Wetpixel Picture of the Year 2011 results
announced
Wetpixel's Picture of the Year 2011 competition has
now finished. Many thanks to all who voted for their favorite images
and it is great to have had so strong a response to all the images.
The winner, who will receive a trip on Solmar V as a prize, is Alexis
Tabah, with his turtle hatchling in Snell's window. Second
prize went to Nicholas Samaras, third to
Dany Weinberg, fourth to Stephen
Holinski and fifth to AlexTattersall. They
will all receive prizes from Ikelite, Nauticam USA or Reef Photo and Video.
The competition has received a staggering amount of
public interest, with the winning images getting over 2,500 votes
each. Congratulations to all Picture of the Week winners, and
especial congratulations to the winners of Picture of the Year
2011.
Tristan is a PADI Dive Master and has had a life
long passion for all things underwater. Being a photographer, there
was a natural progression to underwater photography.
Apart from wrecks, reefscapes and fish, Tristan has
also undertaken work for clients wanting to showcase their underwater
equipment
Tristan is working on building a comprehsnisve
photographic database of British Marine life, although this side
project will take many years to complete.
New World publications has just released the second
in its series of ebooks: The Reef Creature Identification: Tropical
Pacific guide has joined its sister publication, Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific, and
is now available in Blio format for Android, iPad, iTouch, iPhone and
Windows PC computers. It features sixteen hundred species of marine
invertebrates, which are searchable in the app via a page specific
table of contents and a scrolling toolbar..
Itï's time to vote for your favorite photographer
based
on all of their images
Between the months of January and May, the Epson
Red Sea 2012 Online Competition will take place. Each month during
the competition, amateur and professional photographers from all over
the world are invited to submit a portfolio of 3 digital photos. By
the end of each month, 3 photographers will be announced as the
winners of that particular month, chosen both by the public and by an
international panel of 5 judges. An online competition among all the
monthly winners (15 photographers) will then begin on June 1st, 2012.
Online voters and the panel will eventually select one of the
competitors as the Photographer of the Year.
Flights, accommodation (BB) and diving expenses
will all be covered for the Photographer of the Year, in order to
enable this winner to participate at the Epson Red Sea 2012 shoot-out
in Eilat. The 8th annual Epson Red Sea competition will be held on
November 4-10, 2012, in Eilat. Innovative categories and some very
worthy prizes are planned for this year, making it very much
worthwhile to be elected as the Photographer of the Year.
Volume 3 of Guide to Andrea and Antonella
Ferrari's Guide to Tropical Marine Fish is now available
from the iTunes store. The guide will eventually encompass 8 apps for
iPhone and iPad. Each app comprises an archive of 100 different
tropical fish species, and aims to allow a full immersion into the
reality of the underwater tropical marine universe. Within the app,
each species has a full-screen zoomable high-quality photo and a
fully detailed info file describing common and scientific names,
distribution, size, habitat, color, pattern, life habits and
identification features.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Requires iOS 4.3 or later, the app costs just $2.99.
This was my first diving trip to Scotland. We were
accompanying Alex Mustard on one of his 2020 Vision photographic
assignments to the Inner Hebrides (www.2020v.org), with the aim of photographing Basking
Sharks. This short film is a trip report of how it went. Nature being
nature does not appear to order. The scenery and wildlife of the
islands was stunning and the week was topped by the appearance of the
Basking Sharks. Definitely somewhere I want to dive again in the
future.
The next meeting of the East Midlands Underwater
Photographers (EMUP) takes place on Tuesday 6th March downstairs in
Nemo's Bar, at Stoney Cove at 7:30 sharp. All pub facilities
will be open so refreshments will be on hand
An evening with Maria Munn
Multi award-winning underwater photographer and award-winning author,
Maria
Munn is the first person in the world to design tailor-made,
underwater photography courses for all makes of compact cameras.
