Winners – Underwater Photography Contests

October 2016 Photo Contest Winner and Review

Published 10 years agoon November 1, 2016

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

WINNER: Ralpharia sp by Dawn Clerkson

PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/ralpharia-sp/

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!

October 2016

This month saw a whopping number of entries, with 54 in the mix. 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:

Early Christmas by L. Scott Harrell – I am not sure I approve of mentioning Christmas in October – but this is a lovely Christmas Tree Worm shot!

Farnes Seal by G Watters shows off the lovely faces of these charismatic creatures. It put a smile on my face.

Colourful by GreatWhiteSean is a superb nudi shot. Lovely colours and lighting.

Coconut Octopus by Sean Steininger – a lovely shot of a great subject. Also in the mix is Sean’s shot of a manta night dive which is very atmospheric.

Into the light by Ashley James Kirkham. Another favourite subject, slower shutter speed. Very nice.

Blue by Margarito Avenido is a wonderful shot of a blue-ringed octopus.

Peek-a-boo by Brett Thorpe. Lovely perspective, lots of character.

Rapharia sp by Dawn Clerkson – a really good macro shot. Simple subject but very well executed.

Nick

Resting by Joseph Azzopardi – I love the way this shot has been framed in the coral overhang. The curves on the ray clearly show it is about to move off (or it has just landed).

Sean Chinn’s nudibranch is a lovely macro shot, with excellent contrast of colours on a black background

Walk Tall by Sean Steininger is an unusual, but striking shot. It looks like the coconut octopus is retreating back into its shell. I particularly like the way the eyes are profiled against the black background

Another shot by Sean Steininger, showing 3 humpbacks, is in a very different style. Shards of light coming down from the surface make this a very pleasing image

The snooted Rhinopias is a lovely example of fine-art photography and works really well with the colours and black background. Well done David Niddam.

The whaleshark image by Ashley James Kirkham is a stunner. I love the angle and the small fish around its head really add to the effect of motion

The weedy seadragon, also by Ashley, is beautifully lit and is a super image. I would have like to see it taken from a few centimetres lower to lift the subject away from the messy background. I appreciate the shot demonstrates its camouflage, but it could still do that.

A stunning shot of soft corals by Carmen Toanchina, uses ambient light very cleverly

Here, Far, Wherever by Marcus Caruana is a lovely grainy and (I suspect) slow shutter speed shot inside the wreck. It is really difficult to do, but I just feel it needs a subject to focus on – perhaps a diver coming towards the camera in the corridor?

A super shot of a pigmy seahorse on a black background by Kim Foss-Pederson. I love the shallow depth of field.

Dawn Clerkson has a couple of excellent shots in this month. Good use of depth of field creates a lovely close-up in the macro shot called Orange Sided Goby. But it is her shot of a solitary hydroid that really catches my eye. It is beautifully lit and an unusual subject. I like this shot a lot!