News - April 2006

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NEWS ARCHIVE : COMING SOON : MARCH 2006

Compact underwater camera courses
Focus on - April winners
April BSoUP meeting
BSoUP at LIDS
Member's websites
BSoUP winners
Pat Morrissey resigns as 'in focus' editor

Hugyfot housing for Nikon D200
New flyer for BSoUP
BSoUP at Go Diving
The 2006 Underwater Images Photo/Video Competition results
Ocean View's Splash-in postponed

Compact underwater camera courses

BSoUP member Maria Munn is leading three trips to the Red Sea, with Emperor Divers, specialising in teaching underwater photography for divers with compact cameras on the following dates:

15th - 22nd June
22nd - 29th June
24th November - 1st December

These are all leaving from Marsa Alam and going to Fury Shoals and Elphinstone.

Full details are can be found at Maria's and Emperor Divers websites.

For details of other underwater photography courses please see Courses

Maria Munn

[20 April 2006]

Focus On - April 2006 - Fish

The winners in our monthly Focus On Competition for April 2006 were:

1 Tony Baskeyfield - 33 points
2 Jane Morgan - 27 points
3= Nicky Parslow - 23 points
3= JP Trenque - 23 Points

Congratulations! The first two each month qualify for the final in October, at which the overall winner will receive the BSoUP 'Focus On' Trophy.

Qualifiers so far for this year's final:

January - Best shot of 2005
Peter Scoones
Jane Morgan

February - Monochrome
Alex Mustard
Steve Jones

April - Fish
Tony Baskeyfield
Jane Morgan

[20 April 2006]

April BSoUP meeting

The April BSoUP meeting takes place on Wednesday 19 April in Lecture Theatre 201, Skempton Building, Civil Engineering Building, Imperial College at 7.45 for an 8 p.m. start. Full details of the temporary location on the website at www.bsoup.org/Directions2.php

[Note: The Holland Club is temporarily closed during April and May].

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE RED SEA - JANE MORGAN

Jane is a popular and enthusiastic member of the BSoUP committee, and also online editor at Dive Magazine. She has been diving since 1991 and to Borneo and the Philippines with Coral Cay Conservation, latterly as expedition leader. Jane discovered underwater photography during a trip to the Southern Red Sea in 2001 and was instantly, irrevocably hooked.

Jane is passionate about photography, the Red Sea, indeed about life itself! She will use many of her beautiful, colourful photographs - the results of various trips to the Gulf of Aqaba in recent years, to demonstrate the photographic potential in that area. She will describe her favourite locations and what to find there together with how and when to photograph particular creatures or scenes.

FOCUS ON - 'FISH'

Electronic entries to competitions@bsoup.org - please don't email individual committee members. Also please use .JPG files - no Powerpoint please. Entries can be brought along on the evening as usual.

THE COLOURFUL UNDERWATER WORLD BENEATH THE PACK-ICE AND WAVES OF THE
ARCHIPELAGO SEA - JUKKA NURMINEN

Finland's coastal waters are typically considered cold, murky, desolate and devoid of interesting life, offering only dull algae and the most common fish species seen at any fish market.

Jukka Nurminen

The truth is rather different as beneath the waves thrives a diverse ecosystem of hundreds of species of algae, invertebrates and fish, in which all of the major oceanic species groups are represented - sometimes in breathtaking shoals several thousands strong. The archipelago swarms with life and is one of Finland's richest and most vibrant national landscapes.

For all its abundance, the Archipelago Sea is also mysterious and presents only brief time periods when underwater visibility is good enough to capture images of its true nature and diverse landscapes. In Winter, the ice cover in the northern Gulf of Bothnia is about 70cm thick, when more ice is crushed against this pack ice is formed. Jukka delves under the pack ice to show us the beauty of green and red to blue and yellow colours. "Like photographing the pack ice under the Northern Lights" is how Jukka describes it. The colours are very challenging to capture on film, but Jukka gives it a valiant, if chilly, go!

Jukka, an Economics undergraduate and Finnish Special Forces mine clearance diver has spent over a decade photographing tropical sea ecosystems and has discovered an additional passion for Finland's underwater natural world. He is twice winner of the Finnish underwater photography award. Nurminen's work has been published in several Finnish magazines and international diving media publications. He has also spoken at the annual Ocean Optics 'Visions
in the Sea' festival in London.

Gill McDonald
[14 April 2006]

BSoUP at LIDS

BSoUP had another successful weekend with its stand at the London International Dive Show (LIDS) over the first weekend of April at EXCEL in London's Docklands. LIDS is organised by DIVER Magazine in association with the British Sub-Aqua Club.

We talked to numerous underwater photographers, many of whom are just getting started, some of whom we signed up as members on the spot and others we hope to see at future meetings! It is encouraging to see the increasing number of divers who are turning to underwater photography as a way to show the underwater world to non-diving friends and family.

We were also fortunate to have Martin Edge on the stand for a session each day, signing his new book and talking to stand visitors about
various underwater photography issues. Alex Mustard, who was at the show promoting his new book, also spent time with us.

