Inspiring and informing underwater photographers since 1967

© Images and articles on this website are the copyright of the photographers and authors.

News - September 2009

Website of the Week - Dana and Mark Atwell
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2009
Tributes paid to Mike Calder
Website of the Week - Terry Arpino
HMS Royal Oak - Limited Edition Print
Unwanted camera equipment?
Underwater Excellence - Results
UK and Ireland U/W Photographer of the Year
Website of the Week - Adam Hanlon
September BSoUP Meeting
St Abbs Splash-in 2009
Website of the Week - Lisa Gabrielle

SUPS September Meeting
Epson Red Sea - August Winner
Underwater Excellence - Win £250
Underwater Photography Magazine - Latest issue
Sharks in Focus Photo Competition
ScubaSnap weekend in Cornwall
The World Festival of Underwater Pictures
North Sea Film Festival
Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society
Visions in the Sea

Website of the Week - Dana and Mark Atwell

Each week we are highlighting a BSoUP Members website. This week's choice is the website of Dana and Mark Atwell.

To see more of Dana and Mark's images please visit www.damphotos.com/index.html. Dana and Mark have further images on Facebook.

To view other BSoUP member's websites please visit Links/Member's websites. If you are a member and your website is not on the list please notify Mike Russell.

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2009

The BWPA (www.bwpawards.co.uk/) is a new photography competition that aims to celebrate and highlight the great wealth and diversity of the natural history of the British Isles.

The competition captured the imagination of both UK and international photographers, who have created striking, memorable and innovative images, powerfully portraying British wildlife. 

Congratulations to BSoUP member Alex Mustard whose image of a grey seal lounging in seaweed (left) won the 'Coast and Marine Category'. The image was taken at Lundy Island in May, using a Nikon D700 in Subal housing, with a Sigma 15mm lens and two Inon Z240 strobes (f/13 @ 1/160th, ISO 800).

An exhibition of images submitted for the competition is currently on display at Hoopers Gallery in Clerkenwell Close, London E. C.1 until 16th October, after which it will travel around the country over the next 12 months.

The exhibition showcases the very best of thousands of photographs received.

Four other underwater photographs are featured in the exhibition. A portrait of a Shanny at Trefor Pier and a Brown Trout in Capernwray taken by BSoUP member Mark Thomas, Jewel Anemones in the Scilly Isles taken by BSoUP member Jane Morgan, and a tompot blenny portrait (right) at Swanage Pier taken by Alex Mustard.

The winning images have been featured in many national newspapers including Times, Guardian and Mail.

For further details of the competition please visit www.bwpawards.co.uk/

Tributes paid to dive entrepreneur Mike Calder

Tributes have been paid to Mike Calder, scuba entrepreneur and owner of Mikes dive shop in Chiswick, who has died aged 61.

One of the most popular figures in the British diving industry, his major achievement was setting up the Mikes franchise, a network of popular dive shops.
Born and bred in West London, Mike was brought up by his father after his mother died of cancer when he was seven. He went to school in Shepherd's Bush and attended technical classes from the age of 13 with a view to entering the building trade.
In his later years he became an accomplished photographer and joined BSoUP, sponsoring the annual Splash-in in 2008. He was among the first to photograph the mass aggregations of manta rays at Donkalo Reef in the Maldives.
Mike Calder died of bowel cancer on 19 September. He leaves a son, Jamie and grandson, Seth.

Website of the Week - Terry Arpino

Freelance photographer Terry Arpino became passionately interested in underwater photography 35 years ago, his interest and love for the underwater environment has stayed withhim ever since.

The very exciting way that nature shows its beauty and color in the shapes and forms of organisms,
living in this challenging yet serene environment. He enthusiastically describes underwater photography being at times beyond imagination and dreams.

HMS Royal Oak - Limited Edition Print

In June 2009 BSoUP Member Simon Brown was invited by the Royal Navy to photograph and document HMS Royal Oak. Simon has donated the use of this image to the Royal Oak Survivors Association and a limited number of prints will be signed by some of the remaining survivors. All proceeds of the sale will be used by the Royal Oak Survivors Association to help fund the building of a permanent memorial to their comrades in Scapa Bay.

