The Underwater Shootout Rematch Is ON
Gulen Smash The Wide Angle Round and Lembeh Take The Title for 2018
It was a nail biting finish to this years incredible Lembeh Vs Gulen Shootout. Lembeh Resort had won round one (Nudibranch) earlier in the week with a convincing win of 56.5 (average votes per photo) to Gulen’s 32.64. Round two, Invertebrates and Fish saw the Gulen team narrowing the voting margin by 53 (Gulen) to Lembeh’s 67.93 – meaning Lembeh took a second category round title.
As online votes increased as the week progressed the final shootout round, wide angle, drew in almost 1,600 online voters from around the world. Lembeh Resort knew from the start that this new round would be their toughest to face against the Norwegian team who have clean offshore waters, kelp, jellyfish and wrecks to choose from and Team Gulen put on an incredible display of wide angle photography.
Team Gulen: Wide Angle 1st place by Galice Hoarau (left) and 2nd place by Orjan Sandnes (right)
Gulen’s final portfolio of creative split level images, dramatic green seascapes and iconic Gulen marine life stormed the round with both 1st and second place going to the Norwegian’s – Galice Hoarau and Orjan Sandnes. It was Galice Hoarau’s winning shot which garnered more votes than any other in the competition so far and led Gulen to a landslide victory over Lembeh in round 3 with average resort voting points of 83 to Team Gulen and 46.69 to Lembeh.
Kirsty Andrew’s anemone took 3rd and Nick More’s frogfish came in 5th in wide angle
Team Lembeh held on to 3rd, 4th and 5th place in the wide angle round with Kirsty Andrews stunning anemone, Marteyne van Well’s picturesque mangrove diver at Batu Angus and Nick More’s giant frogfish portrait.
Marteyne van Well’s mangrove diver at Batu Angus took 4th place
In the closest Shootout to date the final overall resort score were announced at 56.2 to Gulen and 58.2 to Lembeh – it couldn’t have been a closer finish but with a narrow margin, Team Lembeh was declared the overall winner of the 2018 Shootout.
Team Lembeh take the Shootout title for the second time
The final individual placings for Team Lembeh (and prizes) were as follows:
- Nick More (Siren Fleet $3,500)
- Kellda Centeno (One week Lembeh Resort)
- Greg Sherman (5 nights Salaya Beach Houses)
- Taner Atilgan (One Week Murex Manado)
- Kirsty Andrew (€200 i-divesite)
- Marteyne Van Well (Sea Gods custom wetsuit)
- Liz Wagstrom (€160 i-divesite)
- Mario Vitalini (2 nights and diving for 2 World Diving Lembongan)
- Neil Rosewarn (€120 i-divesite)
- Lee Mansfield (Baruna silver turtle pendant)
- Wayne Lai (Baruna silver manta ray pendant)
In addition to the above ALL Lembeh participants received a Fourth Element 5L dry sac – thank you Fourth Element!
AND of course, this years Shootout wouldn’t have been the same without the incredible leadership, guidance and humour of Alex Mustard. From all Team Lembeh participants and all of us at Lembeh Resort – Thank You Alex!
A huge thank you from Team Lembeh and Lembeh Resort to this year’s Team Leader, Alex Mustard
From all of us as The Shootout we would also like to say a HUGE thank you to all of this years sponsors who have provided an incredible array of prizes for the winners including 2 liveaboard trips, several week long dive and stay packages in Indonesia, Norway and the Philippines, dive gear and accessories, dive lights, solid silver jewelry, dive trips, vouchers and more!
Do you want to join an underwater photography event at Lembeh Resort? In December we are extremely excited to be holding our 7th Capturing Critters in Lembeh underwater photography workshop. This annual workshop sees THREE world class Photo Pros descend on Lembeh Resort for a week of underwater photography training sessions, presentations, phenomenal dives and one on one guidance. We are delighted to be welcoming Tobias Friedrich, Brandi Mueller and Brent Durand as the hosts of this years event.
Join the Pros at Lembeh Resort in December
For more information or to reserve your place, contact us on: reservations@LembehResort.com
The Final Round Will Decide The Winner: Vote HERE!
