We are happy to announce that the winner of the RSDS Photo Competition for March 2024 has been chosen. Congratulations to Ryan Stalker with his photo "Show Off".
Ryan wins a free stay at the RSDS village of his choice. You can view the winning photo, and all the March 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 Ryan, and good luck to all those participating in the coming months!
From Paul Duxfield, our competition judge:
Simplicity, was the main theme that stood out this month.
The very first shot I looked at was an almost perfect Eagle Ray silhouette, its long tail bisecting the image, with the sun below.
Unfortunately the sun was quite blown out which tends to detract from the overall effect.
Hard to get right, pictures with the sun in often have a tendency to exceed the dynamic range of a digital sensor, unless you shoot them low, or block them with the subject resulting in getting dramatic beams, or editing them carefully which is hard to get right, so i’m sorry Lieve: close but not quite close enough.
Sharon Austin’s Clownfish Eggs, is an incredible capture also, showing off the Minion-like baby clownfish encased in the transparent egg cases.
Christine Osten’s Whip Coral Goby is also a fabulous macro capture but I feel like it suffers from simple bad timing as a Whip Coral Goby shot won the competition very recently, I also think that whilst excellent, in composition, and technical execution, and is the sort of pic that takes a bit of time to shoot, it isn't quite as well executed as my favourite from this months crop.
Now, it’s quite a brave photographer that takes a chance on what at first would seem to be a simple Fish ID picture, however for those that know the patience and persistence required in pulling off this shot successfully deserves some kudos.
This alone though shouldn't be enough for the shot to win, just because it requires patience, as the previous two macro shots by Sharon and Christine had these attributes also.
This shot though is elevated beyond simple fish ID in that it also has character and personality running through it, alongside the obvious technical skills required to isolate it, and give it an inky black background, whilst being razor sharp too.
So well done Ryan Stalker you’ve bagged the top spot this month with your wonderful image of a lone male Anthias.
Don't forget that Duxy's FotoFest kicks of at Marsa Nakari on 15th June - more details can be found
here.
