TO GALLERY

Shades of Colour is an underwater photo competition which we've been running for years in Dive Pacific magazine. Enter and you might have your image published in the magazine, as well as win Sea Tech vouchers!

The New Zealand Underwater Association (NZUA) are creating a new look for Dive New Zealand / Dive Pacific magazine as a website. We will also post results here.

All images are copyright the photographer and used by permission. Please contact us if you wish to use any of these images and we can put you in touch with them.

Our competition schedule can be found here. We are currently taking entries for the next comp.

The skills and the photographer’s eye continue to delight!

By Dave Moran

Once again, we received an amazing assortment of images to judge.

It is just wonderful to see what photographers are trying to do.

From the beginner who is not afraid to enter his or her maybe first underwater photographic competition to the more skilled, who all had to start out somewhere, just like our new entrants.

We feel that breaking the categories into those who are using a system where they can change lenses, and those using Point-n Shoot cameras makes things a little fairer perhaps! Although both systems these days can use sophisticated wet lenses to further widen the photographer’s window of opportunities to capture stunning images.

We congratulate our winners and ALL those who took the time and effort to enter this fun competition. Well done!

As always we look forward to receiving your personal masterpieces for the next competition. Closing date: Monday 9th December.

Summer is just around the corner – ENJOY your time in the water with your camera and the stunning marine life just below the surface of our oceans, rivers and lakes.

Notes

A note on prizes:

The prize vouchers are now split evenly between categories:

Interchangeable Lens Camera category winner	NZ$100 Sea Tech voucher
Interchangeable Lens Camera category highly commended	NZ$50 Sea Tech voucher
Point & Shoot Camera category winner	NZ$100 Sea Tech voucher
Point & Shoot Camera category highly commended	NZ$50 Sea Tech voucher

A note on watermarks:

We know that some of your would be more comfortable with us displaying watermarked version of your pics on our site. That's completely understandable. We're happy to comply with this - but please, send us two versions: one without a watermark for judging (we like it to be anonymous). Please keep watermarks subtle.

This Issue's Winners:

Interchangeable Lens (IL) Camera Category Winner:

Tony Burt, New Zealand. 'Mandarin dance.' Anilao, Philippines. Sony A1, Nauticam NA-A1 Housing, 90mm Macro Lens, Sea&Sea YS-D3 strobe - ISO 100, F14, 1/200.

Congratulations, Tony.

Tony was enjoying his quest to master macro photography in Anilao which is located 124km south of Manila, Philippines when he snapped this impressive image of a couple of Mandarinfish in their mating dance.

Judges' Comments

To try and get this image, well lit, framed, and in focus, as many of you will know, is extremely difficult, as the subjects are moving so fast!

You have to have everything set up before the dancing begins!

Tony had fitted a 90mm lens to his Sony A1 camera in a Nauticam housing.

A quick Google search will advise this image is one of the most challenging you will ever take.

The elusive Mandarinfish generally mate almost every night in select months at sunset. Rising out of the coral reef for a mere second or two before releasing their eggs and disappearing back into the coral.

This image delivers:

The wow factor due to sheer difficulty in getting even an adequate image of this mating dance
Excellent example of using FAST autofocus in low light, which is critical for any chance of achieving a pin-sharp image
Good use of the back button focus
Well-framed image of this fast interaction
Excellent strobe lighting.

Well done, Tony! Tony receives a Sea Tech Gift Voucher for NZ$100.00

IL Camera Highly Commended:

David Haintz, Victoria, Australia. 'Interaction.' Rye, Victoria, Australia. Canon 5D Mk II, Nimar Housing, 16-35mm lens, Video Lighting - ISO 320, F7.1, 1/250.

Congratulations, David Haintz.

David was diving at Rye, a very popular a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula near the southern tip of Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, Australia, when he had this wonderful interaction with this inquisitive octopus.

It’s interesting that the octopus decided to check out David’s two ungloved fingers!

Judges' Comments

This image delivers:

An interesting natural history story of diver and an octopus
Well-framed image focusing on this interaction
The video light David used has covered the subject matter well
Sharp focus.

Well done, David. David receives a Sea Tech Gift Voucher for NZ$50.

Point & Shoot Camera Category Winner:

Judy Ormandy, Wellington, New Zealand. 'Regan & Jellyfish.' Princess Bay, Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand. Olympus TG-6, Nauticam NA-TG6 housing, WWL-C, video lights - ISO 100, F2.8, 1/320.

Congratulations, Judy Ormandy, New Zealand.

Judy and her trusted Olympus (OM System) TG-6 camera were exploring the marine life in the Princess Bay, Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington, where in the shallows she came upon a many-ribbed jellyfish.

Judges' Comments

This image delivers:

An interesting natural history story of diver observing a jellyfish. It’s amazing what you can find living comfortably with a jellyfish!
Well-framed image with the prime subject, the jellyfish in the foreground, and the observing dry-suited diver in the background.
The use of Nauticam’s WWL-C wet lens has definitely allowed Judy to be very close to the subjects and still achieve a wide field of view.
Focus good.
The video light used has covered the subject matter fairly well. Great that the diver’s eyes can be seen behind his mask. Use of a strobe would have intensified the colours and allowed a higher f-stop than 2.8, giving a greater depth of field in sharp focus.

Nice work, Judy! Judy receives a Sea Tech Gift Voucher for NZ$100

Point & Shoot Camera Highly Commended:

Sarah Ford, New Zealand. 'Pygmy Filefish.' Walindi, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Sealife DC2000 - ISO 200, F8, 1/100.

Congratulations, Sarah Ford, New Zealand.

Sarah was holidaying in the tropical waters of Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia when her eagle eye spotted this 3cm long Banded Tozeuma Shrimp trying to match the shape and colour of its host. They feed on algae, parasites and plankton.

Judges' Comments

This image delivers:

An image that has an artistic appeal as if it was created with an artists pen not a camera lens!
Post-production has been used to bring out just the image that Sarah had in her mind’s eye: Sarah blackened the background with her iPad pencil. She then reduced the grain and noise in Lightroom.
Focus good
Lighting perfect
It has originality! You could print it out, hang it on a wall and a lot of people would not realise it was taken underwater! It just looks artistic.

Well done, Sarah. Sarah receives a Sea Tech Gift Voucher for NZ$50.00