East Midlands Underwater Photographers
(EMUP)
Competition: Underwater Excellence (3 shots)
Submit three images to demonstrate excellence (up
to you how to interpret that). There doesn't need to be a theme, but
looking at the BSoUP competition variety tends to help.
Paul Rose
Paul Rose - Speaking Tour 2012
Paul is Vice President of the Royal Geographical Society
and Chair of the Expeditions and Fieldwork Division. He is an expert
polar, exploration and field science consultant. He is currently
working on his new BBC TWO documentary for broadcast in March
2012.
Paul's television presenting credits include;
Britain's Secret Seas, Oceans, Voyages of Discovery,
Take One Museum, Meltdown, Wind
and Scrapheap Challenge.
Paul is scheduled to speak at BSoUP on 17th October
2012
For more about Paul and for details of these and
other venues and dates please visit www.paulrose.org/
NUPG - Next Meeting
Monday 12th March
The next meeting of the Northern Underwater
Photography Group (NUPG) is on Monday 12th March at the Gurkha Grill
in West Didsbury (map).
The talk will be by Nick and Caroline on their
recent road trip in Florida, the competition theme is "animal
behaviour" and there will be a new feature: Ken's photoshop
Corner.
Please send in an image you would like to improve
and Ken will talk through the photoshop technique. It should be a
good one - we hope to see you there.
March is hotting up (well maybe not in the weather
sense) - The NUPG Winter Splash-in will be on the 17th March in North
Wales. Find a buddy and get in and take some photos on this one day
and you can enter the competition.
Congratulations to BSoUP Member
Ross Gudgeon who won a Gold in the Macro
Unrestricted Category in this year's 'Our World Underwater
Competition with an image entitled "Unwelcome Mouthguest" taken on
Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth WA Australia
Congratulations also to BSoUP Members
Leena Roy, who won Silverin the Compact Camera
Category with an image entitled 'In the sky. Red Djibouti Crab"taken
in Djibouti, and Simon Spear who won Silver in the
General category.
The Our World Underwater international underwater
photography and video competition has become known as the "Superbowl"
of underwater imaging events. The competition celebrates and
highlights both art of underwater photography as well as the beauty
of the ocean.
This year the celebrity panel of judges included
Alex Mustard, Berkley White, Brian Skerry, Keri Willk and Matt Weiss.
They went through thousands of images taken by novice to professional
photographers from around the world.
$60,000 in prizes were awarded to the winners, who
represented more than 15 countries. Congratulations to Jeffrey Hartog
. who won Best of Show for his 1st place image from the Commercial,
Conceptual and Fashion category.
Winners were announced live on stage during the Our
World Underwater film festival in Chicago (February 17 and 18, 2012),
and will be published by supporting media partners worldwide. You can
enjoy the winning images below. Winning videos will also be broadcast
as episodes on the iTunes-featured DiveFilm Podcast Video.
As with all UnderwaterCompetition.com events, 15%
of entry proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts. The
judges and staff at DivePhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com congratulate all the
participants - the level of imagery was outstanding.
I first picked up a camera at the age of 8 and
learned to dive at the age of 14 in the freezing reservoirs of the
place where I grew up in South Wales. I am eternally grateful to the
volunteers at the Cynon Valley Sub Aqua club who taught me to dive in
their free time.
Following university I left for a years diving
travel and came back 7 years later. I first headed for Egypt, working
as a scuba instructor in the magical Red Sea, which is still one of
my favourite places - a true Corridor of Marvels, as Cousteau once
described this narrow, deep stretch of water. It was here that I got
to take my first underwater images on an old Nikonos III amphibious
camera.
My travels then took me to the Mediterranean and Caribbean, before
embarking on a 3 year stint in the Maldives. It was a tough life, as
you can imagine. My interest in photography stood me in good stead
and I often found myself as guide to visiting photographers. This led
to my own first break, when Germanys Unterwasser magazine published a
selection of my images in 1996. Subsequently my articles and images
have been published internationally in magazines such as
Ocean
Geographic, DIVE,
Tauchen and Scuba Diving
as well as in newspapers such as the Times and the Telegraph. I have
also contributed to numerous book projects, winning a number of
awards along the way.
