The Photosub Annual Meal 2024 was held at the Percy Arms Pub in Chilworth, Surrey.  

The event was attended by 24 club members plus our guest judge Jane Morgan. Jane is well known to Photosub members, as both a past member and chair of the club, as well as through her membership of BSOUP. Following arrival drinks and general socialising, members enjoyed a three course meal.

Following the meal the Annual Competition images were projected. The competition comprises the usual 4 categories with a total of 120 images (down from 135 last year) submitted by 13 members. To encourage more competition participation there is no date limit on images allowing members who are no longer diving to participate.

1. Green Water Macro/Close Up (21 entries)
2. Green Water Wide (24 entries)
3. Blue Water Macro/Close Up (39 entries)
4. Blue Water Wide (36 entries)

Jane is a highly accomplished and well respected award winning underwater photographer and works as the Dive Safety Officer and Dive Technician at Falmouth University (Link). Images were provided to Jane ahead of the event to allow her to review at her leisure.

Following the welcome from our Chair, Joss Woolf, Jane said a few words on how difficult she found judging given the high standard of images particularly in the blue water macro section. The results are as follows.

Green Water Macro/Closeup

1st Place Keith Lyall
2nd Place Pash Baker
3rd Place Rob White
Highly Commended Gill Marsh
Highly Commended Rob White
Commended Jo Horrocks
Commended Chris McTernan
Commended Gill Marsh
Commended Pash Baker

Green Water Wide Angle

1st Place Keith Lyall
2nd Place Gill Marsh
3rd Place Keith Lyall
Highly Commended Gill Marsh
Highly Commended Pash Baker
Commended Chris McTernan
Commended Joss Woolf
Commended Rob White

Blue Water Macro/Closeup

1st Place Pash Baker
2nd Place Mario Vitalini
3rd Place Pash Baker
Highly Commended Rob White
Highly Commended Pash Baker
Highly Commended Gill McDonald
Commended Martyn Guess
Commended Keith Lyall
Commended Joss Woolf
Commended Martyn Guess

Blue Water Wide Angle

1st Place Gill Marsh
2nd Place Pash Baker
3rd Place Rob White
Highly Commended Keith Lyall
Highly Commended Rob White
Commended Martyn Guess
Commended Keith Lyall
Commended Joss Woolf

Len Deeley Trophy

Following the death 8 years ago of club founder and driving force Len Deeley, a new trophy was created by Pash Baker and Jo Horrocks in memory of Len. This trophy is presented on a yearly basis at the club annual dinner. 

Club Chair Joss Woolf introduced this years recipients, Martyn & Sue Guess. Martyn & Sue have been strong supporters of the club over the years. In addition to regularly entering the various club competitions, they have hosted many club events at their home. Of particular note was outdoor club meal in tents in 2021 just as we were allowed to socialise again. This was the first face to face event following the pandemic and despite the weather was a very successful and enjoyable evening. In addition Martyn has also been club  Chair from 2018 to 2022. The Len Deeley award recognises Martyn & Sue’s support and contribution to the successful running of the club.

Thanks

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members and thanks go to:

• Jane Morgan for attending the evening and for Jane’s judging and comments during the results presentation.
• Keith for organising the venue and engaging with the Percy Arms staff to plan the evening.
• Martha for managing the meeting finances and collection of payment.
• Roger for providing all event communication.
• Keith for organising and running the club competition.
• Joss for providing the evening introductions and thanks.

Finally thanks to all who entered and congratulations to all winners.

Date: Wed 24th Jan 2024, 20:00-20:45

Location: Zoom Call

Attendees (14): Keith Lyall, Jo Horrocks, Roger  Eve, Joss Woolf, Linda Pitkin, Martha Tressler, Anthony Holley, Jane Burnett, Anne Andic, Gill Marsh, Godfrey Bevan, Chris McTernan, Pash Baker, Rob White

APOLOGIES 

Apologies were received from Carole Hazelrigg, Pat Deeley, Bob Soames, Maria Kjellen, Martyn & Sue Guess and Wendy Eve

APPROVAL OF 2023 MINUTES

The minutes of the 2023 AGM had been circulated before the meeting. There were no matters arising. The minutes were proposed by Martha Tressler and seconded by Jane Burnett. The minutes were passed unanimously.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Joss Woolf reported as follows:-

Photosub Annual Meal – Saturday 25th March 2023

Events at the hotel in Farnham had become too expensive and, although we loved our evening last year at Cranleigh Golf Club, this again was prohibitively expensive. I’d like to thank Keith and Jo for identifying the Percy Arms Pub in Chilworth, Surrey for our annual meal on Saturday 25th March. We had the benefit of our own room for the event which was attended by 22 club members together with our guest judge Nick Blake and his wife Sharon.

