Anima Mundi - Latest issue
Eilat Red Sea & World Shoot-Out 2014
Camera and Lens Buying Guides
2015 Bite-Back Calendar
Website of the Week - Charles Hood
Open Portfolio Competition
Beginners Portfolio Competition
Website of the Week - Anthony Holley
Jeremy and Amanda Cuff - New 2015 Calendar
November BSoUP Meeting

Pacific Northwest Diver - Latest Issue
Website of the Week - John Gulland
GoPro Hero 4 Review
NUPG - Next Meeting
BUPG - Next Meeting
Website of the Week - Martyn Guess
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2015
UwP - Latest issue
BSoUP Leaflet updated
BSoUP/DIVER Print Competition Results

Anima Mundi #17

Anima Mundi - Latest issue

Issue 17, January 2015, of our free online magazine Anima Mundi - Adventures in Wildlife Photography is now out and ready for downloading.

Contents of the latest issue include a feature on snake-mimic caterpillars and their amazing defensive strategies, the first part of the extensively illustrated trip report from the untouched Tambopata Reserve in the Amazon of Peru, a fine selection of the best images from the Global Arctic Awards of 2013, a documentation of the stunning fieldwork done by Italian photographer Matteo Di Nicola on the vipers and adders of his own country, a spectacular photographic tribute to the underwater wonders of West Papua's region of Raja Ampat and finally a short photo trip report from Sinharaja, Sri Lanka's only relict rainforest.

Eilat Red Sea & World Shoot-Out 2014

The spectacular images  submitted by  Eilat Red Sea & World Shoot-Out 2014 nominees and winners were all gathered together into one album. The result is a 182-page breathtaking journey, introducing some of the best and most creative underwater images ever taken.
 
It's the perfect gift and a must-have for any underwater photographer, diver, fan of the sea or fan of art.
 
Regular price: 39 Euro

Special intro offer: 25 Euro

Download the digital version here

Cover image by Plamena Mileva from  Bulgaria.

Camera and Lens Buying Guides

Digital Photography Review have published major updates to their existing 2013 content, to bring everything up to date.

You'll find links to their extensive buying guide content, which spans everything from seasonal product roundups to advice about what gear is best for what kind of shooting situation. You'll also find link to the most popular cameras and lenses on dpreview, and to their interactive camera chooser, which lets you quickly compare different models to find the right one for you.

Please visit http://www.dpreview.com/ for full details

2015 Bite-Back Calendar out now

Thirteen of the world's finest underwater photographers have been united in support of Bite-Back and its goal to make Britain the first country in the world to ban shark fin soup. Each photographer has donated a stunning image that features in a limited edition 2015 fundraising calendar (£8.99 + p&p).

Among the images is a shot of a blue shark that won Alex Mustard the coast and marine category title of the 2014 British Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Other images in the high quality publication include sharks, whales, crocodile, stingrays, manta rays, sea lion and jellyfish.

The 2015 calendar is the sixth edition of the highly popular production and it presents a beautiful reminder of the marine life at risk from overfishing, pollution and rises in ocean temperatures.

Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: "It's very exciting to have the support and friendship of so many talented photographers. Their stunning images are a window on the beautiful yet fragile underwater world."

Sales of the calendar are a financial lifeline for the small charity and all profits will help fund its 'Hacked Off!' campaign to eliminate shark fin soup in British restaurants.

The A4 calendar makes an ideal Christmas gift for a shark fan, scuba diver or wildlife enthusiast. It costs just £8.99 from www.bite-back.com and can be shipped anywhere in the world.

Website of the Week - Charles Hood

Each week we highlight a BSoUP Member's website. This week's choice is Charles Hood.

Charles is a Photojournalist, Photographer, Skipper and Diving Instrutor based in Cornwall. He currently uses a Nikon D3 in an Aquatica Housing with Sea&Sea Strobes.