Only 10 signed prints will be offered to the general public. Each print is A1 in size and reproduced on archival paper, available from October 14th timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the sinking.

Unwanted camera equipment?

Have you got lots of unused camera equipment? Is it just sitting in a cupboard somewhere? Why not be creative like David Pilosof (aka Pilo), who runs the Epson Red Sea Competition, and turn it into a garden sculpture (right)?

Not creative? If you are a BSoUP Member you can always recycle your unused equipment by advertising it in our Classifieds section. Just login to the BSoUP Members Forum, click on Classifieds to create your own ad. Your ad will be displayed on the Classifieds page for all visitors to the BSoUP website to read whether a BSoUP Member or not.

Please remember to remove any items from the Classifieds section once you have sold them.

Underwater Excellence - Results

There were a total of 26 entries for our first BSoUP Members Underwater Excellence Competition. 12 of these were pre-selected for judging by the audience at last night's BSoUP meeting.

Congratulations to the winner Ross Gudgeon whose images are reproduced here. Ross (aka Gudge) and his wife Mary met and started diving together in 1984, getting married two year's later. Along with their dog Digger, they now live in Exmouth, Western Australia and dive regularly on Ningaloo Reef.

In Australia Gudge and Mary have dived the south coast of New South Wales, Melbourne and Perth areas, Great Barrier Reef, Coral Sea, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and of course Ningaloo Reef. Their favourite overseas destination is Indonesia with trips to Bali (5), Lombok, Bunaken (3), Lembeh (2) and Wakatobi.

All three of Ross' images were taken on his home patch at Ningaloo Reef with a Canon 50D set at 200 ISO. The Coral Hermit Crab (above) was taken with a Canon 100 mm macro lens at F16 @ 1/250th. The Red Jellyfish (below right) and and the Estuarine Cod and Cleaner Wrasse (below left) were taken with a Tokina 10-17 lens at f13.

Had he been present at the meeting Ross would have received an individual trophy and a cheque for £250 kindly donated by DiveQuest from DiveQuest's Rachel Horsfield.

To learn more about Ross and see some of his other images please visit http://www.gudgeon.id.au/

How the top six scored:-

The top six are included in the Gallery.

BSoUP members only may view all the entries in projected order in the Competition slideshow.

UK and Ireland Underwater Photographer of the Year - Epson Red Sea Competition

Voting online to select the 'UK and Ireland Photographer of the Year' is now open.

Please vote for your favourite photographer among the winners of the April, May, June, July and August monthly competitions. Please note that for each month there are 3 images. Vote for the best set.

The overall winner will have his flights, accommodation BandB and diving costs covered to compete at the Epson- Red Sea 2009 Shoot-out in Eilat, Israel being held between 9th and 14th November.

To vote please visit www.eilatredsea.com

Website of the Week - Adam Hanlon

Each week we are highlighting a BSoUP Member's website. This week's choice is 'Hanlon Photography' the website of Adam Hanlon.

Adam learnt to dive 25 years ago at Sodwana Bay on the Zululand coast in his native South Africa and has been hooked ever since! He used a Nikonos V underwater with varying results in the late 80's and early 90's as well as film SLR's on land, but really has found his medium with the advent of digital technology in the last few years.
Adam is a PADI Course Director and teaches diving full time at Capernwray Diving, near Lancaster UK. He holds additional diving qualifications from IANTD, CMAS, NAUI and GUE.

To learn more about Adam please visit www.adamhanlon.com/

September BSoUP Meeting

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Wednesday, September 16th 2009 at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. at our usual venue the Holland Club, Imperial College, S. Kensington, London. Directions.

Photo Techniques: Aperture and Mac - an able field tool for busy underwater photographers? by Paul Morgan.

Underwater Excellence: A total of 26 entries were received before the deadline and these are with the pre-selection judges. The best 12 will be projected at the meeting for the audience to choose an overall winner to receive an invidual tropy and a cheque for £250 kindly donated by DiveQuest.

Main Event: Malpelo, Columbia by Pedro Vieyra.

