a BS-AC
Advanced Instructor and a member of the Potters Bar branch of the
BSAC. She has been diving since 1980 and started taking snaps using a
Nikonos on club holidays in 1984. In 1988 she purchased a Sea and Sea
wide-angle lens and went to the Red Sea. Hilary began taking
underwater photographs 'seriously two to three years ago' and has
visited the Red Sea, Belize, the Maldives and Eilat, taking part in
Martin Edge's 1994 underwater photography courses in Eilat in 1994
and Sipadan this year.
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Hilary's portfolio comprised a macro
photograph of yellow sunset corals taken in Eilat using a Nikonos
with 1: 1 extension tubes ; a wide-angle shot of a diver with a torch
gazing at brilliant red soft coral taken at Moses Rock taken with a
14mm lens; a close-up of an anemone fish;
a macro shot of a hawk fish in a sea fan taken in Sipadan with 60mm
lens on a Nikon 801S in a Subal housing and the SB25 in a Cullimore
housing ; and a close-up shot shoal of fish taken at Moses Rock and a
macro shot of a nudibranch in Sipadan using the same
system.
THIRD
Third place with 32 points went to Brendan
O'Brien from Warrington in Cheshire. Brendan has been diving since he
was 15 years old. After leaving University he lived in Bermuda. He
has been taking photographs for the last four years, having been
hooked on underwater photography after completing a Nikonos/NAUI
basic course in Bermuda. Brendan's portfolio comprised a wide-angle
shot of a diver over yellow sponges taken in Cayman Brac; a macro
shot of a scrolled cow fish eye taken in Bermuda; a wide-angle shot
of a diver descending from a boat anchored over yellow sponges in
Cayman Brac; a silhouette of an angel fish under a wreck in Grand
Cayman; a close-up shot of a squid taken in Grand Cayman; and a macro
shot of an anemone shrimp taken in Bermuda. All of Brendan's
photographs were taken with a Nikonos V camera using a 15 mm or 28 mm
lens for wide-angle shots, a Nikonos Close-up kit for close-ups and
Nikonos extension tubes for his macro shot.
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SECOND
Second place with 38 points went to Bob Allen
from Welwyn Garden City, Herts. Bob has been diving since 1969 and is
currently Chairman of Stevenage SAA, a post he has held for 12 years.
He has been taking photographs for about 10 years.
Bob's portfolio comprised wreck of a tug at
Abu Geloa Kabi in the southern Red Sea; a wide-angle shot of his wife
Denise, also a keen underwater photographer, holding a torch, a
wide-angle shot through the surface of the anchored boat
'Stressbreaker' at sunset at Shab Ali, Hurghada; a close-up of a bat
fish taken at Zarghabad, southern Red Sea; a macro shot of a brittle
star on a white soft coral taken at Sha Ali, Hurghada; a natural
light wide-angle shot of an unknown wreck at Little Gubal, Hurghada;
and a wide-angle shot of red gorgonian sea fan taken at Pinnacle
Rock, Shad Abu Nuhas, Hurghada. All of Bob's photographs were taken
on Fuji Provia with a Nikon F801S in a Subal housing using a manual
fish-eye and 20 mm AF lens for wide-angle shots and a 60mm AF macro
lens for close-ups.
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FIRST
This year's winner with 79 points was Malcolm
Hey from Romsey in Hants. Malcolm 'is a diver turned photographer,
currently a member of Bedford Scuba Divers. Malcolm has been diving
for fifteen years and is a BSAC First Class Diver, Advanced
Instructor and former BSAC Area Coach'. Having qualified his
interests turned predominately to underwater photography. He 'played
around with an Olympus trip in a Birchley housing during 1987 and
1988 with appalling results' and then bought a Nikonos V system and a
Morris F3 Aquaflash in 1988. He 'used the system on occasional dives
but was disappointed to find that the new system didn't do much to
improve his photography'.
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Keen to learn Malcolm 'went on a photographic
course with Martin Edge in August 1990 on the MV Maureen out of
Salcombe. Since then he has been on numerous courses lead by Martin
in Poole, Bournemouth and many of Martin's Red Sea
holiday/expeditions'.
He travels a good deal and over the last few
years has 'dived/photographed in Canada, the Maldives, Red Sea,
Philippines, Sipadan, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and various other
Caribbean locations'. Last year he bought a Nikon F801 in a Subal
housing and entered the Beginners Portfolio competition for the first
time. He was just pipped at the post, finishing a very close
second.
Malcolm's portfolio comprised a balanced
light shot of a red soft coral taken on Fuji Velvia in Sipadan; a
macro shot of a clam taken on Kodak Elite in the Gulf of Suez; a
diver with a torch on a reef wall also taken on Kodak Elite at
Jackson Reef, Gulf of Aqaba; a macro shot of a long-nosed hawk fish
taken on Fuji Velvia in Sipadan; a close-up of a clown fish in an
anemone taken on Kodak Elite at Anemone City, Ras Mohammed, Gulf of
Aqaba; and a turtle taken in Sipadan. All of Malcolm's photographs
were taken using a Nikon F801 in a Subal housing and a Nikon SB24 in
a Cullimore housing.
Malcolm won the DIVER Trophy and a cash prize
of £100 kindly donated by Bernard Eaton, editor of DIVER
magazine.
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BSoUP Beginners
Portfolio Competition
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Beginners Portfolio Competition Winners
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2018
2017 Nur Tucker
2016 Simon Yates
2015 John Parker
2014 Sue Guess
2013 Mark Drayton
2012 Paul Woodburn
2011 Sean Arrowsmith
2010 Will Clark
2009 Daniel Norwood
2008 David Henshaw
2007 Anna James
2006 Kam Arya
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2004 Judy Winterman
2003 Samantha Bean
2002 Jane Morgan
2001 Cathy Lewis
2000 Tony White
1999 Mike Maloney
1998 Gary Clarke
1997 Sue Heaps
1996 Hilary Driscoll
1995 Malcom Hey
1994 Nigel Doe
1993 Gavin Anderson
1992 Paul Naylor |
1991 Howard Bunyan
1990 Dave Meates
1989 John Lee
1988 Alfredo Rock
1987 Mark Taylor
1986 Michael Wong
1985 Martin Edge
1984 Viv Pearson
1983 Linda Pitkin
1982 Mike Valentine
1981 Brian Humphries
1980 Graham Pattie |
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