There are only 6 hours left to vote for your favorite image in the final, wide angle round of this year’s Shootout. Team Lembeh were up against the elements yesterday as they had showers, currents, cloudy spells and tricky dive site logistics to overcome but nevertheless, the participants dug deep to produce the best wide angle possible shots possible. The final portfolio was analysed by Team Leader Alex Mustard and the Team until the final 13 images were submitted for judging last night. From tropical mangroves to critters and stunning reef shots, Team Lembeh produced an outstanding set of images.
It was a long evening of editing final images after shooting wide angle
The competition is anyone’s for the taking at this stage so we need your votes – please vote for the final time this year – thank you!
VOTE NOW ON: WWW.UWSHOOTOUT.COM
Check Your Regional Voting Times:
London: 21.00 Thursday 21st June – 21.00 Friday 22nd June
New York: 16.00 Thursday 21st June – 16.00 Friday 22nd June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Thursday 21st June – 13.00 Friday 22nd June
Gulen / Berlin: 22.00 Thursday 21st June – 22.00 Friday 22nd June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Friday 22nd June – 04.00 Saturday 23rd June
From tropical mangroves to coral reef scenes and critters, Participants explored Lembeh’s best wide angle opportunities
Support Team Lembeh and Vote HERE For Your Favorite Wide Angle Shot
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
Shoot-Out and Clean Up
Today Team Lembeh have a day of finally kicking back and making some relaxing, pressure free dives – or just relaxing! It also happened to be one of our regular clean-up days so our clean-up dive team, along with Shootout Team Leader Alex Mustard headed out to Retak Larry to collect marine debris, which they brought back to Lembeh Resort for sorting and disposing of responsibly.
Team Leader joins Lembeh Resort for the underwater clean up at Retak Larry
After casting their own online votes and diving this morning it’s now just a case of waiting for the final round of votes to be counted and a winner declared for this years Shootout! Once the results are in at 4am tomorrow morning (Lembeh time), the prize pool will be known and after the final team breakfast at 7am there will be the awards ceremony at 8am before the participants start to make their ways back home.
There is a prize pool of gold and silver prizes for the first and second placed resort respectively.
Please do help Lembeh by voting for your favorite underwater scene and cast your vote for the final time in this years Lembeh Vs. Gulen Shootout!
VOTE NOW FOR THE FINAL ROUND: WIDE ANGLE
Voting is OPEN:
London: 21.00 Thursday 21st June – 21.00 Friday 22nd June
New York: 16.00 Thursday 21st June – 16.00 Friday 22nd June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Thursday 21st June – 13.00 Friday 22nd June
Gulen / Berlin: 22.00 Thursday 21st June – 22.00 Friday 22nd June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Friday 22nd June – 04.00 Saturday 23rd June
Support Team Lembeh and Vote HERE For Your Favorite Wide Angle Shot
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
From all of us as The Shootout we would also like to say a HUGE thank you to all of this years sponsors who have provided an incredible array of prizes for the winners including 2 liveaboard trips, several week long dive and stay packages in Indonesia, Norway and the Philippines, dive gear and accessories, dive lights, solid silver jewelry, dive trips, vouchers and more!
Do you want to join an underwater photography event at Lembeh Resort? In December we are extremely excited to be holding our 7th Capturing Critters in Lembeh underwater photography workshop. This annual workshop sees THREE world class Photo Pros descend on Lembeh Resort for a week of underwater photography training sessions, presentations, phenomenal dives and one on one guidance. We are delighted to be welcoming Tobias Friedrich, Brandi Mueller and Brent Durand as the hosts of this years event.
Join the Pros at Lembeh Resort in December
For more information or to reserve your place, contact us on: reservations@LembehResort.com
LEMBEH WINS ROUND TWO
THE NORWEGIANS ARE CLOSING IN WITH ONLY WIDE ANGLE LEFT TO GO
In the early hours of this morning (4am Lembeh time), voting closed on the Fish and Invertebrates category and Lembeh was declared the second round winner. Lembeh dominated the podium with 1st place going to Nick More’s stunning coconut octopus in a shell shot (Below), 2nd place went to Marteyne Van Well with her incredible close up of a mantis shrimp’s eyes and the 3rd place spot was taken by Greg Sherman with his dramatic, back-lit seahorse.