BSoUP thanks Gill McDonald, Pete Ladell, JP Trenque, Jane Burnett, Joss Woolf, Colin Doeg, Jan & Mike Maloney, Martin Davies, Kam Arya, Anthony Holley and Martha Tressler who helped out over the weekend.

Member's websites

Long-standing BSoUP member and ex-newsletter editor Ken Sullivan has just launched his new website at www.kensunderwaterphotography.com

BSoUP member John Gulland has moved his website to www.bluewatersphotos.co.uk

New BSoUP member Edwin Marcow's website is at www.edwinmarcow.com

New BSoUP member John Ruggles' website is at www.ruggles.me.uk

New BSoUP member David Peart's website is at www.earthlightphotos.com

More Member's websistes

[6 April, 2006]

BSoUP winners

Congratulations to the following BSoUP members:

Zac Macauley who won the Canon Open Category at the British Underwater Image Festival (BUIF)

Pedro Vieyra who won third place in the Canon Open Category at the BUIF - winning a very nice Canon Powershot and housing and who also took the winning shot at Subios this year in the Seychelles category.

Trevor Rees who came third in Portfolio category at the BUIF.

Sam Bean who was highly commended in the Canon Open category at the BUIF.

Pat Morrissey resigns as 'in focus' editor

Last year our Newsletter's editor Pat Morrissey moved to the coast and is now fully committed to setting up courses and teaching. As a result Pat no longer has time to continue in that role. BSoUP would like to extend its warm thanks to Pat for all his hard work over the last few years.

Our Honorary Secretary Gill McDonald has very kindly agreed to take over from Pat, following publication of the Spring issue.

Gill said "I would like a shot at the magazine because it is the voice and pulse of the society which has also had an impressive pedigree of editors over the years. Having been a committee member for five years I would like this exciting new challenge, moving on from Honorary Secretary, but I will retain the Membership Secretary role for the time being".

"I've been diving for 17 years, taught one-on-one by Reg Vallintine, I learnt because my diving boyfriend at the time said I should learn or he would go on holiday without me! Since I'd been competitive swimming since 8 years old it was no hardship. My 1st open water dive ever was at Temple in the Red Sea, I will never forget the sheer euphoria at dipping my head below the water - looking at arid, red desert one second and vibrant, dazzling, colour filled blue the next. I was hooked. I took the next step and started taking photographs 6 years ago".

Joss Woolf, who joined the BSoUP Committee last November has kindly agreed to take over the role of Honorary Sceretary.

When launching the D200, Nikon offered a lot of photographers the ultimate argument to finally move over to digital photography. Hugyfot realised very well that this camera would also cause a revolution in the segment of underwater photography. As soon as they got their hands on a Nikon D200, they started the development of an aluminium housing the design and quality of which would be in no way inferior to the camera that would be 'housed' inside. Since Leys (Green Force dive torches) took over Hugyfot, their housings are manufactured using the know-how and technology that's been used to develop the Green Force lighting system.

Hugyfot housings are developed by using the latest CAD CAM techniques and are CNC milled out of solid blocks of aluminium. After milling the housings, they receive a black anodization and a teflon coating which protects the housing from scratches and possible discoloration. This coating also has an water repellant function and due to the lower friction it keeps the O-rings from wearing out prematurely.

New flyer for BSoUP

BSoUP have produced a new flyer to promote the activities of the Society. Reproduced right, the flyer is A4, printed both sides and folded in three.

Download the new flyer.

BSoUP at Go Diving

BSoUP had a very successful weekend at the Ordanance Survey Outdoors Show which took place at the NEC Birmingham in March.

Our first appearance at this show was courtesy of Dive Magazine who arranged the stand for us. There was quite a different audience to that at the Dive Shows and in addition to talking to potential members we had a number of interesting discussions that could result in BSoUP photographic displays at different venues around the country, access to useful publicity opportunities and some potential new opportunities for members to showcase their work. We were also able to show off our members' work to many outside of the diving community but with an interest in the outdoors.

Our thanks go to the following BSoUP members, in no particular order Anthony Holley, Pete Ladell, JP Trenque, Gill McDonald, Andy Clark, Samantha Bean, Tony Stannard, Charles Erb, Stephanie Wall, Robert Bailey, Lesley Maw, Kam Ayra, Joss Woolf and Robert Kemp for their help over the weekend.

The 2006 Underwater Images Photo/Video Competition results

2006 Prizes/Sponsors
www.uwimages.org/2006/prizes-2006.htm

2006 Photo Gallery
www.uwimages.org/2006/gallery/index.htm

2006 Competition Judges
www.uwimages.org/2006/judges06.htm

OCEAN VIEW'S FIRST PHOTO SPLASH-IN POSTPONED

Due to colder water temperatures this year Ocean View's Splash-in at Selsey has been postponed, probably until May when cuttlefish should put in an appearance. Further details will be announced as they become available.

COMING SOON : NEWS ARCHIVE : MARCH 2006