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British Underwater Image Festival winners 2008Check out the best of this year's British Underwater Image festival, find out what the judges' thought and get tips for improving your chances at next year's competition |  | |
The third annual British Underwater Image Festival (BUIF) saw more than 1,300 entries sent in by underwater photographers and film-makers from 30 different countries. Entrants competed in seven categories in the stills photography competition and three categories in the videography section, with thousands of pounds worth of prizes available to the winners.
Winners were announced at the award ceremony and champagne reception hosted by underwater photographer Alex Mustard on Saturday 15 March during the Go Diving! show at the Birmingham NEC.
The stills photography section was judged by award-winning photographer Mustard, co-founder of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP) Colin Doeg, DIVE's editor Simon Rogerson and celebrated British photographer Charles Hood. The DVD section was judged by BBC natural history film-maker Peter Scoones, Rogerson and Colin Doeg.
In the stills photography section, American underwater photographer Steven Kovaks took first prize in the Apeks Portfolio section for his fish egg themed portfolio. The Suunto Open Category Award went to Ukrainian underwater photographer Andrey Nekrasov for his split shot of starfish taken in the White Sea. In the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer section, first prize went to Australian, Gary Brennand for his shot of a girl underwater.
The Scubapro Young Photographer Category was won by Briton, Neil Rosewarn for his shot of stingrays taken in the Caymans.
Fellow Brit Charles Erb won the Best British shot, sponsored by Suunto, for his picture of a nudibranch taken in Plymouth.
The public got a chance to vote for their favourite underwater images, with hundreds of votes cast at the show for the Canon Best Image of Show award. The vote saw Emma Critchley take first prize for her shot of a seal, which also caught the judges' eyes and was awarded third place in the Suunto Open category. Online voters also had their say for their favourite Digital Depot Hotshot of the Year, with Bill Bradley winning for the second year running for his image entitled 'sky fish'.
Thousands of visitors to the show enjoyed the many underwater films showcased in the BUIF theatre. The winning films covered a whole range of themes, from informative natural history films and celebration of underwater life to wrecks and personalities in diving.
Taking first place in the Mares Professional DVD category were British and French film-makers Anita and Guy Chaumette for their film, Beyond the Blue. Second place went to John McIntyre's film Go! Diving UK. Third place was awarded to Crispin Sadler for his film U Boat - Death trap, taken from the ITV History television series Deep Wreck Mysteries.
The BSAC Amateur category first prize went to Maggie Cowing for her stunning short film celebrating the Manta Rays of the Maldives.
The Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel Liveaboard category was won by Simon Spear for two very informative films, Porbeagles in Peril and Hubble Bubble, Sand and Rubble.
A WORD FROM THE JUDGES
DVDs by Simon Rogerson
This year's winners in the DVD section of the British Underwater Imaging Festival (BUIF) included films featuring humour, spectacular footage, special effects and documentary skills. Interestingly, the entrants were all very different divers - while some used rebreathers and state-of-the-art high-definition cameras, many entries were made using standard kit and affordable video systems.
In the Amateur section, the judges were impressed by David Peake's Sennen Shores, which had been filmed on a digital compact camera while snorkelling. We also felt that Andy Torbet's account of a bid to dive Britain's three highest lakes in 24 hours, Three Lakes Challenge was both humorous and inventive, though wanting for actual underwater footage. Both were commended.
Humour also featured in Ben Burville's In the Company of Seals (third place, Amateur), while special effects and narrative inventiveness won second for Gyula Somogyi of Hungary, with two Red Sea films - Ships of Darkness and Visions of the Oraculum. First place in this category went to BSAC national instructor Maggie Cowing for Mantasia, a brief but stunning document of a manta ray aggregation in the Maldives. All judges felt that Cowing's level of control with the camera while filming fast-moving subjects in a high-current environment was close to professional quality.
In the 'Liveaboard' category aimed at intermediate film-makers, Simon Spear stole the show with Porbeagles in Peril, a breakthrough film about the British porbeagle shark, including the first images of these sharks underwater off Cornwall. His other entry, Hubble, Bubble, Sand and Rubble showed equal dexterity in documenting small creatures and we decided to give them a joint first place. Edward Snijders' Sanganeb and Joanne Mahy's Bimini Undersea were both highly competent evocations of two classic diving locations, and were duly awarded second and third places respectively.
In the professional category, judge Peter Scoones was blown away by Beyond the Blue by Anita and Guy Chaumette, a popular choice for first place. Peter is the undisputed technological guru of underwater imaging, and was very impressed with the couple's success in using special lights to show how corals have a strange and beautiful ability to fluoresce in the sea.