The Northern Underwater Photography Group (NUPG)
are delighted to announce an evening with Martin
Edge.
One of the UK's most respected underwater
photographers and author of the world acclaimed book 'The Underwater
Photographer' Martin will be giving a talk at the NUPG meeting in
August.
We will be able to see some of his incredible
images and learn what techniques were used to capture them. It will
be a superb evening for all those interested in diving, the marine
environment and for photographers of all levels.
NUPG meet at the Gurkha Grill in West Didsbury
(map).
Free to NUPG Members, others £5.00.
Please join the NUPG Facebook Group and join the event or inform NUPG of
how mnay of you will be attending so that we can ensure there are no
disappointment on the night.
Elphinstone, Daedalus and Brothers - 15-22
June 2012
Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown, Frogfish
Photography
Fancy a live-aboard photo course in the Red Sea?
BSoUP Members Nick and Caoline
Roberston-Brown have organised a week long live-aboard out
of Hurghada for the week of 15th June.
They are offering an INON level 1 course, less
formal photography workshops and talks on marine biology.
The price is £749 plus flights, with a £50 discount
to members of BSoUP, NUPG, EMUP or any other recognised society.
For further details, please click on the image
(left) to download a pdf.
For other courses by BSoUP Members please see
Courses
Macro Madness U/W Photo
Workshop
Nuweiba, Red Sea - 26th June - 3rd July
2012
Adam Hanlon
Holiday
Designers has teamed up with Wetpixel editor Adam
Hanlon to offer a unique opportunity for underwater
photographers.
They are offering a week long macro photography
workshop with award winning professional underwater photographer Adam
Hanlon to the Northern Red Sea resort of Nuweiba in June 2012.
Nuweiba is an ideal venue for the event as it has
easy shore access to a small reef that boasts a large number of macro
subjects. The ability to vary dive times and to dive the site
multiple times will help ensure that participants get plenty of
opportunities to refine techniques with Adamï's guidance.
Congratulations to Robert Bailey
who was the winner of February's Focus On Competition with an image
of a juvenile boxfish taken in the Red Sea. This BSoUP Member's only
competition was on the theme 'Yellow'.
Congratulations also to Tony
Baskeyfield and Anthony Holley who came
second and third respectively with images of a Dorado taken in
Desroches Island, Seychelles and a Nudibranch. Both Alan
Smith and Georgette Douwma came 4th= with
identical scores with images of a Fang Tooth Tiger Moray, taken in
Poris, South Tenerife and a Yellow boxfish with a Cleaner shrimp,
taken in Rinca, Komodo NP, Indonesia. Sixth place went to
Dave Baker for his image of a Masked Butterflyfish
taken in the Red Sea.
BSoUP Members only may view all of
the entries in the Competition slideshow, but you will be asked to
login if you haven't already done so this session.
If you were not one of the top six and would like
to know how your scored, please contact Brian Pitkin.
Next month's competition category is the annual
Theme Portfolio, which is open to BSoUP Members
only.
Each photographer must submit a portfolio of six
images on any theme. When submitting the portfolio, all six images
should be laid out on a black background, 1400 pixels wide by 1050
pixels tall (at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch), organised in two
rows of three images, and saved as a sRGB jpeg file. The overall
image must be no taller than 1050 pixels and no wider than 1400
pixels. Larger images will be rejected by the server.
Details will be announced shortly when the
competition opens and sponsorship is confirmed
Tropical Marine Fish Volume 3 for
iTunes
Volume 3 of Guide to Andrea and Antonella
Ferrari's Guide to Tropical Marine Fish is now available
from the iTunes store. The guide will eventually encompass 8 apps for
iPhone and iPad. Each app comprises an archive of 100 different
tropical fish species, and aims to allow a full immersion into the
reality of the underwater tropical marine universe. Within the app,
each species has a full-screen zoomable high-quality photo and a
fully detailed info file describing common and scientific names,
distribution, size, habitat, color, pattern, life habits and
identification features.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Requires iOS 4.3 or later, the app costs just $2.99.
