Live Reports: The Shootout 2018

by Abi Smigel Mullens Saturday, June 16th, 2018

Day 3 - Practice Day

Team Lembeh

Today was a practice day between Nudibranch competition day and Fish & Invertebrates competition day. The energy at the resort was much more relaxed today and everyone was excited to switch subjects after focusing so much on nudibranchs for a couple days in a row. There is still time to vote on your favorite Nudibranch if you haven’t already!

Before heading out for a day of diving we all gathered together for a team shot, including our faithful underwater camera rigs.

A close-up of the equipment used by participants in The Shootout

Nick and Greg participated in the Shootout in 2016 and definitely have embraced the spirit for this year’s competition.

Ready to hit another day of diving in Lembeh Strait and focus on a new batch of subjects

Some competitors are extra focused on their diving

Even the dive guides were fired up for another day of The Shootout

Some subjects are just too desirable for the photographers to pass by

Scouring the dive sites for competition winning subjects

Some of the dive sites in Lembeh are quite rural, while some are very industrial. Just the appeal of diving here.

Check back tomorrow when we will have updates on the resulting images from competition day 4! Until then, there is still time to vote for your favorite nudibranch!

Team Gulen

The third day of The Shootout dawned greY and rainy at Gulen Diver Resort. Today’s aim was to practice for the Fish and Invertebrates contest day tomorrow and to explore the photographic opportunities for the category.

Team captain Keri Wilk gave a presentation about creating memorable (and vote-getting) images. The team then all set out to put his advice into practice.

Temperate waters present a challenge for finding and photographing these subjects.

The visibility and dense kelp beds make finding critters a challenge and low light levels make capturing them creatively difficult.

The team are doing an amazing job of finding subjects. In the case of invertebrates, they are largely sedentary so there is a reasonable chance that the critters that the team find today will still be in the same place tomorrow on the contest day…

Of course, fish are a different matter! The local divers here at Gulen are sharing their knowledge of where to find suitable subjects. There is no guarantee that they will be there for the contest day though!

The results of the first nudibranch round went live at 10pm local time. A narrow margin gave victory to Team Lembeh. Team Gulen extend their warmest congratulations, but be warned that they are going all out to win the next one!

Day 1 - Nudibranch Practice Day
Day 2 - Competition Day
Day 3 - Fish and Inverterbrate Practica Day
Day 4 - Fish and Invertebrate Competition Day
Day 5 - Wide angle practice day
Day 6 - Wide angle competition day