This section was hotly contested, and the judges had a lengthy discussion about the placing. There was a commendation for Leandro Blanco's effects-driven One for All (another environmental short from the Spanish pilot), but its lack of narrative kept it off the winner's list. Third in this category was U-boat Deathtrap from the Deep Wreck Mysteries television series produced by Crispin Sadler, which featured amazing footage of deep wrecks off north Cornwall. Second place went to John McIntyre's Go Diving! DVD, a cheery vision of UK diving commissioned by (and available from) the BSAC.
All of these films were shown in a loop in the video room at the recent Outdoors Show at the Birmingham NEC, where they were seen by members of the public who stopped to marvel at the different visions of the underwater realm. As a judge, I would like to thank the sponsors (especially Canon - it was good to see a big camera manufacturer supporting underwater imaging) and everyone who entered - you all helped make this festival a major success.
Colin Doeg added that there was an improvement in the camera work this year. There was no excessive use of the zoom control and shots were held steady while the action was allowed to happen across the frame much more.
STILLS by Alex Mustard
In February I travelled up to the DIVE offices in Richmond to meet up with Colin Doeg, Charles Hood and Simon Rogerson - the judging panel for the British Underwater Image Festival. This year's competition again attracted well over 1300 prints entries providing stiff competition for the prizes valued at over £12,000.
Judging days are a lot of fun and they are also a sobering reminder of just how many snappers (to use DIVE lingo) there are out there taking cracking underwater images. Anyway, while the day's events are fresh in my mind I thought I'd try and jot down a few of my thoughts and pass on some tips on how to help turn your images into the winners next year.
The most important thing is to enter. You can't win the lottery without buying a ticket… and all that. The most common reaction I hear from photographers when looking at the winners of any competition is to comment “I have a much better shot than that at home”. Well, we can't give you first prize unless you enter! Entering BUIF is free - there really is no excuse.
The other important factor is to consider what the judges are looking for. Put simply, judges just want to choose the best images to represent the competition. Also, despite the very different photographic styles of the judges own photography, we usually agree fairly consistently about the winners (once the merits of various entries have been debated). Remember that during the judging day we will be looking at hundreds of very good images. The key factor for success is to choose something that grabs our attention and stands out from the crowd. You can test your own images at home by tiling 20 or so across your computer screen and seeing which immediately catch the eye.
Furthermore, all four judges are active and highly experienced underwater photographers, who see thousands of photos every week. Try and enter a type of image that we haven't seen before. A copy of a well known underwater photograph, a previous winner or even one of the judges own shots is likely to end up in the “seen it before” pile. Digital cameras have undoubtedly resulted in a massive improvement to the standard of the average underwater photograph. There were many images that the judges commented would have won competitions five or ten years ago, but these days we are looking for something extraordinary.
Another common mistake is to enter images that you are emotionally attached to. Your favourite image might be a fantastic memory of your best diving moment of the year, but it might not be a competition winner. We see lots of these. Dark grainy shark shots that probably accrued many minutes of deco stops to capture, or blurry dolphin shots when you snorkelled with dolphins with the wrong lens on. The best advice is to get friends or family to give you feedback on which photos they like to get an opinion that is independent of the diving experience.
A further piece of advice for compact shooters is to try and enter types of images that your system is good at taking. There are many types of underwater photograph that can be taken just as effectively with a digital compact camera as a digital SLR. There are even a few that the small size of the digital compact might be advantageous. These types of shots are most likely to impress the judges. Have a look at the winning compact images from this year's and last year's competitions for inspiration.
When trying to decide which images to enter it can help to consider how competitions are judged. Nearly all photographic competitions are judged by first looking through all the images and culling those that are not going to be winners - before a smaller selection is debated and discussed at length. The easiest reason for judges to reject a photo are technical imperfections. Poor focus, poor exposure, poor printing. Don't give us a reason to reject your shots. Have a look at Charles Erb's nudibranch image that won Best of British. Superb focus, lighting, use of colour, composition and printing. And it is only a sea slug.
It is also important to remember that the BUIF is a print competition. This means that your images need to be printed well. It is possible to produce great prints either with a home inkjet photo printer or using a professional printing company. It is also possible to produce lousy ones. The best advice is not to leave it until the last minute - get your prints done early and if they are not perfect you have time to redo them.
One of the factors that makes BUIF such as prestigious competition is that we judge images as prints. Many poor images can be cropped, tarted up and made to look good on a computer screen, but prints are much less forgiving and will show up poor shooting technique and overdoing Dr Photoshop, as Charles would say. If one of your photographs required lots of adjusting in the computer and you are not convinced by the final print quality, the judges are unlikely to be convinced as well.
I hope that these notes help you avoid some of the common pitfalls. Finally, I would like to thank the sponsors of the prints section of BUIF - Canon and Cameras Underwater as well as the companies who generously donated the prizes Suunto, PADI, Apex, Scubapro, Canon and Digital Depot. And, of course, to all the underwater photographers who entered the competition. Thank you for sharing your images with us, it really was a pleasure to see them all. Good luck with BUIF 2009.