BSoUP Member Linda
Pitkin has added another blog ' Getting fresh with mussels'
to the 2020VISION website.
'Gail Butterill of the Environment Agency dipped
her glass-bottomed bucket in the water and pointed out a cluster of
Freshwater Pearl Mussels partly buried amongst the stones of the
river bed. This is one of the largest populations left in Europe she
told me enthusiastically. We were in the Ennerdale valley, a quiet
spot on the western side of the Lake District, and Gail had led me to
a secret site for this rare and protected species, where I could
photograph the mussels for 2020VISION under her watchful eye.'...
The Underwater Observatory is the website of
BSoUP member Anna James.
Anna James is a PADI Rescue Diver. She has
travelled all over the world with her favourite waters being in South
East Asia.
'As a child I grew up being constantly bombarded by
the fantastic underwater pictures of my father, Alan James.'
In 2001 Anna qualified with a BA Honours in Film
and Video production. She doubles her career as an Underwater
Photographer with one as a Focus Puller (Camera Assistant) in film
and television production. Her film career includes working on shows
such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, New Tricks, The Street, and Hotel
Babylon. With films including the soon to be released; Valhalla
Rising, and current Christmas cinema hit; Nativity.
The Broadcast and Video Production
Show
14-16 February, 2012
Earls Court 2, London
Cameraman Doug Allan will be
speaking on "Stay Cool in the Cold" at 11.00 on Thursday 16
February at the Broadcast Video and Production Show, Earls Court,
London. He will also be present with some of his camera equipment on
the Cameras Underwater stand at the show before and after his
presentation.
Michael Pitts, Crispin
Sadler and Richard Bull will be presenting
a panel discussion at the same event on 14 February entitled "How
to get the most of working Underwater for Film and
Television."
The Wildscreen Festival is the world's largest,
most prestigious international wildlife and environmental film
festival.
Held in Bristol, UK since 1982, the Wildscreen
Festival has helped nurture and shape the natural history filmmaking
industry as we know it today.
Attracting 550-plus delegates from over 40
countries, the week-long festival is a focal point for wildlife and
environmental filmmaking excellence. Delegates come from around the
world to hear the latest industry news, hone their skills,
investigate emerging technologies and exchange ideas.
With over 100 separate events, the Festival
provides a first class programme of thought provoking lectures and
debates, film screenings, workshops and masterclasses. Playing host
to industry heavyweights, the Festival is also an essential
international marketplace. Films are bought and sold, commissions and
collaborations established, and new talent is discovered. Tickets for
this year's event go on sale in June.
Whatever the budget, wherever the location, we are
looking for the most interesting, innovative, exciting and the very
best films about the natural world. Further details at http://www.wildscreenfestival.org/
Digital Photography Review
Almost every week it seems one camera manufacturer
or another launches a new model or adds new features to an existing
model. The best way to keep up with all these new developments is via
the Digital
Photography Review. But perhaps you know a better website?
The Digital Photography Review website includes
Product Reviews, Software/App Reviews, Book Reviews, Opinions, Photo Techniques, Software Techniques, Video Capture, Technology, Printing, Pro Photography, Photography and Photographers, Help, Buying Guides and links to the most popular
articles.
Alex Tattersall
Overall Winer of the BSoUP/DIVER Print Competition 2010
BSoUP Meeting - February
The next BSoUP meeting takes place
on Wednesday, 15th February 2012at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. at our usual
venue the Holland Club, Imperial College, South Kensington,
London, SW7 5BD. New and prospective new members will be
welcomed from 7.30 p.m. See Welcome.
Alex Tattersall: Hot New Toys
Alex went to DEMA late last year and saw some
clever things he is going to tell us about. Think of it as an Anne
Summers party but a bit more geeky(!).