Nick More’s winning shot for Lembeh in Round 2 of a coconut Octopus
Although Team Lembeh have taken rounds one and two the voting gap between the teams was narrowed dramatically by Team Gulen in the second round of Fish and Invertebrates. With the winning resort being decided on most votes (pro rata basis according to number of participants), the third round could see Gulen win the Shootout if they deliver on wide angle – reminiscent of Lembeh’s late victory in 2016.
(left) 2nd place mantis shrimp, (right) 3rd place back lit seahorse
The highest placed images from the Team Gulen were in 4th and 5th position and taken by Galice Hoarau (Jellyfish) and Dag Leslie Hansen (Fish portrait) respectively. Lembeh again occupied the 6th and 7th place spots with Taner Atilgan’s hairy frogfish and Kellda Centeno’s cardinal fish.
4th (Jellyfish) and 5th (Dag Leslie Hansen) place were taken by Team Gulen in Round 2
As the Shootout enters the last day of shooting with everything at stake for both teams, what can we expect to see from Lembeh and Gulen in the wide angle round?
Lembeh’s Team Leader, Alex Mustard, is keen to capture a diverse range of shots from the Lembeh Strait and has chosen a wide spread of dive sites ranging from Angel’s Window and California Dreaming in the North, Batu Angus for it’s mangrove canopies through to muck diving classics including Rojos. Team Lembeh will be looking at reef-scapes and some of Lembeh’s larger critters such as coconut octopus and giant frogfish for close focus wide angle shots. Other possibilities for Lembeh include the swim through at Angel’s Window, soft corals at California Dreaming and yesterday’s practice day revealed several magnificent anemone with clown fish images – always crowd pleasers!
This morning in Lembeh the Team woke up to grey skies following a night of storms so poor visibility and a lack of sunlight are additional hurdles for the team in Indonesia to overcome.
Larger critters could feature in close focus wide angle shots for Lembeh in round 3.
Keri Wilk will also be making some strategic decisions for Gulen today regarding dive site selection. Norway is well known for it’s phenomenal wreck dives (see below) and kelp forests but the Gulen Team have been hampered this week by bad weather conditions and limited visibility. Early news from the Gulen camp is that they will not be venturing out to some of the wrecks which are deep dives and so limit bottom time – when there’s no guarantee of good shooting conditions at a time when the pressure is on.
The Frankenwald Wreck seems off the cards for Gulen due to tough conditions
Team Gulen need to do well in this round to take the lead – and the title from Lembeh but with both teams facing the elements it could be anyone’s shootout!
Check out Alex Mustard’s mid-day report from Lembeh Resort here:
VOTING SOON FOR THE FINAL ROUND: WIDE ANGLE
VOTE ON: WWW.UWSHOOTOUT.COM
Check Your Regional Voting Times:
London: 21.00 Thursday 21st June – 21.00 Friday 22nd June
New York: 16.00 Thursday 21st June – 16.00 Friday 22nd June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Thursday 21st June – 13.00 Friday 22nd June
Gulen / Berlin: 22.00 Thursday 21st June – 22.00 Friday 22nd June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Friday 22nd June – 04.00 Saturday 23rd June
Vote HERE For Your Favorite Wide Angle Shot
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
From all of us as The Shootout we would also like to say a HUGE thank you to all of this years sponsors who have provided an incredible array of prizes for the winners including 2 liveaboard trips, several week long dive and stay packages in Indonesia, Norway and the Philippines, dive gear and accessories, dive lights, solid silver jewelry, dive trips, vouchers and more!
Do you want to join an underwater photography event at Lembeh Resort? In December we are extremely excited to be holding our 7th Capturing Critters in Lembeh underwater photography workshop. This annual workshop sees THREE world class Photo Pros descend on Lembeh Resort for a week of underwater photography training sessions, presentations, phenomenal dives and one on one guidance. We are delighted to be welcoming Tobias Friedrich, Brandi Mueller and Brent Durand as the hosts of this years event.
