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BSoUP Beginners Portfolio Competition 2003

For the DIVER Trophy

Winner - Samanth Bean

My winning portfolio 2003

by Samantha Bean

I am 35 years old and I work as a Research Scientist in Norwich. I spend virtually all of my spare time diving and taking photographs with my husband Tony. I am a member of the Wymondham Photographic Club, the British Society for Underwater Photographers and the Great Yarmouth branch of BSAC.

I started diving 4 years ago and qualified to PADI Advanced Open Water Level with Dave Killip from Great Yarmouth. I continued my diver training with Terry Benjafield and Derek Barnes of the Great Yarmouth branch of BSAC who actively encouraged novice divers such as myself. Since then I have logged over 350 dives on North Sea wrecks and on diving trips around Britain and abroad. I am currently working towards my BSAC Dive Leader qualification.

My first underwater camera was a Sea and Sea MX5. I had such fun taking my first shots that I knew underwater photography was for me and I quickly upgraded to a Sea and Sea Motormarine IIEX with YS60 strobe. Alan James from Bristol was a huge help getting me organised with this new system.

At this stage I still knew very little about cameras and photography and I was struggling. I went on a Martin Edge weekend photography course and learnt the importance of thinking and considering what I want to photograph, rather than rushing around like an idiot photographing anything that moves (or preferably that doesn't because these are easier subjects!). Suddenly I was taking colourful photos that showed a basic understanding of composition! Martin's course was excellent and he is a fantastic teacher.

I met some wonderful people on Martin's course, one of them being Jane Morgan who won the BSoUP Beginners Portfolio last year! Jane has been an inspiration to me and it was seeing her progress that pushed me on to buy a Nikon F100 with Sea and Sea housing (much thanks again to Alan James for his help and patience!).

My first opportunity to use the F100 system underwater was on a Linda Dunk photography workshop with Maldives Scuba Tours in September 2003. The weather could have been better, but the trip was fantastic! Anne-Marie and Matt who managed our liveaboard MV Sea Queen, took us to some wonderful dive sites with manta rays, reef sharks, frogfish, nudibranchs etc. Anne-Marie spent hours developing our films and Linda was always there giving help, advise and encouragement in her wonderfully calm way. It was an excellent trip which produced 5 of my 6 portfolio shots!

No.1 A green turtle resting on the reef at Kandooma Corner, South Malé Atoll, Maldives. These turtles are very shy compared to the friendly hawksbill turtles and they quickly swim away into deeper water when you approach.
Nikon F100, YS120 TTL, 60mm lens.
Fuji Provia 100asa, Aperture Priority Mode, f5.6, 1/60s.

No. 2. Maldives anemone fish at Manta Point, North Malé Atoll, Maldives. My main objective of the Maldives photo trip was to photograph these lovely little fish. It was the last dive of the trip and I still didn't have a photo that I liked. We dived Manta Point and I knew there was one lovely anemone next to the cleaning station. I spent the whole dive ignoring the mantas and photographing this little fish.
Nikon F100, YS120 TTL, 60mm lens.
Fuji Provia 100asa, Manual Mode, f22, 1/60s.

No. 3. Honeycomb moray eel, Cocoa Channel, South Malé Atoll, Maldives. I was casually observing Linda from a distance to see how she took her photographs, and I saw her photographing this wonderful honeycomb moray. It was such a good opportunity that when she had finished I sneaked up to photograph it too!
Nikon F100, YS120 TTL, 60mm lens
Fuji Provia 100asa, Aperture Priority Mode, f8, 1/60s.

No. 4. Basket star, Small Wall, Bonaire. There was a light current on this night dive and the basket star had climbed out on the edge of the wall and opened up fully to feed in the current.
Sea and Sea Motormarine IIEX, YS60 TTL, macro lens II/3T.
Kodak Elitechrome 100asa, f22,1/60s.

No. 5. Manta ray, Manta Point, North Malé Atoll, Maldives. A large number of manta rays frequented this cleaning station. We carefully followed guidance from Anne-Marie and Matt about how to dive the site and this allowed us to have many long dives photographing these wonderful creatures.
Sea and Sea Motormarine IIEX, no flash, 20mm wide angle lens
Kodak Elitechrome 100asa, f5.6,1/60s.

No. 6. I am not sure what this creature is! Kuda Giri, South Malé Atoll, Maldives. I have not been able to accurately identify this creature, but I think it may be a bryozoan that was growing on a whip coral in a deep, dark overhang.
Nikon F100, YS120 TTL, 60mm lens.
Fuji Provia 100asa, Manual Mode, f22, 1/60s.