Focus On Competition: Yellow (anything
alive under water that is yellow - fish, other marine animals or
whatever you can find). The Competition is now closed.
BSoUP Members only may view all of the entries in
the Competition Slideshow, but you will be asked to
login if you have not already done so this session.
Alex Tattersall: Different Tools for
Different Jobs
Alex will talk about some of his favourite UW photo
equipment, showing shots he has taken with different combinations of
lenses, port setups and other useful gadgets. This should give the
rest of us some useful ideas to go away and try out!
Alex learned to dive in Venezuela in 2000 although
didn't really fall in love with the sea until going to Egypt in 2002.
He became a Dive Master in Byron Bay Australia in 2003 and worked in
Queensland and Western Australia guiding dives. He first picked up an
underwater camera in 2006, an Olympus mju300 and was immediately
hooked. He spent a year in Taiwan in 2007 and began helping a local
underwater photography retailer as a means to practice Mandarin
Chinese and to get discounted toys. After returning to the UK
to finish his PhD in Chinese culture, to justify his repeated dive
trips to his wife, he set up Underwater Visions, now UK
distributor for Nauticam, Fisheye, iTorch, Cameq, Stix products.
Alongside this, he also leads photography trips for Oonasdivers and
Divequest, both keen supporters of BSoUP.
Wetpixel Associate Editor and BSoUP Member Alex Mustard has
already had the opportunity to shoot (on land) with the new Nikon
D800 SLR. One of the features of the new camera is in-camera
processing of time-lapse projects. Alex's HD video below is straight
out of the camera. The camera he was using was a pre-production
model; production cameras' output may vary from it somewhat and
please bear in mind that Vimeo applies compression to any video
uploaded to it.
The images and footage were shot during Alex's
underwater photography workshop in the Cayman Islands in January
2012.
Nikon has announced its second new full-frame dSLR
of the year, the Nikon D800, and it's companion, the D800E, which
will sit below the D4 at the high end of Nikon's DSLR line, offering
more than twice the pixel density of the top-of-the-line D4. The
D800's FX-format full-frame sensor captures 7360-by-4912-resolution
images (36.15 megapixels). The Nikon D800 looks as though it will be
a popular dSLR for videographers, thanks to manual exposure controls
in video mode; 1080p recording at 30, 25, and 24 fps (as well as 720p
video at 60 fps); and the ability to feed uncompressed video to a
monitor or recording device via HDMI as it's being captured.
The Nikon D800 should start appearing in stores in
March at $2995 for the body only. The Nikon D800E will arrive in
April. The D800E has the same sensor as the D800, but will eliminate
the D800's integrated low-pass filter; Nikon says the filter-less
D800E will provide a further boost to detail and image resolution at
the expense of a visible moire effect in some images. The Nikon D800E
will be priced at $3300 for the body only.
Each month between January and May, amateur and
professional photographers from all over the world are invited to
submit a portfolio of 3 digital photos. By the end of each month, 3
photographers are announced as the winners of that particular month,
chosen both by the public and by a panel of 5 international
judges.
The 8th annual Epson Red Sea
competition will be held in November 4-10, 2012, in Eilat. Innovative
categories and some very worthy prizes are planned for this year,
making it very much worthwhile to be selected as the Photographer of
the Year.
In order to participate, all you have to do is to
upload your best underwater images, taken anywhere and anytime in the
world, to the competition website.
Martin Edge's presentation to BSoUP on 21st
September 2011 was recorded by Jo Horrocks. Previously made available
to BSoUP Mmebers only the six c15 minute parts are now
available to all courtesy of Martin and Jo.
Each week we are highlighting a
BSoUP member's website. This weeks' choice is the
website of Jack Jackson
Jack is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society,
a Fellow of the Royal Geograhic Society and a member of the Outdoor
Writers Guild
Jack is author of more than 30 richly illustrated
books on the underwater world and travel.