For more information or to reserve your place, contact us on: reservations@LembehResort.com
VOTING FOR ROUND TWO FISH AND INVERTEBRATES IS OPEN
VOTE NOW ON: WWW.UWSHOOTOUT.COM
London: 21.00 Tuesday 19th June – 21.00 Wednesday 20th June
New York: 16.00 Tuesday 19th June – 16.00 Wednesday 20th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Tuesday 19th June – 13.00 Wednesday 20th June
Berlin: 22.00 Tuesday 19th – 22.00 Wednesday 20th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Wednesday 20th June – 04.00 Thursday 21st June
Vote HERE For Your Favorite FISH or INVERTEBRATE
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
LEMBEH’S TOUGHEST ROUND IS ON…..
Wide Angle Practice Day Begins
Last night was a late night here in Lembeh Resort as our participants pored through their fish entry images, selecting their best shots and editing. After submitting three images each to Team Leader, Alex Mustard, the images were reviewed and the final portfolio decided on by the group. It was a long day but everyone retired to their rooms in the evening content that Lembeh had put forward a wide selection of stunning shots which reflect the extreme biodiversity of the Lembeh Strait.
Today was the wide-angle practice day and this is the new round which has been introduced this year. Although Lembeh have high hopes of holding on to their lead in the fish and inverts category, after taking a look at Gulen’s entries this morning there is definitely a battle ahead.
Kellda Centeno, (3rd place in round 1), preparing for wide angle practice
Gulen is well known for it’s clear water and numerous wide angle opportunities ranging from wrecks, kelp forests, piers and seascapes. The will be Lembeh’s toughest challenge and the day started with an overcast sky and showers – not what Team Leader Alex was hoping for – although everyone agreed it’s better to have the rain on the practice day than on tomorrow’s competition day.
After debating last night which dive sites would give the best opportunities today, three sites were finally agreed on, based on their unique topographies and seascapes.
Angel’s window is perfect for wide angle.
Angel’s Window: This twin peaked coral pinnacle comes up to within a meter of the surface and features a large, swim-through cave. The site takes it’s name from when the sunlight shines through the cave early in the morning. Timing will be everything to get winning shots here.
California Dreaming: Located at the north end of the Lembeh Strait, California Dreaming is a submerged sea mount which offers kaleidoscopic soft corals and incredible underwater topography. This site will certainly the deliver the vibrant colors which Team Gulen will find hard to match.
Reef meets rainforest, could Batu Angus seal Lembeh’s victory?
Batu Angus: This could be Lembeh’s secret weapon which takes Team Gulen by surprise. It’s a lesser known Lembeh Strait dive site which offer’s a sheltered series of coral laden lava bowls and in the shallows there are overhanging mangroves which makes this site a melting pot of reef and rainforest. It will be dependant on having good sunlight but could play a serious part in Lenbeh’s arsenal.
Another option for Lembeh is to stick to what Lembeh is best known for – black sand, muck and critters! This beautiful wide-angle muck image by Alex Mustard goes to show that the black sand site here also have their wide-angle highlights too.
Wide angle is entirely possible on Lembeh’s muck sites
Find out more live from Lembeh Resort in Alex’s Day 5 video Blog. Alex shares some interesting tips and strategies for getting the best wide-angle shots in the Lembeh Strait….
Do you want to join an underwater photography event at Lembeh Resort? In December we are extremely excited to be holding our 7th Capturing Critters in Lembeh underwater photography workshop. This annual workshop sees THREE world class Photo Pros descend on Lembeh Resort for a week of underwater photography training sessions, presentations, phenomenal dives and one on one guidance. We are delighted to be welcoming Tobias Friedrich, Brandi Mueller and Brent Durand as the hosts of this years event.