Following a three-course buffet meal, the Annual Competition images were projected. The competition comprised the usual 4 categories:

1. Green Water Macro/Close Up (26 entries)
2. Green Water Wide (29 entries)
3. Blue Water Macro/Close Up (42 entries)
4. Blue Water Wide (38 entries)

With a dwindling number of active divers in the club, it had been agreed to allow members to submit images without any date restrictions. In the event, we had a total of 135 images (up from 109 last year) submitted by 15 members.

Our competition judge, Nick Blake, is well known to many club members particularly through BSOUP, and as a former member of Photosub before moving to live in the Lake District. Nick is a highly accomplished and well-respected underwater photographer with many competition wins to his name. Nick presented the results, along with his comprehensive feedback at the meeting. Members can access all of his comments via the website.

Len Deeley Trophy

Following the death nearly 8 years ago this summer of our club’s founder, Len Deeley, a new trophy was created by Pash Baker and Jo Horrocks in his memory. This trophy is now presented on a yearly basis at the club annual dinner.

Last year’s recipients were Martha Tressler and Anthony Holley in recognition of their support and contribution to the club including hosting barbecues at their home in Southampton along with Martha’s tireless energy working as Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Martha and Anthony have been members since the early days of the club and are regular attendees at club events.

Let’s say thank you to them again!

Photosub May 2023 Meeting

A Photosub social evening was hosted by Joss Woolf on Saturday 27th May 2023 at her home in North London. The event was attended by 18 Photosub members and the very kind summer weather allowed us to socialise in the garden. I made a Thai chicken curry as well as veggie and gluten free options which seemed to be enjoyed by all. The meal was completed with a selection of puddings brought by various members including the now legendary banoffee pie for which thanks, as usual, to Keith and Jo.

There was no competition at the meeting and in the end no images were presented either which enabled Keith to have a night off and we all had a relaxing time, simply socialising.

Photosub BBQ and Splash-in Competition 2023

Gone are the days of the “splash in weekend” or even “a splash in month”. Images are now eligible from any time in the calendar year up until the date of the competition and can be taken anywhere in the UK or Ireland. This enables more members to participate and getaround the usual issue of the British weather preventing diving. This, of course, is quite apart from the issue of the ever-decreasing number of active UK divers in the club. And, talking of the weather, the 14 club members who attended the 2023 Photosub Club BBQ, hosted by Keith and Jo at their home in Cranleigh on the 5th August, were forced to retreat indoors due to the wind and rain. A few stalwarts remained outside to cook the food under a parasol (parapluie?) but all of the socialising and eating took place inside.

Thanks very much Keith and Jo for opening up their home to the members, for organising a bbq and for organising the competition. Thanks also for the obligatory banoffee pie. Thanks to Martha and Roger too.

Keith presented the results of the 2023 Photosub Splash-in. There were 14 images submitted by 5 members. In keeping with the club’s tradition, the competition was judged by a non-diving photographer; on this occasion, Emma Stokes. Emma lives in Kent and is an award- winning landscape photographer, selling much of her work at local fairs. Unfortunately, Emma was unable to attend in person, but provided her comments for Keith to read out.

Photosub Open 2023

Club members met on Saturday 25th November 2023 for the annual Open Competition. This competition pits blue water against green water, macro against wide angle. The evening was kindly hosted by Martyn and Sue at their home in Farley Green and was attended by 10 club members.

Although lower on numbers than usual this gave members more opportunity to catch up and a very pleasant evening was had by all. After a winter warming lasagne and general socialising, 45 images from 15 members were projected. This was one of our largest set of entries for this competition, no doubt as a result of the rule change to remove the date restriction so that non diving members can participate by entering

older images. The competition had been pre-judged by JP Trenque, a former Photosub member and a former Chair of BSOUP. JP was unable to attend in person but provided his comments on the results.

Huge thanks to Martyn and Sue for hosting, to Keith for his part in the organising of the evening, to Keith and Jo for providing the statutory banoffee pie and thanks also to Roger and Martha for their help with organising as well. And thanks to me for providing a cheese platter!

During the evening, the future of Photosub was discussed, on a casual basis, given the spiralling decline in numbers of both active divers and members who attend the three gatherings each year. We agreed that, for now, we would continue because we still enjoy it but, as everyone knows, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Nobody puts in more effort than Keith to maintain this club by organising the competitions and the annual meal, together with help from Roger Eve and Martha Tressler.Please, please, even if you have stopped diving, try to continue to support our meetings as much as possible.

Dates for this year:

Annual Dinner 6th April 2024 – Annual Dinner will again be at the Percy Arms on the 6th April. In order to have our private room again, they require a minimum number of guests but we will be able to choose from a set menu, albeit in advance, rather than a set buffet meal.

Jane Morgan has kindly agreed to be our judge for the evening and Keith and Jo have offered to put her up for the night to save on costs.

May Venue – Joss 25th May 2024

Summer BBQ August 10th – Martha and Anthony

November – yet to be determined

TREASURER’S REPORT

We remain comfortable financially with a small £78 surplus for the year. Member numbers are down again from 33 to 28 (25 diving, 3 non-diving). Both the annual dinner and the BBQ showed a small profit and contributions collected at regular meetings continues to cover about half of those costs. Other expenses – trophies, website – were similar to previous years.