If you are a BSoUP member and your
website is not included on the BSoUP member's websites page or you
have changed your web address, please send the URL of your site to
the BSoUP Membership Secretary.
Mike deGruy and Andrew Wight killed in
helicopter crash
Mike deGruy, aged 60, an
award-winning American cinematographer from Santa Barbara in
California, and Andrew Wight, aged 51, the
Australian writer-producer of one of 2011's top-grossing Australian
films have died in a fiery helicopter crash on the NSW south coast as
it was taking off from an airstrip south of Berry on Saturday
afternoon.
David Bennett, president of the South Coast
Recreational Flying Club, said the men had set off to do some filming
for a documentary at Jervis Bay.
Specializing in underwater and on-water
photography, Mike deGruy's career has allowed him to film in the
world's most remote and spectacular locations for his own
productions, as well as for those of the British Broadcasting Company
(BBC), Public Broadcasting System (PBS), the National Geographic
Society, and many others. Together with his wife, Mimi Armstrong
deGruy, Mike owns the Santa Barbara-based production company called
The Film Crew, Inc.
Andrew Wight was the writer-producer of the 3D film
Sanctum, which was shot on the Gold Coast and went on to take $100m
worldwide at the box office last year. Sanctum was said to have been
based on his near-death experience in an underwater cave.
BWPA is delighted to announce the 2012 competition
is now open for entries. With twelve separate categories, the subject
matter covers everything from marine life and animal behaviour to
creepy crawlies and urban wildlife.
With a prize fund of up to £20,000
and the overall winner receiving a cash prize of
£5,000, the images receiving judges' commendations will form
part of a series of nationwide exhibitions and be included in a
book.
Congratulations to BSoUP Member
Rico Besserdich who is this year's World Champion in
the UnderwaterPhotography.com 2011/12 Competition!
Rico, a CMAS Instructor Trainer, said 'Underwater
photography is a passion and profession for me. Right now, I am
living in the Republic of Turkey where I do most of my uw photo work
and projects. Beside many other activities in u/w photography I am
the head of the "Underwater Photography" department at the
Photography Fine Arts Association ( IFOD - Izmir, Republic of Turkey
). Here at UWP I am the founder and the head of the "photo critiques"
feature ;-) I started with "normal" photography in 1978, underwater
photography in 2001. My more than 3500 dives taught me, that I don't
have an favourite divesite. I just want to get wet! I use CANON
D-SLRs, Ikelite housing, Sea and Sea strobes and Canon/Sigma/Tokina
lenses. More information on my website: www.maviphoto.com'
Congratulations also to BSoUP
Members Nick Blake, Paul Colley, Paul Flaudinette, Michael
Gallagher and Arun Madisetti.
Michael Gallagher won a Gold Medal
in the Topside category and was one of the runners-up in the Macro
category. Paul Colley won a Gold medal in the
Wide-Angle (Wrecks category), one of the runners-up in the Macro -
Close-Up category and one of the runners-up in the Over/Under
category. Nick Blake won a Gold medal in the
Freshwater category and was one of the runners-up in the Wide Angle -
Natural Light category. Paul Flaudinette was one of
the runners-up in the Macro - Close-Up category. Arun
Madisetti was one of the runners-up in the Wide
Angle-Natural Light category.
The amazing two minute video 'What a Wonderful
World' narrated by Sir David Attenborough and originally uploaded by
the BBC on Dec 7, 2011 on their youtube channel for the UK audience
is now avaiable to worldwide at http://www.youtube.com/embed/auSo1MyWf8g
The video is a compilation of clips from Sir David
Attenbourough's seminal series.
African Diver - Latest issue
The latest issue of the FREE magazine African Diver
is now available to download.
This issue is a tribute to the magnificent diving
destination of Aliwal Shoal off the southern coast of South Africa.
