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GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Many congratulations to Alex Mustard who has been awarded the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 with his stunning image entitled Night Moves. Alex said "I watched these bar jacks (Caranx ruber) hunting over the coral reefs for several nights and was struggling to capture the energy of the predation. Ultimately, I decided to experiment with long exposures, using an underwater video light to illuminate their trails as they dived down to the reef to feed. You can also see the smaller trails of their prey attempting to evade them. The long swooping trails are dives to catch prey, the more sinuous trails are where the bar jack is swimming slower as it devours the meal. It took several nights work to time an exposure correctly."

More at http://new.gdtfoto.de/ and http://wetpixel.com/

The BSoUP Stand prior to Dive 2013 opening to the
public. Manned by Linda Pitkin and Jan Maloney

BSoUP at Dive 2013

BSoUP mounted a display of some of the work of its members at Dive 2013 held at the NEC, Birmingham over the weekend of 26th/27th October to promote underwater photography, to encourage membership of the society and involve the visiting public in our annual print competition.

BSoUP thanks Joss Woolf, Pete Ladell, Peter Tatton, Martha Tressler, Anthony Holley, Jan and Mike Maloney, Paul Colley, Rob Bailey, Dave Smith, Kirsty Andrews, Mark Feldman, Martin and Alison Davies, and Brian and Linda Pitkin for help manning the BSoUP Stand and the BSoUP/ DIVER Print Competition display.

Thanks also to Pash Baker who printed and mounted new images for the BSoUP Stand.

This year's Print Competition attracted 135 entries in four categories of which the 80 best were displayed in the Photozone at Dive 2013, where the public were invited to vote.

Thousands of visitors to the Show visited the display and hundreds of these voted for their favourite prints in each category.

The main prize for the overall winner, a week's diving holiday in Tobago kindly donated by OonasDivers, was judged by Underwater Photographers Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard and DIVER's Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Nigel Eaton.

Underwater Photographers Martin Edge, and Alex
Mustard and DIVER's Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Nigel
Eaton judging the print competition.

The BSoUP / DIVER dispay of Advanced prints,
prior to the show opening.

The results of the competition will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at the next BSoUP meeting on Wednesday, 20th November at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London SW7.

The competition was sponsored by DIVER, OonasDivers, Cameras Underwater, Calumet Photographic, The Widllife Trusts and Fifty Fathoms. All of the prints were mounted and captioned by George Lanham of DIVER Magazine. BSoUP extends its grateful thanks to all our sponsors and George.

Website of the Week - Josef Litt

Josef Litt is a keen underwater photographer. He took his first underwater photograph in 2007. Josef's portfolio includes photographs from many diving locations around the world. "I aim to create fantastic underwater photographs. Stunning fine art, unique, pixel-perfect. Simply Miracles Photographed!" Josef's project Help the Seas! enables local marine protection projects to reach funds from private contributors. The sea conservation projects receive visibility and on-line fundraising capability. Josef's underwater photographs were used in the Coral Reef Alliance's Calendars. Another his three photographs taken with digital compact camera were published by BSoUP in the book "BSoUP compact photobook".

Paul Colley's winning image. February 2013

More Meetings Presentations for BSoUP members

Did you ever wonder how Paul Colley created his amazing winning image in the Focus On Competition 'Post production bonanza' in February?

Although Paul revealed the technique he used at our June meeting in the 'Show and Tell' session, some of you may have missed it. Thanks to him, BSoUP members can now download a pdf of his 10 minute presentation by logging in and selecting Meeting Presentations from the Members Menu and then selecting the appropriate document from the list.

If you missed Paul Morgan's presentation on 'Workflow for Underwater Photographers' in May then, thanks to him, BSoUP Members can now download his presentation as a pdf by logging in and selecting Meeting Presentations from the Members Menu and then selecting the appropriate document from the list.

Paul is a Mac user so the latter part of his presentation includes using Aperture as an image editor, although the principals are the same as Lightroom and Photoshop.

British Underwater Photography Championship
(Splash-In) 2014

Portland Marina, Dorset on Saturday 5th July 2014

The 2014 British Underwater Photography Championships, organised by the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP), will take place on Saturday 5th July at Portland Marina, Dorset.

All underwater photographers are invited to participate, whether they are members of BSoUP or not.

There will be a separate category for compact camera users.

Please book your accomodation and boat now!

