We are happy to announce that the winner of the RSDS Photo Competition for October 2024 has been chosen. Congratulations to Marga Maas with her photo "Dreams come truth".
Marga wins a free stay at the RSDS village of her choice. You can view the winning photo, and all the October participants here.
If you would like a chance to win, simply register on our website and upload your photos from our competition page. Each day we choose a 'photo of the day' from the selection of entries. Anyone can register on our website and vote on photos entered into the competition. At the end of the month our Photo Pro and photography workshop leader, Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield, looks at the votes and chooses a winner from the highest scoring photos. Full terms and conditions and prize details are available here.
Congratulations again to Marga, and good luck to all those participating in the coming months!
From Paul Duxfield, our competition judge:
Some great fish portraiture on display this month. And also along with some carefully crafted wide angle scenes I’ve once more got my work cut out.
There was a very striking fish portrait that caught my eye from the off, because it was a subject I don’t usually see in isolation such is its behaviour, but first I’ll mention the shots that I think were close..
We’ve got a lovely BlackTip Reef Shark cruising over the reef by Ewilina Klimaszewska and I’d hazard a guess that this juvenile was shot on the house reef at Marsa Shagra as there’s been a lot of baby shark activities here this last year which is very encouraging. Lovely shot illuminated by the sunbeams.
I also thought that Paul Eijkemans pair of Nudibranchs mating a great portrait of behaviour, well lit in a moody style focussing the attention on the hermaphrodite lovers.
Rudolf Gonda’s Barracuda lurking under a jetty is worth note just because highly reflective fish like this are always a challenge to light, and it’s nicely framed on the diagonal, and Ruth Wanger’s head on shot of a Batfish looking straight down the lens is a great example of a classic fish portrait.
The wide angle shot which took my attention and ultimately was the one vying for position as my favourite this month was Laszlo Maraczi’s picture of a pair of Batfish beautifully posed beneath an overhanging reef, with the photographer clearly framing to include the surface details of the jetty above the dive site, cracking shot. So Laszlo’s main competition this week scored highly in my opinion as it was something out of the ordinary, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, this alone isn’t enough to secure a win.
The shot also has to be nicely exposed, focussed and above all framed well, and so Marga Maas’s shot of a lone Remora ticked all of these boxes for me. It’s super sharp, framed well and contrasts nicely against the blue toned background. I love it and whilst Laszlo’s Batfish pair is really great I think that this one just edges it.
Well done to everyone else, keep up the good work and keep sending those entries in, and maybe you’d like to join our Fotofest next year in June? It’s quickly filling up and we’re limiting the spaces to give everyone the best experience.
Duxy has been running photo workshops in Marsa Shagra & Marsa Nakari for the few years. These workshops are designed for camera users of all experience levels, with any type of underwater camera.