On a good day, there's nothing to beat diving the Shoal. Blue waters,
an abundance of species, interesting topography and wrecks. The Shoal
offers it all: baited diving with tiger and black tip sharks, open
water diving with ragged-tooth sharks, exploring and penetrating
wrecks and observing myriad species of tropical and temperate fish.
If you're looking for excitement and adventure this issue is just for
you. It's packed with detailed advice on dive sites, dive operators
and when to visit the Shoal. We believe it's a download you'll keep
on your hard drive for years to come.
Wetpixel launches Picture of the Year 2011
contest
Voting deadline: 28th February,
2012
Wetpixel has launched its 2011 Picture of the Year
contest. This allows the public to vote for their favorites from all
51 winners of the Wetpixel (POTW) Picture of the Week contest for
2011. The POTW contest never ceases to amaze with the quality,
diversity and talent that it produces. The public vote for the
Picture of the Year will start today, and run through until 28
February 2012, after which the winners will be announced.
The contest has a fantastic selection of prizes
available. Solmar V has offered a trip aboard their luxury liveaboard
as first prize and Ikelite, who also kindly provide the prizes for
each and every POTW competition, has donated a DS161 strobe for the
entry voted into second place. Nauticam USA has provided a $1,000
gift voucher for the third placed image with Reef Photo and Video of
Fort Lauderdale, Florida generously giving gift vouchers of $500 and
$250 for fourth and fifth placed images respectively.
The contest's voting page is open now so please
head on over to wetpixel.com/ and cast a vote for
your favorite images of 2011.
EMUP - Next Meeting
Tuesday 7th February, 2012 at
7.30
Nemo's Bar, Stoney
Cove
Stuart Gibson - Using Adobe Lightroom for Underwater
Photography
Competition: Anything goes (Photoshop crazy)
For this month's competition we are encouraging you to be creative in
post processing. Be as extreme as you like. Cut and paste a Great
White Shark onto a photo of the Stanegarth. Use some fancy filter in
PS to make a van-Gogh or Dali-esque masterpiece of the Red Sea. So
basically, anything goes. Only rule is everything in the image has to
be yours. So no cutting and pasting other peoples work and passing it
off as your own!
The next NUPG meeting will be on Monday 13th
February at the Gurkha Grill in West Didsbury.
Ken Byrne will be doing a talk on a
Photoshop technique used in underwater photography, John Spencer will
be talking about his recent trip to Bali, Indonesia and the
competition theme is and now for something completely different!
Please enter up to 2 images (follow the instructions on www.nupg.org.uk)
showing off unusual photography techniques you have used while
underwater
Website of the Week - Charles
Hood
Charles Hood is Photojournalist, Photographer,
Skipper, and Diving Instructor. He is currently the Equipment Tester
for the BS-AC's SCUBA magazine.
Charles runs a successful Dive
Charter business specialising in Basking Sharks. His RIB Logan is a
seven metre (23 feet) rigid hull inflateable boat, which is the
preferred option to use for snorkelling as it is easy to get in and
out of. She is licensed to carry 7 passengers plus skipper up to 20
miles from a safe haven, which is more than far enough. Although we
can take out 7 passengers, if everyone wants to get in the water with
camera equipment then 4 is recommended. she carries a full itinerary
of safety equipment including oxygen.
The latest issue of BSoUP's magazine 'in focus' has
been mailed to all BSoUP members.
Issue 97 for winter 2011/12 includes:- Edtorial by
Joss Woolf, Under the Spotlight - Jane Morgan by
Joss Woolf, Diving a nuclear test site by
Shannon Conway, Glowing Edges by Pedro
Vieyra, Seal the deal by Rob Bailey,
Competition Results, Back to the Maldives by Linda Pitkin,
Leena Roy, Neil Rosewarn and Joss Woolf,
When they don't play ball by Gavin Parsons, BSoUP
Officers 2012 and lots of images.
This issue was edited by Joss
Woolf with assistance from Paul Morgan and
Mike Russell and produced by Gavin
Parsons, to whom BSoUP extends its sincere
thanks.