Swan © Jane Morgan

St Abbs Splash-in 2009

The annual Splash In underwater photography competition in St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve was held on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August 2009 at St Abbs.

Congratulations to BSoUP members Rick Ayrton, who came second in the Marine Life Portrait category, Jason Gregory, who won the Humour category, Jane Morgan, who came second in the Humour category, Jean Manson, who won the Reserve Atmospheric category, to Peter Ladell, who came third in the Reserve Atmospheric Category and third in the Marine Portrait category, and Mark Fuller, who was the Best Beginner.

The Splash-in was the culmination of two weeks of events celebrating the St Abbs and Eyemouth Marine Reserve's Silver Jubilee. A ceilidh was held to mark the reserve's 25th year and 29 people took part in a 'jump in' - a tribute to conservationist David Bellamy who celebrated the creation of the marine reserve in 1984 by jumping into the harbour. For further details please visit http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/

Website of the Week - Lisa Gabrielle

Each week we are highlighting a BSoUP Members website. This week's choice is 'Dive into Life', the website of Lisa Gabrielle.

Lisa's website includes a selection of underwater images from around the world, bringing to the surface the truly wonderful colours and creatures for all to see. Locations for the photographs include: Australia, Indonesia (Sulawesi and Bali), Caribbean (Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands) and not forgetting Pembrokeshire !

Fur further details please visit www.diveintolife.com/

Stevenage Underwater Photographic Society

Next meeting: Tuesday 8th September 2009

Calendar Image Selection 

Recent Dive Trips

Global Walk Image Selection 

The Stevenage Underwater Photographic Society meets every 2nd Tuesday of each month from 8pm at the Stevenage Arts Guild, Community Arts Centre, Roaring Meg, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK.

For further details please visit http://www.sups-online.com/

Epson Red Sea - August Winner

Congratulations to BSoUP Member Martyn Guess who's images won the August Epson Red Sea Underwater Photographic Competition. Martyn received 48.25% of the votes.

Runner-up was Gareth Millson with 20.25% of the votes and third place went to Jim Garland with 19% of the votes.

This month Martyn competes against the winners of the April - July Competitions Robert Bailey and Trevor Rees for the title of 'UK and Ireland Underwater Photographer of the Year'. The overall winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to Eilat, Israel to compete in the Eilat Shoot-out being held between 9th and 14th November.

Voting for the final will open shortly. For further details please visit http://www.eilatredsea.com/

DiveQuest - Sponsors of Underwater Excellence

Underwater Excellence - Win £250

Deadline: 9th September

'Underwater Excellence' is a new competition for BSoUP members only with a significant cash prize for the best set of three images. The three images will be projected full screen one after the other and then, as an aide-mémoire during voting, as a group of three.

As the name suggests we are looking for a variety of excellent images to include at least one wide-angle image and one macro/close-up. The images do not need to 'work' together and do not need to be related. Images can be from around the world, or from a single location but must show a range of photographic technique.

The competition is designed to replicate and help BSoUP members prepare for important international portfolio competitions, such as those at the Antibes Festival and Epson Red Sea competitions. At these events portfolios are judged and scored as sequences and photographers are rewarded for having a variety of excellent images in their entry.

As we anticipate many more sets will be submitted for this competition than can be projected and judged readily, entries will be pre-judged by a panel of experts comprising BSoUP Co-founder Colin Doeg, President Brian Pitkin, Meetings Secretary Jane Morgan and Member Linda Pitkin. The pre-selected best 12 sets will then be judged by the audience present at the meeting, to choose an overall winner.

The winner will receive an acrylic trophy and a cheque for £250 kindly donated by DiveQuest.

Please read the Rules (www.bsoup.org/underwater_excellence.php) before entering online.

Underwater Photography Magazine - Latest issue

The 50th issue of this FREE web magazine is now available to download. Happy anniversary and congratulations to the editor Peter Rowlands and all the contributors.

Issue 50 includes Editorial, News and Travel, New Products, Aquatica D90, Canon D10, Wide, macro zoom, Canon 5D video, Socorro, Gunung Api, Whalesharks, Springtime, Keyword software and Parting Shots.

