WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR STUART PHILPOTT

WINNER: Sean Chinn

PHOTOLINK: https://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/sunbathing/

Here’s wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. I would like to add a big thank to all of the entrants in 2015’s monthly photographic competitions. I really enjoyed looking through every one of your images. The toughest job was choosing a winner from so many great shots. I am sure that 2016 is going to be even bigger and better than ever so get sifting through your image libraries and start uploading your 2016 entries onto the Scubaverse website asap. January’s competition is already up and running.

Before I give you the results of the December 2015 competition I must make my apologies for the delay. It’s been entirely my fault. I’ve had far too much picture editing work to get through. I guess image manipulation is quite a debateable subject. Should you leave your pictures in a natural ‘pure’ state, from the moment you pressed the shutter release button, or is it acceptable to tweak colours, sharpness etc and then ‘clean up’ any unwanted items (i.e. remove backscatter, exhaled bubbles, spurious background objects etc using editing software)? I would like to know your thoughts. Judging by the images submitted on Scubaverse’s monthly photo competitions there has been quite a broad spectrum, from the totally untouched to the grossly over processed. I am hoping to run through a few of the basic enhancements that I personally make to my underwater images in an exclusive Scubaverse series coming later this year, and depending on the interest this will follow on with more involved topics.

I would also like to mention some new underwater photography workshops that I will be running throughout 2016. Some will be UK based and some will be overseas. This year’s workshops will mainly be focusing on the subject of using underwater models in pictures. When I say models this is any scuba diver male or female, young or old, that is some way featured in a composition. Models add interest and perspective to an image and can be anything from a silhouette shape in the background to a close up full frame mask shot. I will be covering every aspect on my workshops with theory presentations and practical diving sessions. More information including dates and locations will be released soon.

And so to the December 2015 entries…… and there really are some top rate images making this is a very tough month to judge. The old year is definitely going out on a high!

Introducing Dominico Luzzi’s wide angle silhouette shot called ‘contemplation’ taken in Koh Hann, Thailand. Dominico has gone inside the cave and then turned around and taken the shot looking out through the entrance. The shot has got a diver plus a shoal of fish and a wonderful blue backdrop. I probably would have edited out the divers and streams of bubbles in the far background as I think this detracts from the main subject slightly, but otherwise a superb effort.

I really do have a soft spot for pygmy seahorses so the second macro entry from Dominico Luzzi titled ‘neckless’ taken in Bali is well appreciated. The shadow on the seahorse’s head/upper body is a slight niggle but overall great colours and composition. Is the eye slightly out of focus? It’s probably just the quality of the uploaded image.

Dominico’s third entry with the long title ‘get out of the hole for the shooting’ shows a small fish looking directly at a squirrel fish, hence the title. The flashguns have really highlighted the colours in this shot taken on a night dive. I’m not sure if this is a full frame image or cropped version but the composition works well. Yet another great shot from Mr Luzzi. I thought Truk lagoon was supposed to be famous for its wrecks? Where are the wide angle wreck shots Dominico?  Thanks for your images and thanks for adding the information about dive site location and camera settings. It really does help. If there was an overall portfolio prize Dominico’s shots would be a strong contender.

It’s nice to see that Janice Nigro is back this month with and wickedly colourful image titled ‘underwater koozie’ taken at Lembeh. I would call this shot the perfect anemone fish pose. There is a front facing nemo, some anemone tentacles and some of the outer anemone casing in the composition. That’s a very fast shutter speed you are using Janice? Love the colours and the composition. This has to be one of my top three images.

All my favourite photo subjects are coming out this month including Yo-Han Cha’s image of a grey Atlantic seal called ‘dancer’. This shot was taken at the Farne Islands. Seals really do pull some great postures and facial expressions. This shot is no exception. Considering it’s taken in UK conditions there’s plenty of ambient light and the seal is clear and in-focus.

From this angle it looks like a green turtle in Terry Crocker’s shot ‘another sleepy turtle’. What a great shot. I’ve never seen a turtle picture like this before. Is it asleep or hiding from the photographer? It doesn’t look like a very comfortable bed! I think a front facing shot would have been better but the colours and the unusual composition make up for the slight negative. It’s a real shame that the turtle didn’t stay around for a few more shots Terry. Damn marine life has a mind of its own! I think this composition had the potential for a real show stopping winner. But I’m not saying it’s not great as it is!

Well done Sean Chinn for taking this above and below shot of a whaleshark called ‘gentle giant’ in the Philippines. Was this shot taken at Tan-awan, Cebu where the sharks are lured in by the fishermen?  50/50 shots are not easy to get right, especially when you have to contend with a moving whaleshark. It helps if the surface conditions are flat calm so you can line up the above/below split. Yet another impressive shot from this month’s quota.

Sean Chinn’s second macro entry simply called ‘stretch’ shows a chromodoris nudibranch on a reef somewhere around Anilao in the Philippines. Love the composition with the nudi’s head held high and the antennae in focus. The vivid colours really stand out against the black background.

Sean Chinn’s third entry called ‘sunbathing’ shows a green turtle on a reef at Sipadan Island in Malaysia. I think Sean has positioned himself perfectly for this composition. He’s below the turtle shooting up towards the surface. There is so much to see in this image, it really does tell a story. At first my eyes focused on the turtle then I noticed the corals and the shoaling fish above, all finished off with the sun rays shining down through a very clear blue sea. Another superb wide angle shot. It looks slightly over exposed on the turtle’s flipper and lower shell. Maybe there’s slightly too much flash? I think this can be toned down in photo editing software. Otherwise very, very nice and a potential December winner. Sean has submitted a great portfolio of images to round off 2015. I hope he will follow this up with an equally good portfolio in January.

For an agonising moment I thought this was going to be the first ever Tam Warner Minton free month but just as I was coming to the end of the competition I found one! Glad to see you could make it Tam.  Simply called ‘hiding in a sponge’, this looks like a Caribbean shot of a crab inside a barrel sponge, but I might be wrong. I can’t tell how big the crab is from your picture Tam? Maybe you could have put your finger in there just to give it some size perspective! I like the composition with the crab sitting at the bottom of the sponge. The concentric circles of the barrel sponge make the image more interesting.

And last but not least a second entry from Tam Warner Minton. I couldn’t have picked a better photographer to finish off 2015 with! Well done Tam. I hope Scubaverse will see more pictures from you in 2016. Called ‘hanging around, upside down’ the image shows a lionfish lurking under a reef ledge somewhere in the Caribbean. I think lionfish are really photogenic but I do have a problem with Caribbean lionfish as they are an invasive species and have wiped out most of the juvenile fish population. This image shows some great colours, it’s slightly out of focus but another good effort.

And so for the winner of 2015’s final competition…..after much deliberation and cogitation it has to be Sean Chinn’s entry called ‘sunbathing’ which shows a green turtle sitting on a reef at Sipadan Island. Well done Sean, great shot and a worthy winner. There has to be a tie for second place between two macro images, Janice’s shot ‘underwater koozie’ and Dominico’s ‘neckless’.

Thank you all again for so many great entries. I hope to see everybody back again this year!