For further details visit www.bsoup.org/Splash/2014/

Website of the Week - John Liddiard

I am a freelance diving photographer and journalist. I travel, go diving, take pictures, write about it, and make an income from publication and licence fees for my photography and writing. This site is mostly an on-line library of my photographs.

My work appears regularly in Diver Magazine and has appeared in all the other UK diving magazines and many more general magazines. I have also worked for many European diving magazines and a selection of diving magazines worldwide.

More at www.jlunderwater.co.uk

How I got my winning shots by Martyn Guess

Martyn has kindly made his presentation on 'How I got my winning shots', given at the October meeting, available to BSoUP Members as a pdf.

To download your copy please visit Meetings Presentations and select 'How I got my winning shots'. You will be asked to login if you have not already done so this session.

Understanding Lenses by Martha Tressler

Martha has kindly made her presentation on 'Understanding Lenses', given at the October meeting, available to BSoUP Members as a pdf.

To download your copy please visit Meetings Presentations and select 'Understanding Lenses'. You will be asked to login if you have not already done so this session.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Congratulations to BSoUP member Alex Tattersall who was runer-up in the Underwater Worlds category in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition with an image entitle Lionfish bait.

Congratulations also to BSoUP member Alex Mustard who was highly commended in the Nature in Black & White category with an image entitled Giant with sunbeams.

Now in its 49th year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition provides a global showcase of the very best nature photography. The competition is co-owned by two UK institutions that pride themselves on revealing and championing the diversity of life on Earth - the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.

Each of the thousands of annual entries is evaluated individually by an international jury of photography experts, before being awarded a place in the top 100 images of the year.

Best of British Portfolio Competition - Results

Congratulations to Trevor Rees who was the winner of this year's Best of British Portfolio Competition. Trevor's portfolio comprised Long spined sea scorpion guarding its eggs taken in Loch Fyne, Scotland with a Nikon D90, with a Tokina 10-17 lens, Split level image, of a brown trout in a winter landscape taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 10.5 lens and a Common newt from having fun in his garden pond at Leigh near Worcester taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 60 lens

Congratulations also to Warren Williams and Robert Bailey who came second and third respectively. Warren's images of autumn leaves were taken in three different rivers in England. Robert's portfolio comprised a Pike taken in Dosthil Quarry, an urchin feeding taken in the Farne Islands and a Yarrel's Blenny taken in Loch Long, Scotland.

There were a total of 16 entries of which 2 were withdrawn and one disqualified as it was not British.

1st © Trevor Rees

How the top six scored:-

The top six may be viewed in the new Gallery by clicking on the photographer's name in the list above.

BSoUP Members only may view all 13 entries enlarged in the Competition Slideshow Archive. You will be prompted to login if you have not already done so this session.

If you are not in the top six and would like to know how you scored please contact Brian Pitkin.

Next month's Competition is the Beginners Portfolio. The deadline is Sunday 10th November at one minute to midnight. Please read the Rules before entering via the Online Entry Form, which will be available shortly.

HP Red Sea - World of Underwater Images

The HP Red Sea World of Underwater Images Shoot Out takes place during the week 20-26th October in Eilat Israel.

Main Category - 5 Best Images

Fish of the Year

Fish & Fashion Category

National Team Category

Full details of the event at http://www.eilatredsea.com/

Festival Mondial de l'Image Sous Marine

The 40th Festival Mondial de l'Image Sous Marine takes place from 31 October to 3 November 2013 at Parc Chanot, Marseilles, France.

The Festival is composed of :

19 contests
75 prizes

The Festival lasts 5 days on average in which :

films, slide and slide shows are screened in 3 rooms
prints are exhibited
there are a hundred of stands
for children, discovery games are organised in some stands
conferences take place
the Festival band plays its best pieces of music

Website of the Week - Cathy Lewis

Underwater photography is challenging, often frustrating but never dull. You're working in an alien environment, sometimes in poor visibility and strong currents. I think the rewards are amazing. I've been lucky enough to dive in fabulous locations around the world, from pristine coral reefs to the wild rocky shores of Scotland's Cape Wrath. Marine life highlights include manta rays, humpback whales, playful seals and many encounters with inquisitive squid, cuttlefish and octopus - my favourite creatures. I was introduced to diving in 1984 by my adventure-loving friend Tina, who took me to Wast Water in the Lake District on a freezing cold November day. The hail was horizontal, my wetsuit didn't fit, and there was nothing to see. I thought she was mad. Luckily a beginner's course in Port Douglas, Australia during a year's travelling, changed my mind. I joined Clifton Sub Aqua Club when I returned and have never looked back.