To download your copy please visit www.uwpmag.com/

Sharks in Focus 2009 Photography Competition

Deadline: 6th September, 2009

Due to the phenomenal success in 2007; the Sharks in Focus photography competition is back!

Love them or fear them there's no disputing sharks are a "must see" for most divers, but as many of you will have experienced first-hand dive sites famed for their sharks now often disappoint. Sharks are disappearing, with many species in dramatic decline due to habitat destruction, poorly regulated fisheries and the shark fin trade. However all is not lost. Now is your chance to contribute to shark conservation and support the vital work of the Shark Trust.

The Shark Trust believes that the profile of these mysterious and much maligned animals can be bolstered through the increased public awareness that still and moving images can provide.

So whatever your experience or age, this is your opportunity to join the hundreds of photographers who made Sharks in Focus 2007 such a phenomenal success. Be part of Sharks in Focus 2009 and help celebrate the majesty and diversity of sharks whilst bringing their vulnerability to a wider audience, not to mention putting yourself in the running to win big prizes and feature in the 2010 Magazine calendar!

Jointly hosted by the Shark Trust and and supported by high profile sponsors, Sharks in Focus 2009 is the competition to enter your shark shots to this summer. With the chance to win great prizes and support shark conservation, you'd be crazy not to enter!

So whether you dig back through your image archive, head out on a dedicated dive or get lucky with that chance encounter every shark, skate and ray image is a potential winner.

Entrants can submit their images through the Shark Trust website from 1st July to the 6th September. The images will be judged by renowned underwater photographers, marine biologists and authors Alex Mustard and Tom Peschak, and TV presenter, polar explorer and passionate diver Paul Rose.

For further details please visit www.sharktrust.org/photocomp

ScubaSnap weekend in Cornwall

12-13 September, 2009

An underwater photo festival will be held in Looe, Cornwall on 12-13 September

The ScubaSnap Weekend will include photographic tuition and seminars by Mat Trim of Fujifilm and Maria Munn of Ocean Visions, compact camera photo competitions, shore diving and a dinner dive and barbeque in the evening.
The event is being run by Fujifilm and Looe Divers.

For further details please visit www.looedivers.com/index.php/events.html and to book tickets e-mail photocomp@looedivers.com

The 36th World Festival of Underwater Pictures

Competition deadline: 15th September 2009

The 36th World Festival of Underwater Pictures will take place from October 29th to November 1st 2009 in Marseille - France (Palais du Pharo). In this prestigious place, located at the entrance of the "Vieux-Port", there is a 1,800 m2 space for exhibition and 3 rooms for the showing of films and photographs in competition.
Registration for contests

FMISM, 1157 chemin de la plaine, BP 1307, 06255 Mougins cedex, France
Email: info@underwater-festival.com

North Sea Film Festival

6th - 8th November, 2009

The third edition of the North Sea Film Festival is definitely on! The one and only Dutch underwater filmfestival had to change its dates and will now take place from November 6 till 8 at Studio/K in Amsterdam.

Last day of registration and last day to send your film(s) is September 18

For further details please visit www.northseafilmfestival.com/home/

Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society Photo Contest

Deadline: 19th September 2009

The Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society announces the 47th Annual International Underwater Photographic Competition. This year the oldest and one of the largest contests of its kind offers seven categories, five still and two video which amateur photographers may enter.  Prizes include live-aboard/land-based vacations, diving/photo equipment, and much more.  The deadline for receipt of entries is September 18, 2009.  Visit our website laups.org/comp_2009/ for competition guidelines, rules and entry form. If you have questions  please contact the competition committee at: intlcomp@laups.org

Visions in the Sea '09

Competition deadline: 30th September 2009

Visions in the Sea 2009 is the underwater photography event of the year: a festival of underwater photography hosted in Manchester. It will include an international competition as well as presentations from world renowned underwater photographers and a "Teach In" at our 5m pool with experts available to delegates who want to improve their techniques. The weekend is in aid of the Shark Trust to raise money and awareness throughout the weekend for this important and relevant charity.

An exhibition of the finalists of each category from the underwater photography competition, photos from the guest speakers and trade stands will be open to the general public free of charge.

Further details: www.visionsinthesea.com