Red Sea Diving Safari has just announced the winner of the latest video competition judged by Scubaverse’s very own Jeff Goodman who runs Video workshops at all the RSDS resorts.

Jeff writes about his choice for the winner and comments on all the other entries:

“Difficult choice. Good videos by everyone. It is obvious that each entrant enjoyed their underwater experiences. Here are some comments.

Video 1.  Nice opening followed by some great wildlife shots. All nicely framed with good exposure. The video had a ‘good feel’ to it and the music was the right mood for the shots. Perhaps the entire video was a little too long. Moritz obviously loves being underwater.

Video 2. Great effort but it was really difficult to see what was going on in the shot. Florian could try to get closer to the subjects and be at eye level if possible. Although the video was only a single shot there is no reason why this should not be entered into the competition but even if the action is good, the subject does have to be close so the audience can see what is happening. Dare I say, come on one of my courses and let me show you how best to film these great bits of behaviour.

Video 3.  Mixed feelings about this one. It certainly showed the great excitement of seeing the Dugong and the effort needed to get some great shots of it. But, I would have like to have seen a message somewhere in the video or perhaps even narration to say that chasing such animals as the Dugong can harass it to the point of stress and panic. Although this did not look the case in this instant as the boat driver obviously knew what he was doing. What we should be trying to avoid is encouraging inexperienced drivers and their guests chasing the dugong and other marine species in a harmful way.

Having said that, the images were really nice and I am glad you had the experience of seeing this wonderful animal.

Video 4.  Sascha put a lot of though into this and has put together some lovely shots. Good framing and exposure. Had a nice feel to it and certainly showed the wealth of marine life to be found on the Red Sea reefs. My suggestion would be to now try and make a few sequences of different subjects and try to move on to the next stage of your video making.

Video 5. Great video. Loved the slow motion at the beginning. Nice conservation graphics to make the video more poignant. Good choice of music but I think one track would have been enough. In others words the video could have been shorter and still put across the conservation message. All nicely shot, well exposed and framed and good animal behaviour. The written introduction to the video was good and certainly worth doing. Well done and please do keep going.

Now to make a decision on the winner. I think it has to be Video 1 from Moritz Pechtold.”

The latest entries and rules for future RSDS competitions can be seen here.

If you would like information on RSDS’s underwater Video Courses click here. You can contact Jeff directly at uwv@scubaverse.com.