Winners – Underwater Videography Contests

July 2021 Video Contest Winner and Review

Published 5 years agoon August 2, 2021

WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: Black & White Underwater by Hank H

Winning Video:

Hi all, hope you are getting in some enjoyable diving and videography. The seasons have become very unpredictable the last few years and are taking a toll on all animal life that cannot adapt quickly enough. This is especially noticeable on land with birds and insects but is also happening underwater with animals that rely on predictable sea temperatures to breed and feed successfully. Help fight climate change or sooner than later we will all be searching for things to film that may have been in abundance just a few years ago.

Great films this month and the winner for me is Black & White Underwater by Hank H. The images were quite magical, and the very effective slow motion was enhanced by the black and white treatment.

See you next month.

Open big mouth of Frogfish by Steven_taiwan

Beautiful opening shots. What a wonderful animal. Liked the music, made me quite sleepy and relaxed as I watched. Nice ending too. Well shot with very good lighting enjoyed the simplicity of the video.

Baby of crown fish and tiny creatures by Steven_taiwan

Love the images of the eggs. Looked like a crowd of tall ghostly people looking at me. Great lighting and picture framing. As with the frogfish video, this was very relaxing and enjoyable to watch. The cuttlefish was magical. There seemed to be a slight issue with the music volume changing in a few places.

Fearless mantis shrimp by Steven_taiwan

That was so good. The music was perfect. It gave the Mantis Shrimp real attitude. Loved the way you just held the shot and let it develop. Nice lighting.

Deep dive in Dauin by divejackdive

Well done.Nice to have that educational feel to the narration. Having started with narration it would have been good to go a little further and tell us a bit more about the animals behaviour. The music worked well but there seemed to be a background noise throughout. I couldn’t guess what it was but I assume it wasn’t part of the music track. It sounded a bit like the cameras auto focus working overtime. You have some lovely images on the video which were all well shot and lit. Your camera work is very steady.

Black & White Underwater by Hank H

Yes indeed, black and white images can be very dramatic but is often used just to try and do something different and is not as effective as one might have hoped. But you really made it work. I thought the Ray swimming with the sand falling off it’s back in slow motion was particularly spectacular. You gave the images a wonderful surreal feeling with the music. Great film.

Deep Dive 2 by divejackdive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xOx_6G3niI&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Hi Jack. As in your other film you have captured some stunning images but as with the other film, I felt I wanted to hear more narration with more facts about behaviour. The background noise was there again……..

Ornate Ghost Pipefish by divejackdive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A0Qn9KSOXM&feature=emb_imp_woyt

What a stunning animal. Very nicely filmed and framed. As you are now part way down the road to narrating your films, have a good look at some TV clips or even wildlife films on YouTube. See how narration is woven into a film and when done well, delivers a wealth of interesting information and so can make even a long film more enjoyable to watch.

Ocellarios Clownfiah with eggs by Nus Lobbu

I do enjoy these long developing shots. Lots going on in frame giving the audience time to see the fish in action. The following egg shots were lovely. Very steady macro camera work and very well lit.

Camouflage by Nus Lobbu

Remarkable camouflage. You did well to spot them in the first place. Perfect steady shots. What a tragedy though that it was with a plastic bag and not natural reef. The pictures spoke for themselves but it would have been good to have had just a little background information.

Seapen crab with eggs by Nus Lobbu

Your macro shots really are excellent. Once again, so nice to watch a single developing shot.

The August competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.

Jeff Goodman

Jeff is a multiple award winning, freelance TV cameraman/film maker and author. Having made both terrestrial and marine films, it is the world's oceans and their conservation that hold his passion with over 10.000 dives in his career. Having filmed for international television companies around the world and author of two books on underwater filming, Jeff is Author/Programme Specialist for the 'Underwater Action Camera' course for the RAID training agency. Jeff has experienced the rapid advances in technology for diving as well as camera equipment and has also experienced much of our planet’s marine life, witnessing, first hand, many of the changes that have occurred to the wildlife and environment during that time. Jeff runs bespoke underwater video and editing workshops for the complete beginner up to the budding professional.