News - March 2010

Please send items for the News to Brian Pitkin

March BSoUP Meeting
Website of the Week - Paul Flandinette
MCS (UK) South East
The end of the line
How to win underwater photo competitions
BSoUP / DIVER Print Competition Update
Best Underwater Point & Shoot Cameras

SUPS - Next meeting
BUPG - Next meeting
Website of the Week - Tamsin Eyles
London International Dive Show
British Underwater Image Festival 2010
Other News
Magazine Downloads

Next BSoUP Meeting

The next BSoUP meeting takes place on Wednesday, 17th March 2010 at 7.30 for 8.00 p.m. at our usual venue the Holland Club, Imperial College, S. Kensington, London. Directions.

Main Event: An evening with John Boyle, camerman, script writer and producer Shark Bay films.

John established Shark Bay films 20 years ago as an underwater film production company and they have produced over 20 underwater documentary films that have sold to television companies world-wide and have won multiple international awards. 

Over the past decade the company has diversified in to many different fields and they have an extremely wide ranging corporate clientele, both in the UK and world-wide. All their filming and editing are HD. Their harbour side studio in West Cornwall is equipped with two HD editing suites plus full DVD authoring facilities.
 
John will be giving a frank talk about life as an underwater film maker, showing clips that he feels are the highlights of that 20 year career and also giving a sneak preview of his two newest films .- "Freaks of the Sea" - commissioned by National Geographic and to be screened in full at LIDS as a world premiere - and "Shark Attack Britain" which is a collaboration with Richard Pierce and is still in production.

Annual Event: Theme Portfolio Competition. The competition is now closed. BSoUP members only may preview the entries at Competition Slideshow, but you will be asked to login if you haven't already done so this session.

If you have forgotten your password then click here. Enter your e-mail address and select 'Forgotten your password' and 'Submit' and you should get an auto e-mail message reminding you of your password. Once you have logged in sucessfully you can change your password and other details by clicking 'Edit my details' on the Forum page.

The results of the Theme Portfolio Competition will be announced at the meeting, but not on the website until the end of the month.

Website of the Week - Paul Flandinette

Each week we are highlighting a BSoUP members website. This week's choice in Paul Flandinette Photography.

"In 2005 I re-discovered underwater stills photography after a long break when my old film camera system and I got 'seperated' on a dive.  It wasn't until I realised how liberating digital photography was that I decided to return to underwater photography."

"Nowadays, I’m increasingly spending my time in the Far East with my stills camera, dive gear.... and very patient wife and diving partner Gill."

For further information please visit www.paulflandinette.com/

Marine Conservation Society (UK) South East - website updated

Our seas are under immense pressure: too many fish are being taken out, too much rubbish is being thrown in and too little is being done to protect our precious marine wildlife and vital fish stocks.

The MCS (UK) South East is part of the National organisation, the Marine Conservation Society and plays its part in the Society's national campaigns as well as having activities of its own.

MCS (UK) South East have recently revamped their website (right)

Meetings of the MCS (UK) South East are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30 for 8pm, in the function room at the Holland Club,

Imperial College (also BSoUP's venue), which is well served by public transport, being near South Kensington Underground Station and several bus routes. You can park at the college, but free parking can be found outside the campus.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 9th March when Kat Stevenson from MCS Head Office will update the group with progress on the new UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill.

The end of the line - Imagine a world without fish

The end of the line, the first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing, was shown on Channel 4 TV last night. As underwater photographers we should all be especially concerned and do what we can.

Ask before you buy: only eat sustainable seafood.

Tell politicians: respect the science, cut the fishing fleet.

Join the campaign for marine protected areas and responsible fishing.

To read more, join the campaign, watch trailers or buy the DVD please visit http://endoftheline.com/

How to win underwater photo competitions

Article and advice from Alex Mustard

DIVE Magazine have posted an article online by BSoUP Member Dr Alex Mustard on ‘How to win underwater photo competitions’. 

According to Alex “I feel as if I am in quite an unusual position at the moment, as I sit on both sides of the fence. I judge a lot of major competitions each year, but unlike nearly all the folks I judge with, I also still enter photo competitions (obviously not the same ones - that would be too easy). I tried to write the article from both perspectives.”

While it is written for the upcoming BUIF competition, it can be considered generic for most underwater photography competitions.  A great read for all those looking to submit photos throughout 2010.

To read the article please visit www.divemagazine.co.uk/

BSoUP / DIVER Print Competition Update

A total of only 106 prints were received from 36 photographers (compared to 159 prints in 2009). The best 80 prints were preselected last Saturday 27th March by a panel comprising JP Trenque (BSoUP Chairman), Linda Pitkin (award-winning underwater photographer and author) and Peter Ladell (award-winning underwater photographer). The panel was chaired by Brian Pitkin (BSoUP President and webmaster).

The pre-selected prints have been passed to George Lanham at DIVER Magazine for mounting ready for the display at LIDS 2010, where the public will be invited to vote for their favourite prints in each of four categories.

British & Irish (Non Advanced) - the winner receives a voucher for £250 courtesy of Calumet Photographic

Overseas (Non Advanced) - the winner receives a voucher for £250 courtesy of Cameras Underwater.

