With the onset of the underwater photo/video competition season, it seemed only appropriate to talk about these types of competitions as a whole. In the United States, there are dozens of them. Many are somewhat localized, and others have grown in geography and popularity, to become coveted internationally. All of them are challenging, and all are about scuba diving. There are also numerous prestigious competitions to be found around the world.

Some are contests designed specifically for amateurs only in the spirit of offering exposure and credibility to these amateurs. Winning more than 2 or 3 first place awards in any major competition, selling a few images or productions, or even being an industry professional may disqualify an entrant. This affords the true amateur their first step at competing on a national and international level, without feeling intimidated by more experienced photographers. In these competitions, it is an absolute given that they will be compared with other amateurs.

Other competitions are designed to add a mix of both amateurs and veterans. It makes the competition stiffer, and the win that much sweeter. Veterans know they’ll have other common rivals they’ve pitted their skills against in previous competitions. Amateurs have little to lose, and fabulous honors to gain by having their entries advance into the final round, or receiving an honorable mention or even a prize status. Actually, newer photographers win the first place awards, more often than many would expect!

Each competition reflects a regional flavor and/or a global concern in their categories. California Marine Life is an appropriate category on the West Coast as is a Freshwater category in the Central Coast competitions, or a Shipwreck category on the East Coast. Shipwreck categories may include only those on the East Coast or they may include any shipwreck from across the globe, so be careful to read the rules explicitly.

Newer categories emerging include Creative, Conservation, Togetherness, and Majestic. Creative allows for computer manipulation and personal creativity in this age of technology, and Conservation addresses preservation needs, whether being a heart-wrenching photograph of needless by-catch or a video of a successful artificial reef. Togetherness and Majestic are subjective in nature and encourage an entrant’s imagination.

All of the competitions have their own rules of entry, with certain priorities. An entry in one competition depicting an action-packed shark feed may be disqualified because of environmental infringements of inducing the presence of the sharks with artificial bait. That same entry into a different competition could win first place for its photographic quality, without the extreme concern of how the shot was obtained. Entrants need to find out what priorities each competition holds, and follow their rules.

It should be emphatically noted here, that most competitions support responsible diving and environmental-conscious practices, and honor on the part of the photographer, plays a most important role. Except in certain Conservation categories where the impact is meant to make a statement, images showing any sort of abuse to the reef or its inhabitants are usually disqualified.

Other shots that may be eliminated are ones that display creatures in unnatural surroundings. It may be quite obvious to the judges that the subject, such as a flatworm, had been placed on a substrate background that is atypical for that specific creature. This is interpreted to mean someone had to handle the creature in order to create the background they sought, and thus can again disqualify the entry.

Judging teams can vary in their likes and dislikes from year to year, and contest to contest, depending on the members. Judging teams with only underwater photographers may only seek out the shots that were harder to obtain, whereas teams that include photographic art critics may tend to put more emphasis on shots that display better composition, or just plain sensuousness. This is not to say that composition doesn’t play a big role with underwater photographers, because it does. Its importance just may be given more weight in different circumstances.

How does an entrant know what shots will be considered good by a judging team? The criteria concentrated on by the judges include difficulty of shot, overall complete focus, color saturation, composition of the shot, and a lack of hot spots and backscatter in the photo. Of course, the impact of the photo is also very important. Many times an “ohhh” or “ahhh” can be heard slipping from one or more of the judges’ mouths as soon as they see a certain shot. These shots are usually ones that fare well in the competitions.

Another integral part of these competitions is the role sponsors play with their prize donations. Many of the prizes have retail values much above one or two thousand dollars. Quality dive operations and manufacturers are brought to the forefront of photographers’ minds, by instilling hopes and dreams of diving with them and/or their equipment. Each entrant thinks of winning, and visualizes him or herself in the respective tropical destinations, or diving with that new piece of gear.

This is exactly what the sponsors want, when a couple thousand entry forms are mailed out with their names and logos plastered all over. It gives exposure for the sponsors directly to divers that travel, dive, and photograph consistently. The sponsors also realize they have created a strong partnership with the competition directors, as the directors have a serious obligation to promote their individual sponsors in every way possible.

A number of diving magazines have also found it beneficial to be sponsors of some of these competitions, as they not only add quality photographs to their publications at their costs, but they display support for another diving-related event. Even magazines that are not exclusive sponsors of specific competitions will publish the press releases of any competitions, calling for entries. This shows their willingness to help perpetuate events designed to keep divers thinking about diving.

Finally, underwater photo/video competitions indirectly help the photographer develop his or her personal skills to a higher level of competence. The sharpening of photographic skills is not the only area that benefits. Photographers also improve their buoyancy, air consumption, and probably even a more enhanced understanding of marine creature behavior, helping them find the elusive, hard-to-get critters.

As these competitions grow, the number of good underwater photographers also increases; creating more available images that will help perpetuate a growing interest in the marine environment. This will serve to draw attention to the need for more conservation practices, thus preserving the marine environment for future diving experiences. Quite a lovely circle, if you ask me! Sea Ya!