For more information or to reserve your place, contact us on: reservations@LembehResort.com
REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR ROUND TWO: FISH AND INVERTEBRATES
VOTE NOW ON: WWW.UWSHOOTOUT.COM
London: 21.00 Tuesday 19th June – 21.00 Wednesday 20th June
New York: 16.00 Tuesday 19th June – 16.00 Wednesday 20th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Tuesday 19th June – 13.00 Wednesday 20th June
Berlin: 22.00 Tuesday 19th – 22.00 Wednesday 20th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Wednesday 20th June – 04.00 Thursday 21st June
Vote HERE For Your Favorite FISH or INVERTEBRATE
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
TEAM LEMBEH DOMINATE IN ROUND ONE OF THE SHOOTOUT
CHECK YOUR FISH AND INVERTEBRATE VOTING TIMES & VOTE:
London: 21.00 Tuesday 19th June – 21.00 Wednesday 20th June
New York: 16.00 Tuesday 19th June – 16.00 Wednesday 20th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Tuesday 19th June – 13.00 Wednesday 20th June
Berlin: 22.00 Tuesday 19th – 22.00 Wednesday 20th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Wednesday 20th June – 04.00 Thursday 21st June
Vote HERE For Your Favorite FISH or INVERTEBRATE
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
The results are in and Team Lembeh has taken the title of Nudibranch Round Winners from Gulen, who stormed this round in 2016!
Team Lembeh cleaned up the top of the nudibranch leader board with stunning images from all participants. The top 5 placings were all Team Lembeh entries as follows: 1. Neil Rosewarn (above left), 2. Liz Wagstrom (above middle), 3. Kellda Centeno, 4. Taner Atilgan, 5. Greg Sherman (above right). Congratulations to ALL Lembeh participants who produced stunning images and helped Lembeh to take victory at this early stage of the competition. Gulen won’t take this lying down so the challenge is on for shooting today’s fish and invertebrate competition shots!
3rd place went to Kellda Centeno (Team Lembeh) with this stunning shot
In 2016, fish and invertebrates were two separate rounds but in this years Shootout they have been merged to make way for a new wide angle round which will be round 3.
Taner Atilgan (Team Lembeh) took 4th with this double exposure image
Lembeh Resort were the underdogs coming into the fish round but took it by storm to seal their 2016 victory. Will we be able to keep Gulen at bay on this round for a second year? The Lembeh Strait is world famous for it’s diversity of marine life and offers an abundance of rare an unusual fish from tiny pygmy seahorses through to giant frogfish – and everything imaginable in between. However, Gulen can not be overlooked when it comes to invertebrates and their impressive seascapes, kelp, clear waters and wrecks could be tough to beat when it comes to wide angle.
Team Gulen’s highest placed entry by Dag Leslie Hansen took 6th place
Last night, after a tough practice day, Team Lembeh went through their day’s images together with Alex Mustard and started to strategize for the today’s competition round. Alex gave tips and talked about techniques for photographing the most iconic critters in the Lembeh Strait as well as developing a team strategy for ensuring a broad spectrum of critters are photographed to avoid similar competition entries within the team portfolio.
Lembeh’s weapons of choice for the 2018 Shootout!
Check out some of Alex’s fish and invertebrate competition tips here:
- Pictures of a species which other entrants have probably won’t win – numerous pictures of the same species will actually dilute each other when it comes to the public vote.
- Try to take an image which is unique, so don’t bunch together with other photographers, spread out and find a shot that can become your own.
- As a team, cover as many dive sites as possible to ensure diversity among the team portfolio.
- Think about lighting. If you are shallow enough to use ambient light it gives a very different effect to shooting with strobes.
- Capture images that are instantly eye catching and have a graphic punch which jump out at you immediately. A mimic octopus is an incredible critter but it’s brown colors on black sand don’t demand attention.
- Lembeh has a lot of different colorful background opportunities including anemones, sponges and fans. If you have a colorful subject, think about a black background to give it more impact.
Pygmy seahorse, Lembeh by Alex Mustard – Will a pygmy help Team Lembeh take the fish and inverts round?
