We are happy to announce that the winner of the RSDS Photo Competition for November 2023 has been chosen. Congratulations to George Turner with his photo "Feast".
George wins a free stay at the RSDS village of his choice. You can view the winning photo, and all the November 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 George, and good luck to all those participating in the coming months!
From Paul Duxfield, our competition judge:
Looking at these pics and talking about them is helping to transport me back to the Red Sea where I’ve just come back from for the last time this year. I’ve been very lucky and spent quite a bit of time at Marsa Shagra in 2023 both diving and snorkelling, so fresh memories of the warm, clear water and the pictures you’ve entered into the competition for November are helping to cheer me up on a cold and very wet Yorkshire winters day, which i'm witnessing from the kitchen table window where I’m writing this. As is more usual these days we seem to be getting a more diverse set of shots and the quality standards are rising.
I’m also pleased to see some less familiar names having a go and entering too. In the dive shade at Shagra where I’ve been lurking recently I’ve had a couple of conversations with people who were just going in or returning from the water, that were armed with a variety of cameras. And being nosy I’ve enquired about their photography and asked if they entered the competition at all.
Unfortunately quite a few say something to the effect of “oh I’d never enter the competition, I’m not that serious” or “my pictures aren't good enough from my compact or GoPro” and I urge them to have a go.
It’s not always about the equipment but more about framing and composition.
If the shot is composed well in good available light, which is something you’ve got in abundance in the Red Sea, then you can take very good pictures regardless of the kit you're using, and if I think someone has worked hard, and thought about the shot then I really don't care what it’s been shot on.
I personally have had a bit of an epiphany this last 18 months shooting on GoPros, not just video but stills too, and they're very capable and I’ve learnt how to squeeze the best from them.
Something I’m going to be sharing with people on my upcoming workshops.
Anyway rant over, but please take heed and have a go and enter the competition you never know.
I was immediately drawn, like i’m sure a lot of you were, to the remarkable picture of a very tiny crab and an even tinier nudibranch by Giulia Meru, who at the very least has extraordinary eyesight! I even think I can see the familiar spiral pattern of the nudibranchs eggs above it, but I may be mistaken, we're working at such high magnification here.
I know that these things pictured are only millimetres in size, and seeing two interesting creatures side by side like this is always going to get positive feedback. And it did as it was very highly ranked in the public vote, however whilst it was a very close runner for the top spot, I’m afraid it wasn't my favourite this month. It’s a remarkable spot and in focus and correctly exposed but I think that just because something is unusual that doesn't guarantee it first place, so well done Giulia great shot but it hasn't clinched first place this month.
I had similar feelings about Ahmed Dakroury’s split shot of a turtle just below the surface, in the sense of just because it’s out of the ordinary and not the easiest type of shot to pull off it needed more than just technical expertise to get it in with a chance of running, so good shot but not quite there.
Those shots that I thought had more personality shining through were the ones I thought deserved the recognition.
Gennady Elfimov and Paul Pettitt’s snake eel and clownfish respectively in balled anemone were very good and also Anders Larsson’s Long Nosed Hawkfish.
Dirk Jan Mattaar had a good wide angle shot of the schooling Barracudas which have been residents all summer at the mouth of the Marsa at Shagra.
Egi's shot of a chromodoris, shot on the diagonal with the horns in focus and the rest a lovely colourful blur, was well executed but unfortunately isn't shot in the Red Sea so isn't an eligible winner.
So the winner this month is George Turner’s shot of a crab eating a fish, sideways on, a common creature but pictured with personality.
Very well done and commiserations to the others, a difficult judging month.
Don't forget Duxy's workshop in June 2024 at Marsa Nakari. Everyone is welcome, no matter what camera you have, but places are limited so book your place in advance. More information about the workshop is available here.
