We asked for an explosion of colour for our Kaleidoscope Big Shot and boy, did we get just that and more. Startling creativity and a vibrant sense of fun dominated an exceptional set of entries.
Jenny Stock excelled, taking the competition’s title to heart and creating a glorious kaleidoscope of mandarinfish. It seems apt that the destination for her Aggressor Fleet liveaboard trip prize is to Raja Ampat – probably the most colourful dive destination on the planet.
Highly commended are Wayne McWilliams’ psychedelic arrowhead crab; an arresting blenny from Guy Chaumette; a full-on dragonet from Jenny Stock and a wonderful kaleidoscope of weedy seadragons from Marcia Riederer. All of these will receive a year’s print and digital subscription to DIVE. The other entries published in DIVE win a year’s digital subscription.
For our next issue, the theme is cephalopods. Delight us with your best images of anything from tiny pygmy squid to huge giant octopus. Whether it be a truly great behavioural shot or an example of imaginative post-production editing, we want stunning images that reflect the glory of these ocean shape-shifters. The winning prize is a seven-night trip aboard the Red Sea Aggressor IV, worth US$2,699. Tag your entries #DIVEsBigShotCephalopods and enter on our website before 28 February 2024. Good luck!
Winner
Mandarin Mandala – Jenny Stock
Some of my photographic outputs involve a meandering journey of creativity. Big Shot Kaleidoscope was fantastic because it gave me an intriguing prompt to work on. Mandarinfish, Lembeh, Indonesia.
Shot with: Canon 5D IV, 100mm lens, Nauticam housing; f11, 1/250, ISO 200
Highly commended
Center Point – Guy Chaumette
The goby spends most of its life tucked away in its burrow. But when one decides to peek out, he’s the centre of the world. Cozumel, Mexico.
Shot with: Sony Z100, 500mm lens (35mm equivalent), Gates housing, flat port and +3.5 diopter; f11, 1/50, ISO 160
Highly commended
Black Sand Gem – Jenny Stock
While muck diving on black sands, I found this fingered dragonet and I tried to capture as symmetrical a portrait as possible. Lembeh, Indonesia.
Shot with: Canon 5D Mark IV; 100mm lens; Nauticam housing; f16, 1/100, ISO 640
Highly commended
Kaledragonscope – Marcia Riederer
A beautiful male weedy seadragon with eggs, manipulated in Photoshop. Original image taken at Port Philip Bay, Melbourne, Western Australia.
Shot with: Canon 5D Mark V; Canon 16-35mm lens at 32mm; Nauticam housing; 2x Inon Z 240 Strobes; f10, 1/60, ISO 640
Highly commended
Arrowhead Crab – Wayne McWilliams
Shot through a home-made reflection tube to get the swirl effect and with a home-made bokeh panel of glitter in background. West Palm Beach, Florida.
Shot with: Nikon D7200, Nauticam housing, Nikon 60mm macro lens, Retra strobes; f7.1, 1/320 sec, ISO 100
Storm of Colour – Francis Glassup
A seahorse on a reef at three metres depth, just a few hours after a cyclone had passed through the area. Guadeloupe.
Shot with: Nikon D800, 105mm Nikkor macro lens, Hugyfot housing, 1x Ikelite 161 strobe; f27, 1/3, ISO 100
Neon Goby – Cathy Holmes
Neon goby on a hard- coral head. Taken at ‘The Zoo’ near Little Good Harbour, Barbados.
Shot with: Nikon D500, 105mm macro lens, Nauticam housing, Inon Z-330 strobes; f22, 1/160, ISO 320
Wings of Fire – Didem Nalbantgil
An elegant tubeworm captured in Bodrum, Muğla, Türkiye.
Shot with: Nikon D850, 105mm lens, Nauticam housing, Inon z330 strobes; f40, 1/250, ISO 200
Home Sweet Home – Shinto K Anto
A yellow coral goby inside a bottle. Anilao, Philippines.
Shot with: Olympus OM-D EM10, Olympus 45mm lens with AOI wet lens, Sea Frogs housing; Archon video lights; f4, 1/400, ISO 200
Cel-Egg-Bration – Jenny Stock
A nudibranch (Goniobranchus sp.) with eggs. Port Hughes, Adelaide, Australia.
Shot with: Canon 5D Mark IV; 100mm lens; Nauticam housing; f32, 1/250, ISO 250
Blue-ringed Bokeh – James Emery
Blue-ringed octopus. Lembeh, Indonesia.
Shot with: Sony Alpha a7 1V, Sony 16-35mm, Nauticam housing, Zen Underwater 230mm dome port, two Ikelite DS230s flashguns; f16, 1/125, ISO 250
The Sunflower – Jose Castellano
My favourite species of nudibranch, Hypselodoris elegans, with its fantastic gills. Tossa de Mar, Spain.
Shot with: Canon 1D Mark III, Canon 100m macro lens, Sea & Sea housing, 2X Inon Z-330; f9, 1/160, ISO 100
Seahorse – Wayne McWilliams
Shot through a kaleidoscope lens to get the multiplier effect, with a home-made bokeh panel of glitter in background. West Palm Beach, Florida.
Shot with: Nikon D7200, Nauticam housing, Retra strobes, Nikon 40mm macro lens; f9, 1/100, ISO 100
70s Fashion Style – Miguel Ramirez
A beautitful nudibranch Sagaminopteron psychedelicum in shallow waters off Réunion Island.
Shot with: Nikon D500, 85mm and SMC1 wet lens, Hugyfot housing; f16, 1/160, ISO 200
Toothy – Guy Chaumette
A vibrant parrotfish. Cozumel, Mexico.
Shot with: Sony Z100, 300mm lens (35mm equivalent), Gates housing, flat port, +3.5 achromatic dioptre; f5.6, 1/150, ISO 160
Kaleidoscope of Colour – Cathy Holmes
This wall of verdant soft coral and shoals of small fish highlight the richness of the ocean. Misool, Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
Shot with: Olympus E-M1, 8mm Lumix fisheye lens, Inon Z-240 strobes; f9, 1/125, ISO 320
Disco Nudibranch – Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge
A Phyllidia ocellata nudibranch in Pemuteran, Bali.
Shot with: Canon G7X Mark III, Canon 15mm macro lens, Nauticam housing, Sea & Sea YS-D3 with Marelux SOFT Pro Snoot; f11, 1/120, ISO 160
Harlequin Crab – Helmut Theiss
A very cooperative and curious harlequin crab. Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Shot with: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 100mm macro lens, Sea & Sea MDX housing, 2x Sea & Sea YS D2 strobes; f16, 1/160, ISO 100
I Won”t Look at You – Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge
The first juvenile yellow boxfish I have ever tried to photograph. Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Shot with: Canon G16, 15mm macro lens, Fantasea housing, double Sea & Sea strobes; f2.8, 1/160. ISO 100,
Worm Hole – Nicholas Samaras
Spirograph worm, Sabella spallanzanii. Chalkidiki peninsula, Greece.
Shot with: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm lens; f8, 1/200, iSO 125
The starting date for #DIVEsBigShotCephalopods will be announced in the coming days – stay tuned and sign up for our newsletter using the link below to keep updated.
