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News - May 2016

Please send items for the News to Brian Pitkin

Website of the Week - Chicco Maggioni

Chicco Maggioni was born in Milan. Italy, where he lives and works as an orthopedic surgeon. in Liguria. He is a 3-star CMAS instructor, PADI Instructor and Dive Master. In 2005, during a trip to the Maldives, he discovered the ease of using of digital compact camera in a housing.

After making 1 or 2 trips a year to far away places he rediscovered his unforgettable first love, the Mediterranean. His ambition is to share the beauty of the creatures, the colors and the wonderful shows so close to home. Chicco has been a member of BSoUP since 2012. Currently uses a Sony NEX-7 with 10/18mm , 18/55m or 16mm lens and Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes.

World's Best Wildlife Dive Sites

by Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Watching wildlife under the surface of the sea - whether snorkelling or scuba diving - is an increasingly popular pastime. This book covers 32 of the very best underwater wildlife experiences from around the world, including temperate and tropical waters. Each location is chosen for a particular key wildlife phenomenon, whether it is coral reefs, whales, seals, manta rays, and so on. Each has captivating images, a written account and a concise fact-panel outlining key species, tips for visitors, equipment to take and the best time to visit.

Experiences include: crocodiles and silky sharks in Cuba; great white sharks and weedy seadragons

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

in Australia; whalesharks and manta rays in the Maldives; hammerhead sharks in the Bahamas; basking sharks and seals in the UK; turtles and stingrays in the Caribbean; schooling fish and corals in Egypt; the Sardine Run in South Africa; manatees and kelp forests in the USA; and manta rays, anemonefish, frogfish and more in Indonesia. It will be the ultimate tour of the world's marine wildlife hot-spots, guaranteed to whet the appetite of divers, snorkelers and armchair naturalists everywhere.

The hardback book will be published in August, priced £19.99. Reserve and Collect at http://www.frogfishphotography.com/exhibition.html

Laura Storm - Winner - Focus On May 2014

Focus On - Silhouettes

The June competition is now open to BSoUP Members only with a deadline of Sunday 12th June at one minute to midnight.  

Subject: Silhouettes - Definition: A single image - any outline or dark shape underwater that is clearly visible and recognizable against its lighter background.

Please submit your image as a jpeg at 1400 pixels wide (landscape) or 1050 pixels tall (portrait) at 72 pixels/inch and file size less than 1MB. The wrong resolution or size may put you at a disadvantage and an sRGB colour profile may look best when projected.

Our judge to impress this month is Zac Macaulay

It's a good idea to check the rules before submitting. Entries are anonymous during judging and all images will be projected at the meeting. 

Nudibranch by Alex Tattersall

Underwater Macro Photography - Thoughts and strategies for minimizing our environmental impact

By Alex Tattersall.

Digital underwater photography is still in its infancy yet along with the rapid advances in social media, the wealth of impressive underwater images is now breath-taking. By signing up to some of the numerous UW photography groups on social media networks, very quickly you will be exposed to a seemingly endless stream of simply stunning imagery. Furthermore, we need only to follow the development of UW competition winning images over the last ten years to appreciate how far the art has come in such a relatively short time. More at WetPixel

Focus On - Fish Schools - Results

Congratulations to Gabriel Jimenez who was the winner of this month's Focus On Competition - Fish Schools. Gabriels' image was taken last September in Cabo Pumo, Mexico with a Canon 7D Mk II with a Tokina 10-17 mm lens in a Nauticam housing and Inon Z240 strobes. f8 @ 1/125 s.

Congratulations also to Robert Bailey and Susannah H. Snowden-Smith who were second and third respectively. Robert's image of schooling Jacks was taken in Bali, Indonesia with a Nikon D300 with a Tokina 10-17 mm lens. Susannah's image, taken in June, 2013, of a school of Needlefish 'Under the Dock' in Bonaire was taken with a Canon 40D with a 60 mm lens by panning in available light. ISO 100, f20 @ 1/10 s.