Notes on images by Alex Mustard
Judge Alex Mustard has kindly spent a few minutes noting down some of his thoughts on the winning images from BUIF 2008. While Alex has tried to remember the thoughts of all the judges, these are his personal thoughts, provided for the benefit of winners and entrants and do not necessarily represent the official decision making process of the competition.
Suunto Open Category
1st - Andrey Nekrasov
Excellent treatment of relatively common subject matter. The stars, both above and below the water really complement each other and help the two halves work in unison. Orange and red stars look particularly good with blue of sky. The balancing of light in this image makes it very impressive from a technical stand point too.
2nd - Maksim Buchenkov
Highly original pool image. The texture that the bubbles create on the skin of the model is not something the judges had seen before. The makeup concept and directional lighting on the model are also innovative and commendable. Use of colour, red and white and textures very interesting. Stunning and innovative.
3rd - Emma Critchley
Simple, fantastic pose of a naturally endearing subject. Low viz conditions dealt with effectively to create soft, sympathetic lighting. We see a lot of images of seals and sealions and this one is pleasingly different.
Commended
Tony Baskyfield
There is more to underwater photography than what you can take on a Red Sea liveaboard trip as this shot shows. Original image and graphically strong composition. Split levels are immediately eye catching and make good competition shots. But most fail because the split level effect is a gimmick - ideally there should be a reason for the split with important elements of the image both above and below the surface. This shot certainly has this. Sadly this shot isn't as sharp as it could be below the surface, otherwise it would have placed higher.
Trevor Rees
Great diver encounter shot. Stoney Cove should be paying Trevor to use this image in their advertising! Wonderful encounter with an attractive subject. The judges guessed that the carp had been added later, but BUIF allows manipulated images, so this makes know difference. We also liked that the eye line of the diver is straight at the subject (which was added later). The judges would have preferred a model without a big DSLR camera, but this is a minor point. Also the bright weeds on the right are distracting.
Zac Macaulay
Wonderful advertising shot, taken for the National Lottery. Technically superb professional image. Concept is very focused on the commission, perhaps not as strong as a stand alone photograph as the idea is understandably contrived. The model looks very relaxed in the water, which apparently was not the case on the day - which makes the image even more impressing.
Steven Kovaks
Strong eye catching image with texture and detail that would make it stunning without the behaviour. And then there is a great capture of the cleaning behaviour shot. Generally I like behavioural shots to look more true to life - e.g. with a blue background to show that this is a daytime behaviour - but in this case the black background works superbly with the silver subject and the flash of colour from the wrasse.
PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Category
1st - Gary Brennand
Fantastic colours and textures. Great print. Really leaps out. Fantastic eye contact. Breaks the rules and works so well for it. Captures the moment perfectly. A moment we can all relate to.
2nd - Danny Van Belle
This is another image that is probably better on compact? The better depth of field of compact camera - more depth of field for a given subject magnification - helps this image. Lovely subject and colours. Not the most common of critters. Were Coleman shrimps named after Dr Mustard?!
3rd - Trevor Rees
Small compact camera allows photo really on eye level with critter. The low camera angle also enables the subject to be placed against a striking black background. An invertebrate with personality. Strong colours jump out from black.
Commended
Gary Brennand
'Turtle' Great subject, technically spot on. Eye catching image. Beautiful reflection
Trevor Rees
'Cuttlefish' Fantastic image. Would have come higher - let down slightly by printing. Great behaviour, placed in context with wide angle, balanced light exposure. Background weed gives image depth.
Stuart Halewood
'Nudibranch' Looks like it is covered with fairy lights from a Christmas tree. Great use of black background. Seems to be turning slightly away from the camera, which lessens impact slightly.
Scubapro Young Category
1st - Neil Rosewarn
Fantastic formation and beautiful light. Great textures on the sand and a dynamic composition. Ray on left a strong focal point without dominating the image. Hard to get clean, lined up shots of these subjects. Top class.
2nd - Tobias Freidrich
Top photo of an exciting moment. Photographer kept calm and composed a clean, balanced image of a wonderful encounter. The spots of the whaleshark often mean that they are best photographed from above. Black and white highly suited to this subject matter.
3rd - Keri Wilk
Really emphasises the babies - which are the stars of this shot. In many of these shots the big eyes of the adult distract you from seeing the details of the little ones. Keri has shot from an angle that de-emphasises the eyes of the adult - allowing you to see the young in the mouth and even through the skin. Excellent behaviour, expertly captured.
Apeks Portfolio Category
BUIF judges all portfolios on their merits. Portfolios can be themed, balanced or eclectic. We are simply looking for a set of six excellent images. As always five stunners can be let down by one poor shot. This year all three are themed, but this is not necessarily a reflection of what we are looking for.