The proposal is to leave the subs unchanged at £15 for diving members and £8 for non-diving members. Martha also proposed we increase the meal fee at the May and November meetings from £3.00 to £5.00pp.

These changes were passed unanimously.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The current officers were prepared to be re-elected and as no others came forward the meeting unanimously agreed to the following:

• Chair – Joss Woolf
• Treasurer – Martha Tressler
• Hon Secretary – Roger Eve
• Competition Secretary and Webmaster – Keith Lyall

SPLASH-IN

Keith reported that with so few members now diving in the UK he was doubting the viability of the competition. This was discussed at length. The meeting resolved that for this year (2024) there would not be a judged competition but members would bring UK images from any date, to be shown at the BBQ. This decision would be reviewed at the 2025 AGM.

2024 CALENDER

Annual Dinner: The date of the Annual Dinner has been set for Saturday 6th April. As last year it would be held at the Percy Arms in Chilworth. We will need a minimum of 20 to give us the private room. However this year, rather than a buffet, we will have an individual choice of dishes from a selected menu e.g. three options for each course. These will be ordered in advance as in previous years. It is anticipated that the cost should be similar to the £44pp charged last year but the final cost is still to be agreed. Jane Morgan has kindly agreed to be a judge for this competition.

Roger will send out an email with all the necessary information as soon as this is available.

NB it is important that we all promptly respond to Roger’s email to ensure we secure the room at the Percy Arms.

• May Meeting: Joss Woolf agreed to host this meeting on 25th May.
• August BBQ meeting: Martha and Anthony have agreed to host this on 10th August.
• November Meeting: The host is yet to be announced.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

During the meeting there was a little discussion on raising the profile of the club to try and attract new members who are actively diving and taking photographs. The committee will look into this matter.

The meeting close at 20.45pm just as the Zoom meeting shut down!

Club members met on Saturday 25th November 2023 for the annual Open Competition. This competition pits blue water against green water, macro against wide angle. The evening was hosted at Martyn and Sue’s house in Farley Green and was attended by 10 club members. Although lower on numbers than usual this gave members more opportunity to catch up … a very pleasant evening.

After a winter warming lasagne and general socialising, 45 images from 15 members were projected. This is one of our largest set of entries for this competition, possibly reflecting the rule change to remove the date restriction so that non diving members could participate by entering older images. The winners had been pre-judged by JP Trenque, a previous Photosub ember and past Chair of BSOUP. JP was unable to attend the meeting but provided a set of notes on his choices.

Thanks go to:

• JP Trenque for judging the competition
• Martyn & Sue Guess for hosting the evening and providing the meal
• Keith & Jo for providing the Banoffee Pie
• Keith for organising  and running the competition
• All entrants who submitted images to the competition
• Roger, Martha and Joss for support in organising and running the evening

The winning images are as follows with judges comments in italics:

I found the competition very difficult to judge because there were so many images that were stunning in their own right but competed against very different subjects. For example, the two split shots were both beautiful, but having both in the winning group would have been unfair to other categories. 

A lot of the wide-angle images were also “in your face” and in my mind, would have an advantage over more technical macro shots. So I tried to balance harmony, technical skill, interesting subject, clean background and of course, the magic “makes me want to be there” factor. All the winning and commended images are pictures I would love to have on my wall.

1st Place – Rob White

Beautiful, simple image which tells a story. The waves in the foreground on the left add mystery to the shot. We often want to remove bubbles in our images, but in this case, I think they really add to the story. I love the fact that the photographer didn’t try to push the white balance or the contrast. There is something very serene about this image. It’s simply stunning. There is nothing I can criticise about it.

2nd Place – Nur Tucker

Fantastic split shot, beautifully lit. Perfect timing with the sunset and the composition is perfect. If I was really fussy, I would have asked the captain to turn Whirlwind around so that the bow faced towards the centre of the image . This image brought back some very fond memories. One June evening, as we were finishing a week’s liveaboard and heading back to Sharm, Brian Pitkin and I jumped on the tender at dusk near Ras Nasrani and took a few shallow shots and silhouettes. I love those pictures I took of Brian, not because they’re perfect, but because of the happy memories. The emotional element certainly played a part in making this image the runner-up, although it shouldn’t take anything away from the perfection in this shot.

3rd Place – Keith Lyall

The cuteness factor with this octopus scores very high ! You just want to wait there and observe the animal in its den, and maybe slowly extend your hand to see if curiosity will make it come out and say “Hi”. The lighting is spot-on and the crop is perfect.

Highly Commended – Martyn Guess

I like the lighting on the batfish. It’s so difficult not to burn the whites on their silver skin, but that was spot-on. I also really like the composition and the use of the diagonal. The ripples on the surface make me feel like I’m in the water under that pontoon looking up. I would have used a tiny bit less sharpening on the water or maybe blurred the blue a little.

