News

Close-up Photographer of the Year is open for entries

Published

4 years ago

March 11, 2021

The search is on to find the next winner of Close-up Photographer of the Year, in association with Affinity Photo. Photographers have until 23 May 2021 to enter the competition and be in with a chance of winning a cash prize of £2,500.

Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is an annual competition showcasing the best close-up, macro and micro photography from around the world.

A new Underwater category (sponsored by SEACAM) has been added this year to reflect the quality of entries in this genre from previous years. Images of underwater flora and fauna will be accepted in this category and will be judged by diving legends David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes, Darren Jew and Nadia Aly.

Galice Hoarau won the overall prize last year with his picture of an eel larva taken during a blackwater dive off the coast of Indonesia.

This year the total prize fund has been boosted to £5,300, with the overall winner receiving £2,500 in cash (plus a trophy) and each category winner taking home £300 in cash, with the exception of Young Close-up Photographer of the Year 03 who will receive a SIGMA 105mm f2.8 DG DN MACRO Art lens (worth £700) USB Dock (and a trophy).

The competition is open to everyone, using any type of camera, phone or light microscope. To find out more visit www.cupoty.com.

There are nine categories in all: Animals (supported by Affinity Photo), Insects (supported by Zerene Stacker), Butterflies & Dragonflies (new for 2021 and supported by Olympus), Underwater (new for 2021 and supported by Seacam), Plants & Fungi (supported by Novoflex and SpeedGraphic), Intimate Landscape, Manmade and Micro (supported by Motic), as well as Young CUPOTY (supported by SIGMA) for entrants aged 17 or under.

Last year the competition attracted more than 6,500 entries, from 52 countries. All of the winning and shortlisted entries for CUPOTY 02 can be seen at www.cupoty.com/winners-02.

Header Photo: © Mathieu Foulquie-Bufo bufo-CUPOTY

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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

News

UWACAM Impresses at BOOT 2025 with New App

Published

6 hours ago

March 2, 2025

Team Scubaverse

BOOT 2025, the world’s largest water sports trade fair, provided the perfect stage for the launch of the new UWACAM app which meanwhile is rated at an excellent 4.8 out of 5 in the Apple App Store.

Optimized for DIVEVOLK (divevolkdiving.com) Seatouch housings and developed in collaboration with award-winning underwater filmmaker Matthias Lebo (matthiaslebo.com), this app is user-friendly and features large, clear controls, enabling effortless and stunning shots.

It offers professional functions typically found in high-end cameras, supports the LOG format for advanced color corrections, includes built-in LUTs (Color Lookup Tables) to restore underwater colors, and provides a manual mode, user presets, histogram, focus peaking, zebra function, and much more.

As an official product of Bumbayaya GmbH (bumbayaya.ch / uwacam.com), the UWACAM app has been specifically designed for use in DIVEVOLK Seatouch underwater housings. Visitors were able to experience the app live at the DIVEVOLK booth.

UWACAM simplifies underwater photography with an intuitive user interface that is perfectly adapted for underwater operation. The app offers precise control and delivers impressive results for both hobby divers and professionals.

UWACAM

Why UWACAM?

Specifically developed for DIVEVOLK: Perfect integration into Seatouch housings for effortless underwater operation.
Simple yet professional: Switch between an Easy Automatic Mode for beginners and a comprehensive Pro Mode.
All-in-one app: Supports all photo and video formats, including LOG for professional color corrections.
Pro Features:
- Focus Peaking: Precise focus control.
- Zebra Function: Prevents over- or underexposure.
- Built-in LUTs: Color corrections for realistic underwater shots.
- Manual Controls: Fine-tune exposure, focus, white balance, and more.
Diver-Specific Features: Automatic color correction based on environment and dive depth, plus an optional magnetic compass overlay.

“We are excited to present UWACAM at BOOT 2025,” says Matthias Lebo, who played a key role in its development. “With UWACAM, we bring the beauty of the underwater world directly into the hands of divers and snorkelers—intuitive, powerful, and adaptable.”