There were 30 entries and these were judged by Mark Pickford who provided feedback at the meeting.

The top six:-

The top six may be viewed on the Home Page and in the Gallery.

BSoUP Members only may view all the entries enlarged in the Competition Slideshow Archive. and Mark's feedback on the top six. You will be prompted to login if you have not already done so this session.

Next month's competition is Focus On - Silhouettes - Any outline or dark shape underwater that is clearly visible and recognizable against its lighter background. Please read the Rules. Some entries are still being submitted at more than 72 pixels per inch. The competition is now open.

Website of the Week - Zac Macaulay

Zac's career spanning over 20 years as an underwater photography specialist has taken him and his crew all over the world shooting for a wide variety of agencies both advertising and editorial for many and varied clients. He likes to use a strong graphic element in his photographic style, using colour and composition as a thread that runs through his work.

in focus - Latest issue

The latest issue of BSoUP's magazine ' in focus' has been mailed to all members who have renewed this year.

Issue 107 includes Editorial by Joss Woolf, Through Snell's Window Pash Baker interviewed by Joss Woolf, A Very Different Trip by Martha Tressler, Underwater Photography Master Class by Alex Mustard, BSoUP / Diver Print Competition Results, Focus On Competition, Results, Loose in St Lucia by Pash Baker, Diving Southern Tanzania by Isobel Pring, and The Future of BSoUP by Paul Colley

This issue was edited by Joss Woolf and produced with help from Chris, Mike and Paul.

BSoUP Members only may download a pdf version of this issue, but you will be prompted to login.

To get your copy of our magazine, as and when it is published, why not join BSoUP?

in focus 107. Cover Arthur Kingdon

Hairy frogfish taken in Lembeh, Indonesia.
Mark used a 60mm macro lens on his Nikon D600
and an Inon flash unit with a snoot.

BSoUP Meeting - May

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Tuesday 17th May 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.

Mark Pickford - Back-lighting

Mark's talk will cover some technical aspects as well as applications and effects such as silhouettes, macro back-lighting and remote strobes for wide angle photography.

Mark has used SLR cameras since his teens, took up diving in 1998 because he needed a new hobby and took up underwater photography around 2007 with a Nikon Coolpix. However he got rid of the Coolpix very quickly and has used a Nikon D300 in a Subal housing since 2009.  He says he is due for an upgrade!  He has been fortunate enough to dive in many great places but his favourite destinations are in Indonesia.

Focus-on competition  -  Fish schools

The competition is now closed. BSoUP Members may view the 30 entries in the Competition Slideshow.  You will be asked to log in if you have not done so this session. The competition has been judged by Mark Pickford.  At the meeting all entries will be shown and Mark will present his winners with some feedback about how he chose them. 

Focus-on competition  -  Fish schools

Martyn Guess  -  How I got the shot

Martyn will talk about the equipment and the techniques he uses to get his images. Opening up his portfolio, he will show the audience specifically how he took a range of wide angle and some macro photographs including scenic shots from Raja Ampat and the Red Sea, tiny subjects taken in the Philippines and Indonesia and large sharks in the Bahamas.

Martyn has been taking underwater photographs for twenty years and won the Underwater Excellence portfolio competition last year for the second time, having also come second in between.  Earlier this year he also won a major prize in the Raja Ampat Government's R4 Papua Underwater Photo Contest and has regularly featured in BSoUP and other major competitions as well as photo club events.

He has just learned that he will soon be leading some long haul photo trips for Scubatravel pitched at the intermediate to advanced market.

Website of the Week - Keith Lyall

I am Keith Lyall, I have been diving since 2000 and am a PADI Divemaster with over 1000 logged dives.

Prior to learning to dive I was a keen land photographer and as such underwater photography was a natural extension of this interest, in fact my overall interest in general photography has been significantly rekindled through diving, and when not diving I am developing my landscape photography at every opportunity.