Highly Commended – Joss Woolf

I really liked these spawning sponges. I thought the colours were very nice and the lighting was perfect. A little bit more space on the right hand side to follow the flow of the spawning would have placed it in the top 3.

Highly Commended – Gill Marsh

I liked both thresher shark images a lot. This black & white shot had the edge because that facial expression is just something else ! And I love the movement with the tail. The skin texture is also very interesting. A slightly blurred background might have made this a competition winner, but to be honest, this beautiful elusive creature is makes the image a very strong contender.

The two commended images are technically very strong but in both cases, I thought the subject was too much in the center. Using the rule of thirds, I would have placed them more on the left.

Commended – Daniel Taylor

This Bargibanti pygmy seahorse is gorgeous and I love the background. The coral polyps definitely add to the image but I would have liked to see a bit more of the coral branches and give it more space on the right hand side of the image. 

Commended – Wendy Eve

Anemonefish are very common, yet always an interesting subject. I loved the face hiding in the tentacles. The texture is superb and the dark background with bright face adds mystery. Having the fish slightly more on the left would have given it space to move into the image.

14 club members attended the 2023 Photosub Club BBQ hosted by Keith & Jo at their home in Cranleigh. Unfortunately we were hit by the current unseasonable weather so although food was cooked outdoors on the BBQ, socialising and eating was indoors. 

The evening also included the results of the 2023 Photosub Splash-in. Images were eligible any time in the calendar year up until the date of the competition and could be taken anywhere in the UK or Ireland. This allowed for more members to participate and get around the usual issue of the British weather preventing diving as well as a dwindling number of active UK divers in the club. There were 14 images submitted by 5 members.

In keeping with tradition the competition was judged by a non diving judge, Emma Stokes. Emma lives in Kent and is an award winning landscape photographer, selling much of her work at local fayres. (https://www.emmastokesphotography.co.uk/).

Emma judged the images in advance and provided her picks prior to the meeting so that a final results presentation could be prepared. Unfortunately Emma was unable to attend the BBQ, but provided notes relating to her choice of images. 

The projection was followed by results announced in reverse order, including a number of Highly Commended and Commended images. 

So to the results:

• 1st place: Tompot Blenny by Jo Horrocks
• 2nd place: Seal by Pash Baker
• 3rd place: Puffin by Gill Marsh
• Highly Commended: Tompot Blenny by Rob White
• Commended: Shrimp and Anemone by Rob White

Congratulations to the winners and thanks all that participated. 

Thanks go to:

• Keith and Jo for hosting the event.
• Emma Stokes for judging the competition.
• All participants in the competition (Keith, Jo, Gill, Rob, Pash).
• Wendy and Roger for providing the pavlova.
• Jan for providing the Lemon Cake
• Jan and Linda for washing up
• Keith for organising and running the competition.
• Photosub committee members for their various roles in organising the evening

The winning images are as follows, with Emma’s comments:

Here are my choices for the winners and runners up, it was all very close and difficult to decide on the final placements as all the images were worthy winners in their own right and I don’t have any particular reason why any are placed lower or higher than others!  For me, the story-telling element played a big part as well as the overall image, composition etc.

1st Place – Jo Horrocks

I loved this photo as soon as I saw it.  When story-telling and photography come together it’s always a winning combination and it felt like this little blenny was playing hide and seek with the photographer, well camouflaged among the orange seaweed, whilst peeking through at its ‘admirer’.  The depth of field used works perfectly highlighting the detail on the blenny’s face and it’s appendages against the soft backdrop, with the foreground softened to great benefit to frame the subject beautifully.

2nd Place – Pash Baker

For me this photo says a lot more than just being a photo of a seal.  The colours, composition, textures and shapes keep the viewer very well engaged throughout the whole image and the contrast of the characterful seal peeking out through the seaweed simply adds to the above.  The beautiful colours of the seaweed, anemones and the teal water all complement each other and the sunlight from above and movement of the seaweed ribbons both add further dimension to this lovely photo.

3rd Place – Gill Marsh

I have heard that puffins have great character, and this image captures that perfectly.  I have seen so many fantastic comical photos of puffins in flight so this underwater image stands apart, and the simplicity of the black white and orange against the turquoise waters give it a very striking first impression.   I do not know if puffins are inherently inquisitive but this one seems to be having a good old nose at the photographer adding to the comical interest.

Highly Commended – Rob White

The striking nature of this head-on photo caught my eye.  The wonderful detail, colour and contrast really helped this little blenny stand out against the dark background behind.   It is beautifully exposed, with the black depths behind providing a glimpse of the hidden depths that these little creatures inhabit.

Commended – Rob White

It must take some time to spot these little shrimps amongst the anemone, but what a find, and this photo captures the two perfectly.  I love the way that the delicate nature of this little creature is mirrored in the delicate nature of the anemone’s tenticles. The light and exposure work really well to bring out the translucent nature of both creatures, it really is a lovely capture.  

