UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY - BSoUP Best Beginners Portfolio 2005

1st Shannon Conway
2nd Simon Brown
3rd Martyn Guess

4th Annelise Hagan
5th Richard Smith
6th Maria Munn

My winning portfolio Shannon Conway
	I live in Stourport-on-severn in Worcestershire, working in Telford as Managing Director for a computer services company. I have always had a love of the sea originally being born in Poole Dorset. My Wife Amanda and I are both keen divers and underwater photographers myself being a little more obsessive. I have been Diving for 14 years learning to dive in Eilat Isreal, and latter joining a local dive club Wyre Forest Divers of which I am still a keen member. I took up underwater photography approximately 8 years ago but didn't start taking it seriously until I tried a Subal Housing on a Martin Edge Course about 6 years ago (expensive mistake). Steve at Ocean Optics was superb in helping me with advice and supply of my first Subal Housing an F90x I now use a Nikon D2x in a Subal Housing with twin Inon 220 strobes.
Martin Edge and wife Sylvia have helped me tremendously over the past few years encouraging me along with others to improve and eventually enter my first BSoUP Competition. It was fantastic to win and was great to see that the top six placed beginners were all "Edge students". Nearly all our holiday time is know spent with Martin and Sylvia on the Divequest Photoquests which have taken us to places such as Sipadan, Bonaire, Dominica, Wakatobi etc. on which we have made many friends. Last October we continued our Photquest to North Sulawesi Indonesia which this portfolio was based on. I tried to get a balance with the Portfolio of wide angle blue water with divers and the eyes of macro.
	No.1 Whip Goby taken with a 105mm lens at F32 125th, I wish they would keep still.
	No.2 Snell's Window with Diver was taken off the beach at KungKungan Bay in the Lembeh, trying something different. I love the fisheye lens and intend spending more time mastering it 10.5 Fisheye at F13 200th
	No.3 A Thorny Seahorse face taken with 105mm lens at f29 125th I wanted a profile rather than just a picture of a Seahorse. Shooting against blue water to create the black back ground.
	No.4 Soft Coral with Divers was taken in Bunaken Marine Reserve I found the soft coral at the edge of a cave entrance using the curve of the coral to mirror the curve of the cave roof, the divers and blue water gave depth to the shot. 10.5 lens F8 125th.
	No.5 Pigmy Seahorse taken at Nudi Falls Lembeh. I have taken a few pictures of Pigmy's but wanted something different. They are very difficult to get face on shots; this one was hanging out the bottom of the fan making it stand out against the background. 105mm lens f32 125th.
	No.6 Sea Fan with diver and torch taken Manado. Amanda posing with a Torch to give the picture depth, lighting wide angle shots is an area that most photographers spend time working on. F8 125th.