My first experience of underwater photography was with a disposable camera in a plastic housing. Although the results were less than impressive, this ignited a desire to take further images and acquire the skills required to develop as an underwater photographer.

Following basic training via the PADI Photography Speciality course (using the Sea & Sea MX-10 35mm Auto Focus Underwater Camera), I bought my first camera and housing. At this time early digital cameras and housings were starting to reach the market at an affordable price and I purchased the 3 megapixel Olympus 3040, Olympus PT-10 housng and Epoque slave strobe.

A turning point in my underwater photography development was a weekend course with leading underwater photographer Martin Edge. The tuition and advice gained from Martin has been invaluable in the progression of my knowledge, technique and ability.

Since those early days I have progressed through a number of compact digital cameras before moving to a housed DSLR. I shoot with the Nikon D300 in a Subal housing (See Equipment). Even 5 years on since its launch this camera is providing quality images.

I am a member of the BSoUP and Chairman of Photosub.

The EPSON International Pano Awards 2016

Professional and amateur photographers around the world are invited to enter The EPSON
International Pano Awards to compete for over $60,000 in cash and prizes

Early-bird entries are open now until Sunday 10th July, 2016.

The 7th Epson International Pano Awards is dedicated to the craft and art of panoramic photography.

Advances in digital photography and editing software has resulted in an ever-increasing rise in the popularity of image stitching, especially in the panoramic format. Panoramic film photography also remains alive and well.

The Epson International Pano Awards showcases the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and is the largest competition for panoramic photography. The 2015 competition saw 4345 images submitted from 1055 photographers in 60 countries.

The 2016 competition is open to all professional and amateur photographers with a combined pool
of more than US$60,000, including $25,000 cash.
Prizes include an Epson SureColor P-7070 printer, an Epson Stylus Pro SP-4900 printer, and an Epson EB-1776 Ultra-Slim Projector.

UwP - Latest issue

The latest issue of the FREE UwP magazine is now available to downlaod.

Issue 90 includes Editorial, News Travel & Events, New Products, Product Reviews, Interviews, Locations, Marine life, Book Reviews, My Shot, and Parting Shot.

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

Website of the Week - Christian Llewellyn

I first learnt photography from my Grandfather who worked at Kodak, and for whom photography was a passion and hobby. My first cameras were a Praktica SLR and a Mamiya C33 medium format. These cameras truly opened my eyes to photography & the art of controlling the image. 
I have also been in and around water my whole life, and openly admit feeling safer in the water than on dry land. I taught myself how to snorkel at a very early age, and fondly remember watching Jacque Cousteau in the 70’s wanting to scuba. However I did not progress to diving until the 90’s and in 2004 I made a life change from London and moved to Cyprus to undertake training as a Scuba Instructor and start promoting marine and turtle conservation. My limitless passion for the sea and diligent patience were well suited for instructing. I  am a PADI IDC instructor with specialty training in numerous fields of scuba.

It was no surprise then that I would want to capture my underwater life as well. I started with disposable cameras, a Sea life reef master for a few years and then as the world of digital emerged I have used various compact cameras.  However my love of film made me focus on purchasing and filming with various video cameras ending up with the last being the first HD Sony DV cam. 
Now I dive with an Olympus OMD EM5, Nauticam housing and dual Inon Z240’s. My passion for marine life is still as strong as it ever was and I have started publishing my work as a photo journalist in various scuba publications, as well as winning various minor photographic competitions. 
I am the manager of X-posure Underwater, specialising in creating artwork from underwater images. I also have a blog page under the same name on Facebook, promoting conservation and my life underwater. Furthermore I am the manager of the Facebook Groups “Wrecks Of The World,” & "Reefs Of The World which both promote photography, competitions, travel, wrecks, marine ecology and conservation through artificial reefs.