39th International Underwater Photographic Competition Judges Comments

LOS ANGELES UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

The Judges Comments Concerning the Competition Images

The judges felt, in general, that the quality of photographic work in this competition is unparalleled. The number of entries exceeds most other contests in which they have had past involvement.

Because of the level of work, technical deficiencies were cause for immediate downgrade of images including over-exposure, fuzzy focus, and depth of field where important, backscatter, positioning of subject, etc. The primary positive element for images to make the final cut was IMPACT! Something about the photo needs to leap out to catch the judges' attention. They added that completely static subjects aren't as strong as subjects exhibiting movement (such as fish schools). When using models, they suggest that the model must add a creative element and not just be 'stuck' there. Unless the model is shown using the camera, then they should not be holding one, as it is distracting to have photo equipment dangling from the models arm. They felt that model positioning was fairly good in this years' competition. Overall, judges this year felt that having a model in the pictures was less important than last year's judges indicated. Finally, this year the judges placed one image over another if the subject was moving and subsequently more difficult to shoot or if it was a common subject shot in an uncommon manner. However, the rarity of the species rarely figured into their decision as they felt that criteria too subjective.

The judges felt that although the West Coast Cold Water entries were impressive overall, it could include more wide-angle work. They also mentioned that judging the Creative Freestyle category was the most subjective as nearly anything goes.

In the video competition, the judge recommended making sure the shooting lens is clean, as lens particles and dirt are particularly obvious. Overall, the judge felt there were some great videos submitted including some rarely-before seen behavior footage and that music adds a lot, especially if synched to the action. To capture the viewers' attention it is recommended that you put your best effort into the start of the video and the finish. Certain entries had poor starting sequences for what was great footage and were marked down because of that. Others had poor ending sequences, for example five minutes was approaching and the viewer got the feeling of being rushed into a finish. A complete storyline start to finish is important.

Competition in the Aquatic Related division was particularly intense and the judges felt some of the images were worthy of National Geographic. This year, they were particularly drawn to landscapes. However, tipped horizons don't work! The horizon must be level. In addition to the above-mentioned comments, judges recommend that in order to improve a contestant's chance they should dive and shoot even more, use larger prints (in all categories but particularly Digital), better matting and better quality duplicate slides in their entries. In addition to larger prints, they recommended that certain images could be cropped in a variety of dimensions to increase impact. Also, they suggest placing only the best shot from a dive location/subject in the contest because if they see multiple shots from what is obviously the same dive (whether by the same photographer or a multitude of photographers), they discount the importance of the image.

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