Charles' website includes over 1600 images of Basking Sharks, Blue Sharks and Sunfish. To view them and to learn more about him please visit charleshood.com/

Image: 2013 Winner © Jackie Campbell

Beginners Portfolio Competition for the DIVER Trophy

Congratulations to Sue Guess who was this year's winner of the DIVER Trophy. Sue's images were taken in the Red Sea, Tubataha Philippines and Sulawesi, Indonesia (see Portfolio). Sue was presented with a cheque for £100 courtesy of DIVER magazine.

Congratulations also to Laura Storm and Rebecca Drayton who came second and third respectively. Laura's images were taken in The Bahamas, Bonaire, and The Hebrides. Rebecca's's images were taken in Sulawesi, Indonesia and Grand Cayman.

There were a total of 21 entries.

How the top six scored:-

The top six may be viewed in the Gallery.

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

If you entered and were not in the top six but would like to know how your image fared please contact me.

Next month's competition is the Open Portfolio Competition. The competition will open shortly.

Website of the Week - Anthony Holley

"I hope my website will be a useful reference for the many nudibranch fanatics around the world. I use the term 'nudibranch' in the layman's reference to all the animals in the Opistobranchia subclass of the phylum Mollusca, rather than restricting it to the order Nudibranchia only. Sea slugs is another all-encompassing common name."

"I was introduced to nudibranchs when I started taking macro pictures back in 1985. These pages catalogue some of the hundreds of nudibranchs I have seen and photographed in more than 3,600 hours of diving in over twenty countries. Some of these countries are not represented here due to most of the diving there being research or other work, and so I was not taking pictures for my own use."

Jeremy and Amanda Cuff - New 2015 Calendar

Photographers, photojournalists and BSOUP members Jeremy and Amanda Cuff have published a new 2015 Calendar titled 'œDiving Dreams' which is now available.

Jeremy said, 'œThe Diving Dreams 2015 Calendar features a variety of images, mostly from our dive travels over recent times, and includes destinations such as Galapagos, the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Maldives.'

The 2015 Calendars can be ordered now - please visit Jeremy & Amanda''s website at www.ja-universe.com for further information and prices.

The website features a wide selection of photography and articles with particular emphasis on scuba diving and travel, although other topics such as abstracts and black and white photography are also included.

November BSoUP Meeting

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Tuesday 18 November at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. in Meeting Room 3, Union Building, Beit Quadrangle, Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7 [Entrance via Prince Consort Road] (Directions). New and prospective new members will be welcomed from 7.30 p.m. See Welcome.

BSoUP / DIVER Print Competition Awards: All of the winning images from this year's Print Competition will be projected and the trophies and prizes will be awarded to the winners.
 
Annual Event: Beginners Portfolio Competition for the DIVER Trophy: A portfolio of 6 images. The competition is now closed. There are a total of 21 entries, all of which will be projected at the meeting.   BSoUP Members only may view the portfolios in the Competition Slide Show. You will be asked to log in if you have not done so already this session.

Pacific Northwest Diver - Latest Issue

The latest issue of the FREE Pacific Northwest Diver is now available for download.

The November issue includes Editorial, From the Archive, News Corner, Bowen Island Dive Against Debris, Women's Scholarship, Fire at God's Pocket Update, Sockeye Salmon Run at Adam's River - Eiko Jones, Feartured Operator: New World Diving, Photographers & Videographers, Tom Radio - Washington Photographer, Beat J Korner - BC Videographer, Technical Corner, GoPro Hero 4 Line Up, Using Lightroom to Organize Workflow, and PNW Diver Team.

To get your copy please visit http://pnwups.com/

Pacific Northwest Diver. Cover: Tom Radio

Website of the Week - John Gulland

John Gulland has combined his knowledge as a biologist and fascination with underwater photography to record images of the wonders to be found in the major oceans of the world.

Browse his website Blue Waters Photography for images of life beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the British coast, the Irish Sea, the Red Sea, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. "See the beauty of microscopic creatures and admire the magnificence of some of the largest creatures on planet earth".