CHECK YOUR FISH AND INVERTEBRATE VOTING TIMES & VOTE:
London: 21.00 Tuesday 19th June – 21.00 Wednesday 20th June
New York: 16.00 Tuesday 19th June – 16.00 Wednesday 20th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Tuesday 19th June – 13.00 Wednesday 20th June
Berlin: 22.00 Tuesday 19th – 22.00 Wednesday 20th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Wednesday 20th June – 04.00 Thursday 21st June
Vote HERE For Your Favorite FISH or INVERTEBRATE
(One Vote Only So Choose Carefully)
Check out Alex Mustard’s Day 3 Resort from Lembeh Resort!
Do you want to join an underwater photography event at Lembeh Resort? In December we are extremely excited to be holding our 7th Capturing Critters in Lembeh underwater photography workshop. This annual workshop sees THREE world class Photo Pros descend on Lembeh Resort for a week of underwater photography training sessions, presentations, phenomenal dives and one on one guidance. We are delighted to be welcoming Tobias Friedrich, Brandi Mueller and Brent Durand as the hosts of this years event.
For more information or to reserve your place, contact us on: reservations@LembehResort.com
Voting is OPEN for Round One NUDIBRANCH
CHECK YOUR FISH / INVERTEBRATE VOTING TIMES AND VOTE HERE:
London: 21.00 Sunday 17th June – 21.00 Monday 18th June
New York: 16.00 Sunday 17th June – 16.00 Monday 18th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Sunday 17th June – 13.00 Monday 18th June
Berlin: 22.00 Sunday 17th – 22.00 Monday 18th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Monday 18th June – 04.00 Tuesday 19th June
Vote for your favorite fish / invertebrate HERE
(ONE VOTE ONLY SO CHOOSE CAREFULLY)
Day 2 and Nudibranch Shooting Tips from Dr. Alex Mustard
Day 2 was an epic day of shooting here in Lembeh Resort – here we catch up with Dr. Alex Mustard to find are going after the first competition dive of the day…
Team Lembeh started the day in good spirits following an evening of working together on image selections. Participants have a clear view in their minds of what they wanted to capture during the dives and ideas from Alex about the best ways to achieve it.
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Nudifalls lived up to it’s name in the Strait
Team Lembeh lost the nudibranch round in 2016 to Team Gulen, who have an abundance of stunning flabellina nudibranch on their House Reef. Also to note is that for ALL rounds this year Team Lembeh is limited to three 60 minute dives on each competition day whereas Team Gulen can make an unlimited number of dives on competition days and stay down for an unlimited dive time. The dive time rules are to counter balance Lembeh’s generally easier dive conditions but has Lembeh been too generous to the Norwegian challengers? Will we get the winning shots in just 180 minutes of dive time. It’s a tough one to call as these two heavy weight nudibranch locations go head to head once again.
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Some nudibranch photography tips from Alex Mustard before the competition day
During Team Lembeh’s afternoon dives there was a split among the participants between those who thought they’d already captured their entry shot and those who were looking to capture something extra special. The previous evenings tips for capturing strong nudibranch images from Alex Mustard were of great use to all. Check them out here:
- Background: Try to position yourself to achieve the best background possible. If the background is not helping you then go in extra close and focus on a specific part of the nudibranch, closely crop the nudibranch or aim for a black background.
- Lighting: Think about where the light is coming from and ensure both rhinophores are well lit. The difference between having crisp or blurry rhinophores can make or break a competition entry.
- Composition: If capturing the full body of a nudibranch from head on try to aim for a diagonal, think about negative space which accentuates the subject rather than detracts from it. Think carefully about what you are trying to achieve before taking the shot and use your surroundings to maximize the impact.
- Behavior: Whenever possible observe first and see what behavior the nudibranch is displaying – feeding, mating etc. “In action” images are always the most powerful.
- Shooting down: Although not usually recommended when shooting macro, some species of nudibranch do photograph well from above. Flabellina’s (aeolid nudibranch) can make particularly attractive images by shooting down but this is also dependent on having an interesting background.
- Get close, take your time and never touch, move or distress the creature for the sake of achieving the image you want. Nudibranch which are photographed in unnatural settings or which appear to have been manipulated in away way rarely win competitions and entries are often disqualified.
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Alex Mustard, limbering up for battle!
