August 2017 Photo Contest Winner and Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS NICK & CAROLINE ROBERTSON-BROWN
WINNER: Vuelo en Compania by Manuel Federico Nájera Hillman
PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/vuelo-en-compania-2/
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 2017
August saw competition entries increase again, which is great. There was also no let-up on the excellent quality of the photos you have sent in. From pygmy seahorses to whalesharks, there was something for everyone in this month’s competition. Here are our thoughts on some of our favourites from August:
Our Favourites
Caroline
Blue-Ringed Octopus by Daniel Geary: Vibrant colours, great black background, good eye contact. This is a lovely shot.
Curious Blenny by David Niddam: This is smashing. Both eyes of this cute blenny looking at the camera. Lovely bokeh background making the subject stand out and a lovely smile. Fab.
Vuelo en Compania by Manuel Federico Nájera Hillman: Lovely shot of these charismatic rays from beneath to show off their mouths and still have eye contact. Nice diagonal composition. Wish I was there.
Portrait of a butterfly by Elisabeth Lauwerys: I really like this head on shot of a butterflyfish in black and white. It shows lovely eye contact and the composition is really striking. Well done. If it was my shot, I might have removed the black square in the top left corner.
Happy Blenny by Kevin Stokell: Wow what a blenny portrait! Great colours, really sharp and a fantastic expression.
Nudibranch around 10 by Laila Kristiansson: A great behaviour shot of a gorgeous nudibranch laying eggs. Nice black background too.
Whaleshark Silhouette by Hannes Klostermann: A lovely silhouette shot managing to get the whole whaleshark into the shot and a lovely sunburst too. I like the surface texture and the small fish riding alongside the shark.
Goodbye by Hannes Klostermann: Another wonderful whaleshark shot by Hannes. Whilst you might tell people not to shoot a fish’s rear end, this works perfectly. Lovely natural light beams. I love this shot.
Nick
Blue-Ringed Octopus by Daniel Geary: This is a lovely shot of an elusive and exotic blue ringed octopus. Nicely composed and the subject really pops out on the black background.
Investment Opportunity, again by Daniel Geary: Frogfish are my favourite subjects, and this little fellow is tiny. I like the idea of the coin behind the subject to give a sense of scale, but not sure it works as a winning competition image.
Lovely capture of this “Curious Blenny” by David M. Needham, and whilst the subject is too central in the frame for my liking, the eyes and the face are beautifully captured.
Vuelo en Compania by Manuel Federico Najera Hillman: This is a lovely capture of three rays swimming in formation. I love the way that the photographer has tilted the camera to make it look like they are climbing.
Oh the colours of the Sea… By Ori Gaili: I love the contrast of the yellow and black spots against the purple and grey of the coral on a blue background. Colour contrast can be really important part of any image, and whilst the trunk fish is a bit lost in the framing, the colours make it really stand out.
Happy Blenny by Kevin Stokell is a lovely close-up of a Secretary Blenny. I particularly like the catch light in its right eye.
Jellyfish by AJ O’Rourke: These creatures are lovely to see when their light show is firing. It can be quite difficult to spot, and you need to refocus your eyes into macro midwater mode.
Diver @12, also by AJ O’Rourke: Great form by the diver in silhouette and the surrounding colours really draw your eye to the image.
Nudibranch around 10 by Laila Kristiansson: It’s unusual to capture nudibranch laying an egg case in this image is been shot up into the water to be able to create the black background make the subject pop out.
White Devil by Jose Fontenier: I love the use of spotlights to isolate the subject in an image, but I would have preferred to have seen a more creative angle rather than the 90° side on.
Botella by Hannes Klostermann: I can see the bottle analogy in this shot. I love the ambient lighting in this image of one of the ocean’s greatest creatures. Well done.
Weedy Scorpionfish by Jeremy Smith: I like this shot, and whilst it’s a bit of a ”species shot ”, the lighting is really good and the background is sufficiently dark to lose any messiness.
After much deliberations between our two judges….
Once again, we were amazed by the diversity and quality of the images this month. In both macro and wide angle, taken with a range of cameras, there were fantastic shots. We picked out quite different images to each other this month, but, we managed to agree on a few and as our job is to pick the winners and runners-up and this month they are:
Winner: Vuelo en Compania by Manuel Federico Nájera Hillman
Runner-Up: Blue-Ringed Octopus by Daniel Geary
Third Place: Nudibranch around 10 by Laila Kristiansson
Congratulations to the those that were placed – some truly amazing images here, and to all those that entered. Keep the images coming and we look forward to seeing more in September.
[hr style=”single”]Scubaverse.com’s September 2017 Underwater Photo Contest is now open! Enter as many as 3 of your best underwater shots here.