British & Irish (Advanced) - the winner receives a voucher for £250 courtesy of Oceanic

Overseas (Advanced) - the winner receives a voucher for £250 courtesy of Mike’s Dive Store

The Non-advanced categories are for photographers who have never won a national or international competition. The Advanced categories are for photographers who have previously won a national or international competition.

The winner of each category will also receive a copy of The Underwater Photographer (4th edition. 2010) by Martin Edge published by Focal Press and an annual pass for entry to any UK Sealife Aquarium.

The runner-up in each category will receive a copy of Ultimate Diving Adventures by Len Deeley and Karen Gargani published by Wiley Nautical

If you are attending the Dive Show please visit the display next to the BSoUP stand and vote.

The overall winner of the Grand Prize of a week's holiday in the Red Sea courtesy of Oonasdivers will be judged on on Sunday 28th March at the Dive Show by a panel of judges comprising award-winning underwater photographers and authors Martin Edge and Mark Webster, (if not delayed on his return to the UK), DIVER's editor-in-chief Nigel Eaton and Travel Speialist Emma Wright (Ooonasdivers) The panel will be chaired by Brian Pitkin (BSoUP President and webmaster).

The Wildlife Trusts will also choose the best British print to support their marine conservation activities throughout the UK. The winner will receive a years’ free membership to their local Wildlife Trust.

The awards ceremony takes place at the BSoUP Meeting on Wednesday 21st April at the Holland Club, Imperial College, South Kensington, London, SW7 5BD.

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Best Underwater Point & Shoot Cameras for 2010

Our friends Berkley White and Jim Decker at Backscatter have tested hundreds of point & shoot cameras to find the best match between pocket-size portability, price, and the goals of an aspiring underwater photographer.

As in 2009, the Backscatter team took ten steps back and examined the hundreds of underwater point & shoot camera options with fresh eyes. They focused a great deal of attention on the lowest priced and smallest sized cameras as their goal was to find a high quality camera that fits in a pocket, will survive a beach party, and can produce great images on an afterwork dive.

They gave cameras a nod for their sex appeal. A sexy camera is fun to hold, fun to use, and more likely to get slipped into a pocket for a night on the town. They found themselves selves giving some cameras a second chance, but had to vote them off the island due to poor underwater performance, or otherwise not meeting the needs of an aspiring underwater photographer.

Read more at www.backscatter.com/

Stevenage Underwater Photographic Society

Next Meeting - Tuesday 9th March 2010

The Stevenage Underwater Photographic Society (SUPS) meets every 2nd Tuesday of each month from 8pm at the Stevenage Arts Guild, Community Arts Centre, Roaring Meg, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK (map).

Focus-on: 'Diagonals'

Annual Photographic Competition

For further details please visit www.sups-online.com/meetings.php

Bristol Underwater Photography Group

Next Meeting - Tuesday 9th March, 2010

The Meeting (start time 20.00hrs) will be at the normal venue - The Casson Centre, Rodway Road, Patchway, BS34 5DQ (map)  

Monthly Competition - Monochrome
HMS Manchester: Revisited - Chris Simons
Back to Basics - Exposure - Arthur Kingdon
Foto Forum - Movement - Arthur Kingdon

For further details of the meeting please visit www.bupg.co.uk/

Website of the Week - Tamsin Eyles

Each week we are highlighting a BSoUP Member's website.

This week's choice is Tamsin Eyles. Her website includes galleries of her work from 2005 to the present and her journals from 2006 to the present.

To view Tamsin's images please visit her website at www.teup.co.uk/

If you are a BSoUP member and your website is not included on the BSoUP member's websites page or you have changed your web address, please send the URL of your site to the BSoUP Membership Secretary, Mike Russell.

London International Dive Show (LIDS 2010)

London International Dive Show

Saturday/Sunday 27th-28th March at ExCel in Lonodn Docklands

LIDS 2010 is the most image-conscious Dive Show yet.

A new departure is that the Visions in the Sea Underwater Photography Show takes place at LIDS this year.Presenters of this show within a show include well-known exponents such as Martin Edge (talking about subject selection) and Mark Webster, Martyn Guess, videographer Jeff Goodman, and Steve Mawle of Light & Motion Industries. See Programme for further details.

Of course, the Visions crew will have friendly competition from the existing Digital Clinic, where Photoshop wiz Saeed Rashid and Paul Duxfield will bring their combined expertise to bear on your frequently asked questions.

And don’t forget that the British Society of Underwater Photographers’ stand is another LIDS hotspot for one-to-one advice. While there, view the gallery of contenders in the latest BSoUP Prints Competition, and participate by voting for the four category winners and runners-up.

The other main photo display at LIDS  2010 is from the most recent Sharks In Focus contest, organised by the Shark Trust and DIVER. If you’re into your photography, you can’t miss LIDS! For further details please visit www.diveshows.co.uk/.

British Underwater Image Festival 2010

Deadline 20th March 2010

Thousands of pounds worth of prizes will be up for grabs in seven stills categories and three film categories. Last year, BUIF received more than 1,000 entries from photographers in more than 20 countries around the world.

Award-winning underwater photographer Alex Mustard, DIVE's editor Simon Rogerson, co-founder of the British Society of Underwater Photographers Colin Doeg and celebrated British photographer Charles Hood, will judge the stills competition.

The films will be judged by BBC natural history film-maker Peter Scoones, Simon Rogerson and Colin Doeg.

For further details please visit www.divemagazine.co.uk. To enter download an entry form