Last night team Lembeh pored over their best shots, edited to the best of their abilities, listened carefully to Alex’s advice and finally at 9.45pm our images were selected and uploaded to Norway for voting. Voting is now live for the nudibranch round:
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Rhinopias in the Lembeh Strait by Alex Mustard – we are hoping to find more!
Next Round? Fish and Invertebrate Competition Day Tuesday 19th June
Stay tuned – there will be more to come tomorrow as our fantastic team of 14 head out to shoot fish and invertebrates – the round which rocketed Lembeh to victory in 2016. Let’s hope the Strait and it’s inhabitants will cooperate and provide us with some more stunning images this year!
CHECK YOUR NUDIBRANCH VOTING TIMES AND VOTE HERE:
London: 21.00 Sunday 17th June – 21.00 Monday 18th June
New York: 16.00 Sunday 17th June – 16.00 Monday 18th June
Los Angeles: 13.00 Sunday 17th June – 13.00 Monday 18th June
Berlin: 22.00 Sunday 17th – 22.00 Monday 18th June
Singapore / Lembeh: 04.00 Monday 18th June – 04.00 Tuesday 19th June
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE
(one vote only so choose carefully)
It’s been two years since Lembeh Resort and Gulen Dive Resort went head to head in the most talked about underwater photography shootout in 2016 – and the re-match is now on!
This year, the fish and invertebrate categories have been rolled into one category, nudibranch remains the first category and the final category sees the introduction of a new wide-angle round. Will this help Lembeh as they venture out to shoot some of Indonesia’s best reefs or will Norway’s wrecks give Gulen the edge? It’s hard to tell at this stage but one thing is for sure – both teams will be diving hard and aiming to capture their best images yet.
Keri Wilk heads up Gulen for the second year
The world renowned Canadian Underwater Photography Pro Keri Wilk is leading the team at Gulen Dive Resort for the second time running and will certainly be hoping to turn the tables in this year’s event. Lembeh Resort have seen a team leader shift from Tobias Friedrich in 2016 to having heavy weight Alex Mustard now at the helm. Alex is certainly no stranger to the Shootout though as he was the online judge in 2016.
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Alex Mustard is the team leader for Lembeh Resort (pictured with Wetpixel’s Abi Mullens)
In the 2016 event, Gulen participants outnumbered those in Lembeh Resort but this year Lembeh has the larger team (14 in Lembeh Vs 10 in Gulen) – will this give Lembeh more of an edge or will it be a smaller team that once again conquers? There is every thing to play for!
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Greg Sherman & Nick More who were on the 2016 winning team have returned to Lembeh Resort
This year in Lembeh Resort we are extremely excited to welcome back Nick More and Greg Sherman – both of whom were members of the Lembeh Resort winning team in 2016. We are looking forward to hearing their advice for the fellow team mates this year!
The Shootout format is much the same as in 2016 with there being one practice day followed by one completion day for each of the three categories and voting following, online at uw.shootout.com
Remember to cast your votes and help lead your favorite diving destination to victory!
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)
Nudi image from Gulen by Alex Mustard – Lembeh lost the nudibranch round in 2016 – can we win in 2018?
Practice Day One: NUDIBRANCH
Yesterday saw the Lembeh participants head out into the Lembeh Strait on a mission to find the Strait’s hottest nudibranch spots and get to grips with taking stunning images of these colorful critters. Participants headed out on two boats headed up by Alex and Abi Mullens from Wetpixel.
After three phenomenally productive dives an evening of selecting images from each participant followed by evaluating the overall group portfolio. Questions were fired fast and furiously: Who will be voting? What will win the votes? A rare species or a pretty picture? To crop or not to crop? At the end of the evening, and a few beers later, the portfolio was decided on and everyone headed to bed to get rested for the “real deal” happening today – the first competition round. Check out Lembeh’s Day 1 update here from Dr. Alex Mustard:
We’ll be posting daily updates online and voting notifications on both the critters@Lembeh Resort, and The Shootout Facebook pages but voting MUST be through the website:
Vote for your favorite nudibranch HERE (one vote only so choose carefully)