Winners – Underwater Photography Contests

August 2016 Photo Contest Winner and Review

Published 10 years agoon September 2, 2016

WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS NICK & CAROLINE ROBERTSON-BROWN

WINNER: Grubfish by Jack McKee

PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/grubfish/

When judging any underwater photography competition, the first thing we do is ask of each image: Is it in focus? The main subject has to be pin sharp. Is it exposed correctly?

We then look at lighting (photography is all about light) and composition. Backscatter, hot spots of light, messy backgrounds all might see your image lose out.

Then there are other considerations that might get you knocked out of the first round: Was the image taken underwater? After all it is an underwater photography competition! Were any animals distressed or harassed to get the image? Was any environmental damage done to get the shot?

Once we have whittled out the images that do not pass these criteria, it is time to get down to picking a winner. A shot that makes us both go wow – I wish I had taken that!

August 2016

This month saw only 18 entries into the competition – were you all on your summer holidays? There were some lovely images. One of the toughest judging decisions is selecting the winner from both worthy macro and wide angle images.

Our favourites

Caroline

In my top selection of images this month are:

Jack McKee’s has a trio of lovely images entered this month – Mantis Shrimp, Grubfish and Finger Puppet. I like all three. Strong macro subjects; well executed.

Marcus Blatchford’s image of a diver heading towards the light. Lovely shot with lots of atmosphere.

Corey Thomas’ head on shot of an Angelfish, engaging, colourful, lovely to look at.

Nick

Nigel Steel’s Green Turtle has lovely balanced light and good use of negative space

Marcus Blatchford’s Into the Light is a great example of a popular composition technique with deliberate vignetting around the central circular subject.

Corey Thomas’ Queen Angelfish is a lovely head on shot with both eyes and also both pectoral fins also in shot. Nice Bokeh in the background. I really like this

Jack McKee’s Mantis Shrimp – smashing focus on the eyes

Jack McKee’s Grubfish – Head on, eyes engaging the viewer, beautifully lit

Jack McKee’s Finger Puppet – love shot that pops out of the frame with a dark background against the “smiling” fish

After much deliberations between our two judges….

Winner: Jack McKee’s Grubfish

Runner-Up: Marcus Blatchford’s Into the Light

3^rd Place: Corey Thomas’ The Queen

Keep your best shots coming as there are still plenty of chances of being in with a chance of the grand prize!

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com