1st - Steven Kovaks
Themed behaviour portfolio showing a variety of mouth brooding fish - both cardinals and jawfish from around the world. The photographer has clearly been working towards this project for quite some time, collecting these images of these different species in comparable poses. All six images are of a similar high standard.
2nd - Charles Erb
Another from the UK. Nicely balanced portfolio of six wide angle images of divers, reefs and wrecks. Black and white effect certainly helped in providing coherence between all six images.
3rd - Dave Peake
Excellent portfolio all taken in Devon, while free diving. I was impressed by the conservation message and also that the six images work well together to tell the story of how the discarded gill-nets impacts on such a variety of life from fish to sharks to seabirds to crustaceans.
Suunto Best British Image of Show
Charles Erb
Who says UK waters are not colourful? The technical perfection of Charles Erb's image is stunning. Brilliant treatment of a great subject. The strengths of this image are many: the spot on focus and perfect depth of field as well as the dynamic, head on, pose. But for me it is the use of colours that really sets this one apart - with a range of hues that work together from a relatively narrow palette. Absolutely stunning.
Canon Best Image Of Show
Emma Critchley
Selected by public vote from all the images on display at the show. This image was the most popular receiving about 10% of the vote. The fact that the votes were split between so many images shows the strength in depth of the competition.
Simple, fantastic pose of a naturally endearing subject. Low viz conditions dealt with effectively to create soft, sympathetic lighting.
Here are the full list of winners and runners-up:
PRINT
Suunto Open Category Award
First: Andrey Nekrasov (UKR) wins a Suunto D9 with bracelet and transmitter, worth £1,150
Second: Maksim Buchenkov (RUS) wins a Suunto D9 with straps and transmitter, worth £1,120
Third: Emma Critchley (GBR) wins a Suunto D6, worth £470
Open Commended
Tony Baskeyfield (GBR)
Trevor Rees (GBR)
Zac Macaulay (GBR)
Steven Kovaks (USA)
PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Award
First: Gary Brennand (AUS) wins a £500 cheque from PADI
Second: Danny Van Belle (BEL) wins a £300 cheque from PADI
Third: Trevor Rees (GBT) wins a £200 cheque from PADI
Digtal Underwater Photographer Commended
Trevor Rees (GBR)
Gary Brennand (USA)
Stuart Halewood (USA)
Scubapro Young Photographer Award
First: Neil Rosewarn (GBR) wins a Scubapro Galileo Sol computer worth £869
Second: Tobias Friedrich (GER) wins a Scubapro Aladin Tec 2G computer worth £395
Third: Keri Wilk (CAN) wins a Scubapro Aladin Prime computer worth £235
Apeks Portfolio Award
First: Steve Kovaks (USA) wins an XTX 200 regulator worth £448
Second: Charles Erb GBR) wins an XTX 50 regulator worth £349
Third: Dave Peake (GBR) wins an XTX 20 regulator worth £235
Suunto Best British Image of Show:
Charles Erb (GBR) wins a Suunto D9 with bracelet and transmitter, worth £1,150
The Canon Best Image of Show
(as voted by the public):
Emma Critchley (GBR) wins a Canon EOS D-SLR worth over £1000
Digital Depot Hotshots Image of the Year
(as voted by the public online at www.divemagazine.co.uk):
Bill Bradley (UK) wins an Olympus 760 bundle, £199
DVD
Mares Professional DVD Award
First: Beyond the Blue by Anita and Guy Chaumette (GBR/FRA) Proton Ice Extreme regulator and octopus and a Puck Mission 2 console, worth £620
Second: Go! Diving UK by John McIntyre (GBR) wins Prestige 12 regulator and octopus and Mission 2D console, worth £390
Third: U Boat - Death Trap by Crispin Sadler (GBR) Nemo Excel computer with IRIS interface, worth £370
Mares Professional DVD Commended
One For All by Leandro Blanco (ESP)
Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel Liveaboard DVD Award
First: Porbeagles in Peril and Hubble Bubble, Sand and Rubble by Simon Spear (UK) wins Northern Egyptian Red Sea liveaboard trip on Whirlwind, worth, £1,050
Second: Sanganeb by Edward Snijders (NED) wins a week at Sharm El Sheikh based Camel Dive Club with five days' diving, worth £645
Third: Bimini Undersea by Joanne Mahy (GBR) wins £250 Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel vouchers
The BSAC Amateur DVD Award
First: Mantasia by Maggie Cowing (GBR) wins a £500 cheque from BSAC
Ships of Darkness and Visions of the Oraculam by Gyula Somogyi (GBR) wins a £300 cheque from BSAC
Third: In the company of seals by Ben Burville (UK) wins a £200 cheque from BSAC
Amateur DVD Commended
Sennen Shores by Dave Peake (GBR)
Three Lakes Challenge by Andy Torbet (GBR)
Click on image to view full size.
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