A Photosub social evening was hosted by Joss Woolf on Saturday 27th May 2023 at her house in North London. The event was attended by 18 Photosub members and the current pleasant summer weather allowed us to socialise in the garden.

Joss produced excellent food as ever which was enjoyed by all. The meal was completed with a selection of puddings including the obligatory banoffee pie.

There was no competition at the meeting and in the end no images were presented by members which gave Keith the opportunity to have a more relaxing evening.

Thanks to:

• Joss Woolf for hosting the evening
• Martha Tressler for treasurer stuff
• Keith & Jo for providing the banoffee pie
• Roger Eve for providing meeting arrangement details

The Photosub Annual Meal 2023 was held at the Percy Arms Pub in Chilworth, Surrey.  

The event was attended by 22 club members plus our guest judge Nick Blake and his wife Sharon. Following arrival drinks and general socialising, members enjoyed a three course buffet meal.

Following the meal the Annual Competition images were projected. The competition comprises the usual 4 categories with a total of 135 images (up from 109 last year) submitted by 15 members. To encourage more competition participation there is no date limit on images allowing members who are no longer diving to participate.

1. Green Water Macro/Close Up (26 entries)
2. Green Water Wide (29 entries)
3. Blue Water Macro/Close Up (42 entries)
4. Blue Water Wide (38 entries)

Our competition judge was Nick Blake who is well known to many club members particularly through BSOUP, and as a former member of Photosub before moving to live in the Lake District. Nick is a highly accomplished and well respected underwater photographer with many competition wins to his name. Images were provided to Nick ahead of the event to allow him to review at his leisure and by attending the meal Nick was able to provide comprehensive feedback on his choice of images.

Following the welcome from our Chair, Joss Woolf , Nick said a few words on how he performed the judging before the images were projected.

A big thank you to Joss as Chair and to Keith and all the Photosub Committee for the kind invitation to myself and Sharon to join you all for this evening’s Annual Dinner and photo competition. My thanks also for the opportunity to judge this year’s entries to the competition.

Its proved to be a very enjoyable, though a challenging process to arrive at the final results. So many great images made it very difficult  to separate them.

A few words on how I went about it. I loaded all the entries into a Lightroom catalogue which worked very well for image review and also enabled me to make use of the histogram in there to have a good look at exposures. I aimed to reduce the number of entries  in each category to about half on the first review, and then to around 8 or 9 on 2^nd review, though with sense checks throughout the process going back to the full set of images. 

From there, I spent a long time finalizing positions, and in fairness the placings and HCs were very much interchangeable in many cases. Of note, the Blue Water Macro category was very much a case in point, and the placing of images changed several times before I settled on the final set.

Several factors ultimately influenced positioning, including composition/framing, technical aspects such as exposure and lighting and of course the ‘Wow’ factor. I noticed some images seemed underexposed, some had clipped highlights, though in most cases these were recoverable and would have further strengthened some images. Also apparent were some compositions where background or foreground elements were a little distracting, which did influence positioning in some cases. Across the categories, there are inevitably several images of the same subject, such as seals, frogfish and shrimps, which really added to the challenge, given there were many excellent, competing images of a similar subject.

Overall, a very strong set of inspiring entries which made it challenging, but personally energising and hugely enjoyable to review.

The results are as follows with judges comments attached for each image.

Green Water Macro/Closeup

1st Place : Martyn Guess

Tompot Blennies were very much in evidence and this one stood out for me. A lovely portrait shot which differed from other entries in its shallower depth of field. The Blenny’s face pops against the background to really bring its character to the fore, with the depth of field working well moving through the frame to the fins, and allowing the background to blur away. A lovely shot.

2^nd Place : Pash Baker

Great to see a Seahorse in the Green Water category and I really liked this shot. Well captured, setting the Seahorse nicely into its surroundings. I felt the image could have been enhanced with a slight crop in from the right, to bring the Seahorse’s eye more onto the third in the frame, and give the image a little more balance. Nevertheless, a super capture.

3^rd Place : Joss Woolf

Something different in this image and a fascinating subject. It’s one which I have not photographed myself, though this shot has certainly inspired me to consider it. I love the surface tension around the Frog’s leg and the eye focused towards the surface. It combines to create a peak of the action moment, as the frog is about to break surface and breathe.  Great shot!

Highly Commended : Keith Lyall

A subject which presents a real depth of field challenge, this image is very nicely captured, sharp and detailed around the eye and face. Set diagonally across the frame and against a black background, it works well.

Highly Commended : Martyn Guess

A great capture of this shrimp. I like the body length shot here as opposed to head on, which really reveals the detail and colour of the subject. The surroundings around the shrimp serve well to frame the subject, though I felt less lighting onto these areas would further help the subject to stand out.

Commended : Keith Lyall

A lovely  Tompot Blenny shot with beautiful lighting of the subject. I did find the tilted positioning of the Blenny a little distracting though, which ultimately limited the opportunity for a higher placing.