If you would like to receive printed
copies of in focus, as and when it is published,
then why not join BSoUP.
Some earlier issues are availaible to
BSoUP members only as a free pdf download. You will need to login first,
if you haven't already done so this session.
Composing Underwater
Photographs
by Linda Pitkin
BSoUP Member Linda Pitkin (www.lindapitkin.net) is one of more
than 20 underwater photographers and videographers giving 15 minute
daily talks in the Underwater Pixel World at Boot in Dusseldorf this
week. Her talk covers some of the key areas: rule of thirds, color,
perspective, background, framing, movement and patterns, and the talk
is illustrated throughout by Linda's images.
On Monday last Adam Hanlon (wetpixel.com) recorded Linda's talk, which you can view
by clicking on the image (right) or at Wetpixel on Vimeo.
If you have never attended a course on underwater
photography with Martin Edge, he is offering one lucky BSoUP
Member a single FREE place on a one day course near
Bournemouth. BSoUP will pay £60 for the use of the hotel and pool and
Martin will provide his services at no cost to you. You will be
expected to pay your travel expenses and accommodation.
To qualify please send a brief statement about your
current camera system (camera, housing, lenses, flashes), tell us
about your underwater photography background and experience, send us
six of your best images and tell us why you think you would benefit
from this one-off special offer.
The lucky BSoUP Member who makes the best
case will be notified in due course.
Please e-mail your statement and images to info@bsoup.org by 27 March, 2012
Although Martin specialises in courses for dSLR
cameras he is willing to offer the course to four thirds and compact
camera users as well.
British Underwater Photography Championship
(Splash-In) 2012.
The annual British Underwater Photography
Championship (Splash-In) takes place on Saturday 14th July,
2012 at Mount Batten, Plymouth.
The competition will run on similar lines to last
year's (see Results 2011 and Rules 2011),
although a few changes will be made. The Grand Prize for the overall
winner is a 7-day live-aboard holiday for two in the Maldives
(exclusive of flights and taxes) courtesy of Maldives Scuba
Tours. Other prizes and awards will be announced as they are
confirmed.
Those attending who have not booked accommodation
or a space on a boat should contact Martha Tressler who has some spaces
available.
Veolia Environnment Wildlife Photographer of the
Year
Wildlife Photographer of the Year -
Competition 2012 open
Deadline: Thursday, 23 February,
2012
The Veolia Environnment Wildlife Photographer of
the Year 2012 has now opened for entries with renowned underwater
photographer, David Doubilet, as one of the judges. Categories
include: Animal portraits, behavior (mammals, birds and cold-blooded
animals), animals in their environment, botanical realms, underwater
worlds, wildscapes, urban wildlife, nature in black and white,
creative visions and 4 special awards. There is also a youth
competition with classes in three age groups.
Fore more details of entrance procedures or competition rules, please see the contest's
website.
Blue Ocean Film Festival
Deadlines: 3rd, February to 16th April,
2012 - rates vary
The 2012 Blue Ocean Film Festival is calling for
entries. The event will be held from 24-30 September in Monterey,
California and consists of, firstly, an international film
competition which honors all genres of ocean related films. Films
from around the globe are selected to be screened and celebrated
during the festival and recognized at the BLUE Carpet Awards
Ceremony. Secondly, an industry conference is to be held during the
festival, and lastly, a conservation summit during which leaders in
ocean issues, solutions and policy will head up a series of lectures
and panels in conjunction with community educational outreach
programs.
The International Conservation Photography Awards
(ICP Awards) is a premier worldwide photography event focused on
conservation and the environment. The 2012 edition of the biennial
juried photo competition, along with awarding cash and merchandise to
selected photographers, will include an online exhibit, a 5-month
museum gallery exhibit at the prestigious Burke Museum of Natural
History and Culture in Seattle, Washington, and publication in
national photography magazines and other printed communications.
The competition includes an Underwater category.
There are entry fees.
