NEWSLETTER March 2006

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2006

FORTHCOMING PROGRAMME

APRIL 11th: Dr Alex Mustard presentation - Shooting Fish

COMPETITION PROGRAMME

APRIL: Macro

MAY: British

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

April Meeting

The Meeting (start time 2000hrs) will be at our normal venue (click here for how to find us).

Please try and be on time as we have to keep the main doors locked while we are using the building. However, there is an intercom entry system so you should be able to get in if you are running late.

The main feature of the night is a presentation by Dr Alex Mustard on the theme of 'Shooting Fish' and it will include some shark pictures from his recent trip to the Bahamas. This will, no doubt, be an excellent presentation with lots of stunning images as well as advice on getting the best from what is the favourite subject for most underwater photographers.

The monthly competition theme is 'Macro' so we should all have something! Send digital files to Bob Anthony ( anthonyrez30@tiscali.co.uk ) or bring your slides on the night (let Bob know if you will require a slide projector and screen).

There may also be a BBC film crew in attendance as Alan and Heather are featuring in a planned documentary about people who make their living from the sea.

RECENT EVENTS

March Meeting

Maldives Camera Tests - Heather Hammond

Alan James and Heather Hammond visited the Maldives in January and took with them a couple of cameras to put through their paces: A Nikon D50 in a Sea & Sea housing and a Sea & Sea Dx750g.

Based on the island of Angaga, Alan and Heather were given pretty much a free reign by the German run dive centre and this contributed a good deal to the enjoyment of the visit. The island is one of those reached by seaplane and this provided a good photo opportunity:

Unfortunately, the visibility was unseasonably poor - a factor noted by another of our members who had been in the Maldives a week earlier. However, despite the poor visibility, Alan and Heather captured some excellent images and learned a good deal about the two different camera systems. There was a full moon during their visit and this appeared to create a great deal of activity on the reef: dives at dusk were very busy affairs with lots of fish engaged in mating displays or competing for females (see Monthly Competition below for shot of fighting parrotfish). Particularly unusual was a large shoal of remora, numbering in their hundreds, which were very inquisitive but spent much of the time just lying on the sand:

The Nikon D50 proved as capable as any of the Nikon digital SLRs, although the small size of the housing proved a bonus when taking macro shots in confined spaces. This moray shot could not have been taken with a larger outfit:

The Sea & Sea Dx750g is the 'entry' model in the Sea & Sea compact range and is pretty much an auto everything camera. Heather was able to learn how to get the best out of using this camera underwater and achieved some remarkable images which were full of detail:

What Heather learned is included in the User Guide which she prepares for all the compact outfits sold by them.

This was a very enjoyable presentation and the images displayed proved that you do not need the very top of the range cameras and housings to get great results.

Image of the Year

The winning images from our 2005 Monthly Competitions had been sent to Charles Hood for judging with the following result:

First place went to Alan James with his seal pup from the Scillies:

Second place went to Rob Barker with his eagle ray:

Third place also went to Rob Barker with this octopus :

Finally, Fourth place went to Arthur Kingdon with this shot of a sweetlips and cleaner:

Alan was presented with the winner's trophy by David Stephens, the previous year's winner.

Annual Print Competition

The Annual Print Competition, whereby each member can enter one print in each of the Overseas or the British categories, saw a fair number of entries. Judged on the night by those present, the results were as follows:

Overseas:

Arthur Kingdon - Lionfish Reflection 89 points
Alan James - Fighting Parrotfish 79 points
Pam Murphy - Nudibranch 54 points

Arthur took the above shot during a night dive at Neweiba, where many lionfish are attracted by the lights on the hotel jetty.

British:

Arthur Kingdon - Tompot Blenny 113 points
Trevor Rees - Firework Anemone 93 points
Sally Sharrock - Squat Lobster 81 points

The above shot is of a tompot blenny who lives in a bit of scaffold pipe underneath Swanage pier.

By taking first place in each of the two categories, there was no doubt as to who was the overall winner and Arthur received the trophy for 2006.

Monthly Competition

The theme this month was 'Fish' so there were no excuses for not entering a shot. The voting was well spread out but the most popular image was a shot By Alan James taken during his recent trip to the Maldives:

In equal second place were Alan James's great white and Arthur Kingdon's anthias:

It was a good night for Alan as he also came equal third with another shot from the Maldives - a rather striking shot of a needlenose with surface reflection:

Tying with Alan were Bob Anthony and Sally Sharrock. Another surface reflection shot by Bob and a fine looking angler fish by Sally.

MISCELLANEOUS

New Website for Underwater Photographers

A new website, full of good stuff for underwater photographers, can be found at http://www.divephotoguide.com Check it out - it requires registration but could be very useful.

BSoUP Competitions

There is no excuse now for not entering the BSoUP competitions as they are now accepting entries via email. Also, our monthly competition programme mirrors and precedes that of BSoUP, so you can try out your images the month before. We have a great deal of talent within the group so why not give it a go? Let's show the London lot what we can do in the provinces! Check out www.bsoup.org for further details.

Arthur