Green Water Wide Angle

1st Place : Martyn Guess

A fabulous shot which really showcases the energy of a diver and Seal interaction. The sun rays streaming through the water are dramatic, balanced well by excellent strobe lighting of the Seal and diver’s fin. The eye contact between diver and Seal completes the shot. A super image!

2^nd Place : Nur Tucker

A great capture of these diving birds. The number of birds in the scene really adds to the drama, further enhanced by the bubble streams as they dive down, giving a sense of speed and drama. Subtle light rays in the background help convey that link from the surface to the underwater realm. It all combines into a super image.

3^rd Place : Gill Marsh

The curvature of the shark’s body as it swims into the frame works well, further enhanced by the sunrays through the scene and across the shark itself. It combines to make a lovely shot, and one which perhaps could also work well in black and white.

Highly Commended : Martyn Guess

A great Seal shot, beautifully lit, tack sharp and packing a real punch. The framing of the subject and close proximity really reveals the curious nature of this seal, enhanced further by the fabulous whiskers. A cracker which could easily have made top 3.

Highly Commended : Nur Tucker

I like the positioning of the two birds opposite each other in this shot, which combined with the panoramic type crop works well for a balanced image. The white areas of the birds seemed a little over bright though, which distracted a little.

Commended : Joss Woolf

The symmetry of the two subjects and their playful nature, combined with great eye contact makes for an appealing image.

Commended : Rob White 

I liked the framing and composition of this Blue Shark shot and the strength of eye contact, though the harshness of the surface reflection beyond the blue across the top of the frame proved distracting and therefore limited opportunity for a higher placing.

Commended : Keith Lyall

The sunrays bursting through the pier structure are impactive, set against the green water background and the highlights are well controlled by the photographer, creating a pleasing natural light scene.

Blue Water Macro/Closeup

1st Place : Martyn Guess

A terrific snooted shot. Super lighting and technically very well executed, which really shows off this incredible subject at its best. The exquisite colours draw you in to study the ornate details of this Harlequin shrimp. Underpinned by a strong foreground and dramatic black background, it all combines for a superb image, and one I would love to capture. 

2nd Place : Rob White

A delightful image which absolutely maximises the complementary colours of yellow/gold with blue, combining here to make for a mesmerising shot.  This fascinating subject is beautifully lit, sharp where it needs to be with pleasing depth of field and a dreamy blue foreground. I wondered if a slight crop in from the left would enhance the image further, nevertheless a cracking shot.

3^rd Place : Martyn Guess

There were a total of 3 frogfish images in this category and I liked them all. Ultimately, I was drawn to this image, which really stood out for me by its capture of the frogfish in its full form, rather than head on. A lovely shot and very well executed with great lighting.

Highly Commended : Sue Guess

A lovely shot of this Cuttlefish, where there is so much to like. The framing of the Cuttlefish in amongst its surroundings really works well, the lighting revealing just enough of the background, allowing the Cuttlefish to take centre stage. Great lighting and technical execution, it could easily have been top 3.

Highly Commended : Ian Mill

A fascinating moment of capture of these Nudibranch. Impressive lighting really adds some colour and punch to the subjects and image overall. Well controlled depth of field and sharpness, particularly the rhinophores. Great shot.

Highly Commended : Ian Mill

A super portrait shot of this frogfish. The square crop works very well indeed allowing the frogfish to really fill the frame. Impressive lighting and technical execution reveal all its features in beautifully sharp detail.

Commended : Gill Marsh

A one of a kind subject amongst the entries for this category.  I like the eye contact and facial detail of the subject, which is well captured and sharp, though slight clipping of the whites and the offset nature of the wings distracted a little in the final analysis.

Commended : Mike Davidge

A number of Seahorse images across the category, with this one appealing to me the most. Nicely framed and lit, it sits well against the darker background.

Commended : Rob White

A fascinating image of this Starfish and what I take to be a spawning event. Good lighting of the subject brings out the detail of the starfish, with the black background really showing off this event, and the great timing of the capture.

Blue Water Wide Angle

1st Place : Nur Tucker

This grabbed my attention from the 1^st review and really jumped out. I really like the photographers approach of inverting the image which makes it different and delivers a ‘wow’ factor.  As I studied it, I recollected a comment from Martin Edge during some tuition with him several years back to always rotate an image through each 90 degrees as they can work from different viewpoints. The strong sunrays are dramatic and the inversion makes the most of eye contact with the subject, whilst the snorkelers in the background don’t detract. A very creative and artistic approach. Excellent!

2^nd Place : Ian Mill

A lovely capture of a cave scene. The coral is nicely lit and the image balances well using both flash and natural light, with the coral foreground, through to the diver in the background. I like the framing of  the cave walls out to the back of the image, which helps  take you through the scene. Similar competing images were entered, though the balance here won through.

3^rd Place : Nur Tucker

A delightful natural light shot and silhouetted subject. The scene instantly appealed to me, and the more unusual nature of this subject draws you in. The positioning of the subject as it dives down adds to the scene and no doubt was an exciting moment of capture. Given the close proximity of the subject’s head to the rock face, I dwelled on this image for some time, and greater separation would have elevated its final placing. Nevertheless, a super capture!

