Press Release - SPLASH IN 2019 results
This year’s underwater photography competition winners have been announced. Snorkellers and divers from all over the Island submitted their best images to the judges. All the images had to be taken during the month of June and in Manx waters. The competition prizes were sponsored by major diving brand Scubapro and Discover Diving, the Island’s only professional dive centre. Judging took place during a recent visit to Discover Diving from the Scubapro Managing Director, Andy Shears. After seeing the range of images, Andy said “I’m so impressed with the quality of these images. Diving in Manx waters, within the Marine Protected Areas, is pretty special and these photos capture some of the amazing marine life so well. Scubapro are delighted to have sponsored the prizes for the Splash In competition.
The winners and runners up were announced during the recent Festival of the Sea weekend and received their prizes from Michelle Haywood of Discover Diving at a presentation evening. Michelle explained that “This is the second year of running the Splash In and the competition was hard fought. This has resulted in some great images which show marine life in fabulous detail. Divers are privileged to be able to visit these creatures in their natural environment, but images like these are important to show non divers who may not even realise some of these creatures exist.”
Winner of the category for Compact cameras was Kathryn Fowler with a close up shot of an edible crab. The judges admired the sharp focus and well framed shot. Runner up Anne Corkill submitted a picture of a Spider Crab, managing to capture the entire animal in the image.
The Night category proved particularly tricky to enter as the competition was held during the month with the shortest nights! However, that inspired divers to arrange late night dips in order to build up a portfolio of entries. The winner was Tim Nicholson who received an underwater fluorescent light to be used on future dives. Tim’s photograph of a Ling peeping out from some kelp was the best night shot. Runner up in this category was Kathryn Fowler with a close up of a lobster.
The Macro category is always a hotly contested area and this year it was Kathryn Fowler that took the honours with a close up shot of a Sea Hare. The judges particularly liked the focus on the face of this 15 cm long sea slug. The runner up was Tim Nicholson with another shot of sea slugs, a pair of mating Polycera faeroensis sea slugs. In the video category, the winner was Mike Wilson with a story of a dive with seals. The video showed the playful side of the seals as they nibbled divers fins.
Michelle thanked sponsors Scubapro for their support “We really appreciate the prizes provided by Scubapro, which have inspired our divers and snorkellers to capture some brilliant images, worthy of being published to a much wider audience. The recent extension of Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Man, and the growing appreciation of the marine biosphere are steps in the right direction, and its important that divers show the rest of the population what is being conserved.”
This year’s underwater photography competition winners have been announced. Snorkellers and divers from all over the Island submitted their best images to the judges. All the images had to be taken during the month of June and in Manx waters. The competition prizes were sponsored by major diving brand Scubapro and Discover Diving, the Island’s only professional dive centre. Judging took place during a recent visit to Discover Diving from the Scubapro Managing Director, Andy Shears. After seeing the range of images, Andy said “I’m so impressed with the quality of these images. Diving in Manx waters, within the Marine Protected Areas, is pretty special and these photos capture some of the amazing marine life so well. Scubapro are delighted to have sponsored the prizes for the Splash In competition.
The winners and runners up were announced during the recent Festival of the Sea weekend and received their prizes from Michelle Haywood of Discover Diving at a presentation evening. Michelle explained that “This is the second year of running the Splash In and the competition was hard fought. This has resulted in some great images which show marine life in fabulous detail. Divers are privileged to be able to visit these creatures in their natural environment, but images like these are important to show non divers who may not even realise some of these creatures exist.”
Winner of the category for Compact cameras was Kathryn Fowler with a close up shot of an edible crab. The judges admired the sharp focus and well framed shot. Runner up Anne Corkill submitted a picture of a Spider Crab, managing to capture the entire animal in the image.
The Night category proved particularly tricky to enter as the competition was held during the month with the shortest nights! However, that inspired divers to arrange late night dips in order to build up a portfolio of entries. The winner was Tim Nicholson who received an underwater fluorescent light to be used on future dives. Tim’s photograph of a Ling peeping out from some kelp was the best night shot. Runner up in this category was Kathryn Fowler with a close up of a lobster.
The Macro category is always a hotly contested area and this year it was Kathryn Fowler that took the honours with a close up shot of a Sea Hare. The judges particularly liked the focus on the face of this 15 cm long sea slug. The runner up was Tim Nicholson with another shot of sea slugs, a pair of mating Polycera faeroensis sea slugs. In the video category, the winner was Mike Wilson with a story of a dive with seals. The video showed the playful side of the seals as they nibbled divers fins.
Michelle thanked sponsors Scubapro for their support “We really appreciate the prizes provided by Scubapro, which have inspired our divers and snorkellers to capture some brilliant images, worthy of being published to a much wider audience. The recent extension of Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Man, and the growing appreciation of the marine biosphere are steps in the right direction, and its important that divers show the rest of the population what is being conserved.”
Splash In 2019 Prize presentation
Compact camera category
Night time category
Macro category