More..

Next BSoUP Meeting

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Wednesday, 16 October 2013 at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. in Room G.01 in the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, South Kensington, London, SW7 5BD (Directions). New and prospective new members will be welcomed from 7.30 p.m. See Welcome.

Martha Tressler : Understanding Lenses. This continues the series of BSoUP technical talks based on "The Underwater Photographer" by Martin Edge. The lens on the front of your camera is as important as the camera itself and determines the type of image you will be able to capture.  This review will cover some of the key points for understanding how lenses behave and therefore which lenses you may choose to use.

Martha is a BSoUP committee member and last gave a talk in the technical talk series in February.

Understanding Lenses

Blue shark by Jane Morgan (1/3)
Last year's winner

Best of British Portfolio Competition

There were a total of 16 entries. Two portfolios were subsequently withdrawn and one was disqualified as the images were not taken in British waters. The  remaining  13 portfolios may be viewed in the Competition Slideshow as a pdf. You will be asked to login, if you have not already done so this session.

Some  of the images were submitted at a higher resolution than 72 pixels/inch and have had to be resized for projection in Powerpoint. As a result  they do not appear as sharp as they might otherwise. It seems that a few of you do not read the rules before entering!

Martyn Guess: How I got the Winning Shot. Martyn will  briefly take us through  his ideas on how to give an image impact. He will go through a selection of his  winning images showing exactly how they were taken, the settings used, the equipment, and the lighting techniques. These will include split shots or over and unders, snoot lighting, for macro and wide angle, silhouettes, wide angle shots with sun balls, black and white images and images with  divers. He will finish briefly on how to make a good portfolio. Most of the techniques are for DLSRs, however with the exception of perhaps splits, compact users with external flashes will be able to take similar shots.

Martyn started diving over 25 years ago and has from school days had an avid interest in photography. His first forays into underwater photography were with a Nikonos film camera in Grand Cayman with Cathy Church.  He currently uses a full frame Nikon D800 for wide angle and a Nikon D7100 for macro, both in Nauticam housings, travelling the world with his model wife Sue seeking out new underwater photo opportunities. A self-confessed warm water diver, his ambition is to get more into UK diving and to the surprise of many diving friends joined them under the water in Selsey this summer! A dry suit is on his shopping list at the forthcoming dive show.

His images regularly appear in national and international competitions, where he has had a good deal of success.  This year he has won BSoUPs Theme Portfolio and the Underwater Excellence competitions. His images appear regularly in dive magazines and travel brochures and he teaches underwater photography in his home pool. In his spare time he is a commercial property developer based near Guildford Surrey.

Close-up, Macro and Supermacro

by Keith Lyall

Keith Lyall has kindly made a pdf of his October presentation, including notes, on Close-up, Macro and Supermacro available to BSoUP Members.

To download your copy and other pdfs please visit Meetings presentations. You will be asked to login if you have not done so this session.

Website of the Week - Alan Larsen

Alan has carried a camera with him and taken many photos since his student days, both of family and friends and when travelling. After learning to scuba dive at the end of the nineties, it was perhaps inevitable that he would eventually take a camera underwater, starting with a compact camera and eventually investing in a housed dSLR system. This led to a new enthusiasm for topside photography, especially landscapes; so at the end of the noughties Alan invested in a tripod and a set of filters and booked on a workshop to learn how to use them. This has led to an increasing interest in black and white photography, which was mainly what he shot as a student (largely because it was cheaper to process..!).

BSoUP Gallery reformatted

The BSoUP Gallery has been reformatted to improve its funtionality and hopefully provide a more enjoyable experience when viewing some of the stunning images produced by BSoUP Members.

There are currently 283 pages illustrating some of the winning images in BSoUP competitions since 2002 up to last month.

You can either take a tour by clicking on the image (left) and selecting Next from the gallery navigation or select a specific gallery from the Gallery index.

Underwater Journal - Latest Issue

The latest issue of The Underwater Journal, volume 30, is now ready for download. Inside, you'll find stunning imagery and comprehensive coverage of the world's most exciting cold water destination: Iceland. You'll also learn about a unique style of land-and-boat based diving safari that unlocks the best of the Philippines, and take a site-by-site tour of all that Utila has to offer. As always, the download is free, and can be enjoyed on your laptop or tablet, and saved to your digital library.