Highly Commended : Martyn Guess

I really liked this image of the 2 Lionfish together, and facing each other. The positioning of them, slightly offset and creating a diagonal, adds to the composition, and the coral to the left completes the scene nicely, adding some vibrancy and set off against a pleasing blue background.

Highly Commended : Keith Lyall

The positioning of the diver works well in the blue, balancing with the rocks on the right. The wreck works nicely as foreground subject. I found the diver’s secondary bubbles at the top of the scene a little distracting though overall a well composed and appealing wreck shot.

Highly Commended : Ian Mill

The foreground coral is nicely lit and framed well. There is a real sense of scale against the background jetty, with the natural light and sunrays streaming through and adding real impact to the scene. Highlights are well controlled, though some slight distractions to the left and right frame edges. Lots to like though in this shot and a great capture.

Commended : Pash Baker

A striking shark image, well captured against a vivid blue background.  The shark’s pectoral fin leads the eye nicely into the subject and frame overall.

Commended : Martha Tressler

These schooling catfish make for an impactive and dynamic shot and gives a real sense of their chaotic nature as they surge forward. Well captured and sharp. I wondered if it might also work as a black and white image too.

Commended : Keith Lyall

An interesting and moody wreck shot, where the wreck itself balances well against the line of divers moving through. The image did strike me as being a tad underexposed, and a slight boost in blacks/shadows would perhaps further enhance the scene. 

Len Deeley Trophy

Following the death 7 years ago of club founder and driving force Len Deeley, a new trophy was created by Pash Baker and Jo Horrocks in memory of Len. This trophy is presented on a yearly basis at the club annual dinner. 

Club Chair Joss Woolf introduced this years recipients, Martha Tressler & Anthony Holley. Martha & Anthony have been members since the early days of the club and are regular attendees at club events. They have hosted BBQs at their house in Southampton and Martha has been Treasurer/Membership Secretary for many years supporting the organisation of the many club events. The Len Deeley award recognises their support and contribution to the successful running of the club.

Thanks

These events do not run successfully without the help of a number of club members and thanks go to:

• Nick & Sharon Blake for attending the evening and for Nick’s judging and comments during the results presentation.
• Keith Lyall & Jo Horrocks for organising the venue and engaging with the Percy Arms staff to plan the evening.
• Martha for managing the meeting finances and collection of payment.
• Roger for providing all event communication.
• Keith for organising and running the club competition.
• Joss for providing the evening introductions.

Finally thanks to all who who entered and congratulations to all winners.

Date: Wed 18th Jan 2023, 20:00 – 20:55

Location: Zoom Call

Attendees: Keith Lyall, Jo Horrocks, Roger & Wendy Eve, Joss Woolf, Linda Pitkin, Martha Tressler, Anthony Holley, Jane Burnett, Anne Andic, Ian Mill, Gill Marsh, Godfrey Bevan, Chris McTernan  

Club members met on Saturday 19th November 2022 for the annual Open Competition. This competition pits blue water against green water, macro against wide angle. The evening was hosted at Pat’s house in Wormley and was attended by 17 club members.

After a winter warming chilli and general socialising, 24 images from 8 members were projected. The winners had been pre-judged by Sandra and Ryan Stalker, members of BSOUP and very active underwater photographers from Swanage. Sandra and Ryan were unable to attend the meeting but provided a set of notes on their choices.

Thanks go to:

• Sandra and Ryan for judging the competition
• Pat for hosting the evening and providing the meal
• Ann for assisting Pat in the meal preparation
• Roger & Wendy, Keith & Jo for providing the Pavlova and Banoffee Pie
• Keith for organising  and running the competition
• All entrants who submitted images to the competition
• Roger, Martha and Joss for support in organising and running the evening

The winning images are as follows with judges comments in italics:

Firstly thanks ever so much for inviting us to judge the competition it’s been great fun and we really enjoyed it.

Overall impressions: A really strong set of submissions showcasing variety and technique with lots more that moved in and out of being placed, especially with two of us judging there were certainly some debates going on and the high standard made our job quite hard.

1st Place – Keith Lyall

This image stood out immediately due to its strong diagonals and sense of flow. It is well lit with the shrimp standing out through the nice use of directional lighting even though it is camouflaged. This one moved up and down the rankings a lot while we deliberated but is stood out as the strongest to me.

2nd Place – Nur Tucker

One of the few wide angle images submitted. Lovely composition with the strong diagonal of the cave and good use of ambient light with the pooling on the seabed nicely framing the image.  The diver would have benefited from being angled slightly more within the space which might have pushed it higher but choreographing that would probably have been really difficult so that’s just pickiness really, good colour palette with more muted tones.

3rd Place – Joss Woolf

Very well lit with a bright centre to draw the viewer in and then subtle lighting giving the sense of the translucency of the tentacles. Good use of a square composition in this instance framing the subject well containing both a luminescence and motion, sharp focus throughout.