GoPro Hero 4 Review

'The GoPro Hero4 is another feature-packed, ultra HD video camera that will be a very popular underwater video camera for scuba diving. The camera boasts several upgrades over the GoPro Hero 3+ and comes in two models: The Hero4 Black and the Hero4 Silver. In short, the black model is 2x as powerful as the Hero 3+, while the new silver model comes with a built-in touch display so that you can better-compose your shots.'

Read the review at www.uwphotographyguide.com/

NUPG - Next Meeting

Monday 10th November

The next meeting of the Northern Underwater Photography Group will take place on at Gurkha Grill, 198 Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2LH. The meetings start at 8pm and usually last around two hours.

Talk '" Jim Garland '" Ghost Fleet '" The Wrecks of Truk lagoon

Favourite 5 '" TBC

Competition '" Lines

Further details at http://www.nupg.org.uk/

BUPG - Next Meeting

Tuesday 11th November  

The Meeting (start time 20:00hrs) will be at our normal venue - The Casson Centre, Rodway Road, Patchway, BS34 5DQ (map) 

The October monthly competition theme is 'Creative (in camera)

Annual Beginner's Portfolio Competition.

Image Quality - Will Clark

Further details at http://www.bupg.co.uk/

Website of the Week - Martyn Guess

Martyn Guess is a commercial property developer based in Cranleigh Surrey. He 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 Nikonas film camera in Grand Cayman with Cathy Church but for many years has embraced the world of digital photography and currently uses a Nikon D800 and Nauticam  housing with twin Inon strobes.

He is a good friend and former student of Martin Edge and has travelled the world with his 'œmodel' wife Sue seeking out new underwater photo opportunities. A self-confessed warm water diver his ambition is to get into UK diving!

He is a well-known and successful underwater photographer and his images regularly appear in dive magazines and travel brochures and are often placed in top positions within National and International competitions.  He now teaches underwater photographer from his home pool. For more information and images please visit www.martynguessphotography.com/

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2015

Deadline: 5th January 2015

UPY 2015 is a brand new and prestigious international underwater photography competition that aims to celebrate the world''s best underwater photos. The Underwater Photographer of the Year and other winners will be announced at an award ceremony on stage at the London International Dive Show.

The competition has been launched to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Brighton Underwater Film Festival, in its heyday the world''s leading underwater photography contest. The contest will also name a British Underwater Photographer of the Year, a Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2015 and reward our category winners with fantastic prizes.

UwP - Latest issue

The latest issue of the FREE UwP is now available for download.

UwP is edited by Peter Rowlands and includes articles by BSoUP members and others.

Issue 81 includes Editorial, News, Travel and Events, Competitions, Wakatobi, Azores, Great White Sharks, Seychelles Nudibranchs, South West Ramblings and Parting Shot.

To get your copy please visit www.uwpmag.com

Overall Winner
Taj Mahal Cenote and diver © Terry Steeley

Highly Commended Overall and Winner of the British category
Fireworks anemone © Kirsty Andrews

BSoUP/DIVER Print Competition Results

Congratulations to Terry Steeley, Kirsty Andrews, Elaine White, Nick More, Nick Blake, Pash Baker, Ellen Cuylaerts and Dan Bolt who's prints are among the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries in this year's BSoUP/DIVER Print Competition. Eighty of the 109 best prints were displayed at the Dive Show at the NEC, Birmingham over the weekend of 25-26th October.

Over a thousand members of the public voted for their favourites in each of four categories and a panel of judges comprising Nigel Eaton, Chief Editor of DIVER, Martin Edge, author and underwater photo-journalist, and Steve Jones, underwater photojournalist, chose the winner of the Grand Prize, donated by Oonasdivers and The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, and highly commended entries.

BSoUP thanks DIVER, Sea & Sea, Cameras Underwater, Paul Colley Underwater Photography, Frogfish Photography and The Wildlife Trusts for sponsoring the competition.

The Awards Ceremony will take place at the BSoUP Meeting on Tuesday 18th November 2014 in the Meeting Room 3, Imperial College Union, London, SW7 2BB.

Full details at Results and subsequent pages.