We are happy to announce that the winner of the RSDS Photo Competition for May 2021 has been chosen. Congratulations to Stefan Beskow with his photo “Habili Nakari“!
Stefan wins a free stay at the RSDS village of his choice. You can view the winning photo, and all the May 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 Stefan, and good luck to all those participating in 2021!
From Paul Duxfield, our competition judge:
There were two stand out pictures for me in May’s competition entries.
But as usual before we get to them I’d like to mention some of the other close contenders, that caught my attention.
Pamela Fischer’s beautiful macro shot of a chromodoris, is well executed and stands out well against an inky black background.
Very colourful and the sort of shot that is a crowd pleaser amongst divers and underwater photographers.
Pamela clearly is developing a style which is unique to her as she has another equally simple and colourful composition of a Seastar in this months competition too.
Christopher Jays clownfish pair against a backdrop of the sun at the surface is equally colourful and a great composition as well.
However the two that made my final choice both feature a diver posed against or behind a strong colourful foreground subject.
One is a carefully posed shot at one of my favourite photogenic reefs Habiii Nakari, with the divers torch illuminating a small patch of the hanging red soft corals that festoon this reef with
a glory of colour and vibrancy.
The strobe has been well balanced to enable the viewer to clearly see the colours in the soft coral hanging down the wall of the Habili.
The other front runner is similar composition of diver with torch by Laszlo Maraczi, this time framed in the landscape to match the shocking red of the strobe lit group of Big Eyes or Priacanthus in the immediate foreground of the shot.
in this case though the diver is much more in silhouette and just a tiny bit dark but I love the drama in it, but ultimately the Habili Nakari shot just clinches it for me with this difficult choice.
So well done to Stefan Beskow for this shot that is the sort of shot that could easily grace a magazine cover because of its orientation and space for graphics and words.
Duxy has been running escorted photo workshops in Marsa Shagra for the last three years. These workshops are designed for camera users of all experience levels, with any type of underwater camera. Duxy is on hand to share tips and information, troubleshoot individual photography issues, escort early morning and late afternoon dives, and give talks on specific subjects. The 2021 Red Sea Photo Camp with Duxy and Alphamarine Photography has been postponed and will now be held in Marsa Shagra from November 30- December 11 2021 - full information.