Highly Commended – Joss Woolf

Stood out from the offset, well lit with good focus on the head and the blue suckers although it would have been nice to see the left hand tentacle with a bit more light on it which would have pushed it higher.

Highly Commended – Jo Horrocks

This image grew on me more and more over the days of looking at the entries. Initially I felt the fish was too similar in colour to the background and the bokeh but the more I looked at it the more I felt it worked. I feel the bokeh adds another layer to the image making the narrative more complex which works well in a macro shot.

Commended – Sue Guess

Nicely lit with focus on the cuttle with just a little light catching the xenia, cuttle facing the camera almost square on with good eye contact however we felt that it might have benefitted from less empty space below. It certainly sparked debate between us as to where it should sit. 

Commended – Jo Horrocks

Eye catching with a good colour palette and sharp focus. Well composed image.

14 club members attended the 2022 Photosub Club BBQ hosted by Martha & Anthony at their home in Southampton. Given the recent heatwave, being nearer the coast meant a drop in temperature to a more pleasant level. Members socialised in the garden before tucking into a lovely BBQ prepared by Martha and Anthony with a dessert of what is now become tradition of banofee pie provided by Keith & Jo. 

In addition to the BBQ and general socialising, the evening also included the results of the 2022 Photosub Splash-in. Images are eligible any time in June or July and can be taken anywhere in the UK or Ireland. This allows for more members to participate and get around the usual issue of the British weather preventing diving. There were 21 images submitted by 8 members.

In keeping with tradition we were joined by a non diving judge, Sue Sibley. Sue lives in the New Forest and is a member of Southampton Camera Club including a spell as their President, as well as being a member of the New Forest Camera Club and has been the Chairman of Southampton International  Exhibition. Sue is an active photographer with ARPS, EFIAP/bronze, DPAGB and BPE3* distinctions. Sue likes to visit the many clubs within the Southern Counties Photographic Federation judging their print and projected competitions and giving talks on her work and running Photoshop tutorial evenings (www.suesibleyphotography.com).

Sue judged the images in advance and provided her picks prior to the meeting so that a final results presentation could be prepared.

Following a welcome from Chairperson Joss Woolf, the images were projected. The projection was followed by results announced in reverse order, including a number of Highly Commended and Commended images. 

So to the results:

• 1st place Spider Crab by Keith Lyall
• 2nd place Edible Crab in pipe and diver by Martyn Guess
• 3rd place Spider Crab by Pash Baker

Congratulations to the winners and thanks all that participated. 

Thanks go to:

• Martha and Anthony for hosting the event.
• Sue Sibley for judging the competition.
• All participants in the competition (Martyn, Daniel, Maria, Keith, Jo, Gill, Rob, Pash).
• Keith and Jo for providing the banofee pie.
• Keith for organising and running the competition.
• Photosub committee members for their various roles in organising the evening

The winning images are as follows, with Sue’s comments:

1st Place – Keith Lyall

Quite an imposing fellow! Coming straight at you as if to attack. With all the shells on the sea bed it looks like he is a formidable foe. Great detail, sharp throughout and showing behaviour.

2nd Place – Martyn Guess

Great use of lighting to make the main subject stand out from the background in your picture but also including maybe the reason the crab is hiding in this old pipe?

3rd Place – Pash Baker

Another rather imposing crab but this time he’s in his woolly clothing. He must be a real bruiser as he’s lost parts of his claws. Lovely control of lighting producing great details and colours.

Highly Commended

Pash Baker

I love the way the seal is looking at you giving us some interaction being missed by the diver in the background.

Keith Lyall

I love the narrative that can be read in this image. We have the diver that has come down from this structure, coming from a lovely sunny day into the cold depths of the sea. They almost look trapped within the cage like structure.

Gill Marsh

This time we have a bit more of the Puffin from below. I love this but the very strong bit of light behind him pulls my attention away from him.

Commended

Gill Marsh

It took me a second to realise what I looking at. I love this photographers sense of humour. A very different view point. I guess it’s a Puffin. Great colour palette, the lightwest points being the only other colour in the image.

Martyn Guess

This is the type of shot you can spend a lot of time looking at, great detail, colours and interesting fish.

Jo Horrocks

Lovely colours again in this shot, yellows and blues together are very simpathic to each other. Even though the picture is quite busy with all the weeds that yellow eye stands out, which is also well placed on the third.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mike Maloney who died peacefully on Thursday 24th March 2022 at Guys Hospital. Mike had been in hospital for a few weeks for ongoing treatment, with Jan being by his side for much of the time including sleeping overnight on a mattress in his room. His condition deteriorated over the last few weeks and Jan said that he passed peacefully on Thursday morning. 

Mike was a long standing member of both BSOUP and Photosub underwater photography clubs and undertook many underwater photography dive trips with Jan and many of the club members. Mike was great company and fun on the dive trips and very welcoming to any new members. 

Our sincere condolences and thoughts go to Jan and her family.