WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: Black & White Underwater by Hank H

Winning Video:

Hi all, hope you are getting in some enjoyable diving and videography. The seasons have become very unpredictable the last few years and are taking a toll on all animal life that cannot adapt quickly enough. This is especially noticeable on land with birds and insects but is also happening underwater with animals that rely on predictable sea temperatures to breed and feed successfully. Help fight climate change or sooner than later we will all be searching for things to film that may have been in abundance just a few years ago.

Great films this month and the winner for me is Black & White Underwater by Hank H. The images were quite magical, and the very effective slow motion was enhanced by the black and white treatment.

See you next month.

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Open big mouth of Frogfish by Steven_taiwan

Beautiful opening shots. What a wonderful animal. Liked the music, made me quite sleepy and relaxed as I watched. Nice ending too. Well shot with very good lighting enjoyed the simplicity of the video.

Baby of crown fish and tiny creatures by Steven_taiwan

Love the images of the eggs. Looked like a crowd of tall ghostly people looking at me. Great lighting and picture framing. As with the frogfish video, this was very relaxing and enjoyable to watch. The cuttlefish was magical. There seemed to be a slight issue with the music volume changing in a few places.

Fearless mantis shrimp by Steven_taiwan

That was so good. The music was perfect. It gave the Mantis Shrimp real attitude. Loved the way you just held the shot and let it develop. Nice lighting.

Deep dive in Dauin by divejackdive

Well done.Nice to have that educational feel to the narration. Having started with narration it would have been good to go a little further and tell us a bit more about the animals behaviour. The music worked well but there seemed to be a background noise throughout. I couldn’t guess what it was but I assume it wasn’t part of the music track. It sounded a bit like the cameras auto focus working overtime. You have some lovely images on the video which were all well shot and lit. Your camera work is very steady.

Black & White Underwater by Hank H

Yes indeed, black and white images can be very dramatic but is often used just to try and do something different and is not as effective as one might have hoped. But you really made it work. I thought the Ray swimming with the sand falling off it’s back in slow motion was particularly spectacular. You gave the images a wonderful surreal feeling with the music. Great film.

Deep Dive 2 by divejackdive

Hi Jack. As in your other film you have captured some stunning images but as with the other film, I felt I wanted to hear more narration with more facts about behaviour. The background noise was there again……..

Ornate Ghost Pipefish by divejackdive

What a stunning animal. Very nicely filmed and framed. As you are now part way down the road to narrating your films, have a good look at some TV clips or even wildlife films on YouTube. See how narration is woven into a film and when done well, delivers a wealth of interesting information  and so can make even a long film more enjoyable to watch.

Ocellarios Clownfiah with eggs by Nus Lobbu

I do enjoy these long developing shots. Lots going on in frame giving the audience time to see the fish in action. The following egg shots were lovely. Very steady macro camera work and very well lit.

Camouflage by Nus Lobbu

Remarkable camouflage. You did well to spot them in the first place. Perfect steady shots. What a tragedy though that it was with a plastic bag and not natural reef. The pictures spoke for themselves but it would have been good to have had just a little background information.

Seapen crab with eggs by Nus Lobbu

Your macro shots really are excellent. Once again, so nice to watch a single developing shot.

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The August competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.

WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: A Film Celebrating World Ocean Day 2021 by Ayub Mooduto

Winning Video:

Not too sure where time goes these days, but here we are, another month gone by. Hope you all had a good one. Quite a variety of film styles this time and I enjoyed watching them all. There was one clear winner this month: A Film Celebrating World Ocean Day 2021 by Ayub Mooduto. There was a lot of thought and work put into this film and the result was a top quality production.

Have fun diving and filming. See you next month.

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A Film Celebrating World Ocean Day 2021 by Ayub Mooduto

Very professionally made film with great videography and excellent script which was narrated perfectly. The sequence structure was very good and well edited. A powerful film. I hope it gets a good public viewing. The music was spot on and enhanced the images. It was good to have the complete script written out as well as spoken as it allows the audience to re-visit information easily.

St Abbs Guillemots by Jason Melton

It’s an incredible feeling to underwater with ‘flying’ birds. They are remarkable and a pure joy to watch.  You filmed the encounter well and I particularly liked the slow motion when one of the birds came close. It was quite stunning,  Perfect music choice.

Those with shells by Kris Mears

Great subject and some lovely images. Your macro camera work is very steady and sharp. Excellent lighting and exposure. Good music choice.

One year, one minute – an underwater adventure by Andrea Torresan

That was a nice idea. Beautiful images with great upbeat music. What a year!

Dive the House Reef by divejackdive

Excellent quality. Good camera work with steady tracking shots. What a nice place to have as a house reef. While it was lovely to see the vistas of the reef and the healthy coral, it would have been good see in close up a bit more of the individual marine life species in such a long film.

Wart frogfish fishing by divejackdive

That was really nice. Stunning fish. You filmed it really well with excellent lighting and exposure.

Flamboyant cuttlefish hunting by divejackdive

Liked the graphics. Your opening image was lovely with the very charismatic cuttlefish. It’s pulsating body was a treat to see. You are obviously;y a very patient videographer to get such behavioural shots and keep it all in focus. The music worked well.

Mythical Creature by Keryn McCoy

Beautiful image. Simple but lovely to watch. Sharp, perfectly lit and exposed.

Church by Alex Chiu

What a location! Interesting way of filming it. You certainly captured the ambiancen of the site.

Whale shark by Alex Chiu

That was different. I don’t really like to see animals being harassed by crowds of people but the shark seemed very relaxed and I was relieved not to see any one trying to climb on it’s back. You did a good job filming it and the above water shot worked really well. I had to smile at the selfie.

underwater volcano by Alex Chiu

HI Alex. Short but dynamic.

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The July competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.