Nature’s Best Photography and Divers Alert Network (DAN) are proud to announce our new alliance to host the third annual Ocean Views Photography Awards, open to all levels of photographers from around the world. Share your passion for the ocean to help inspire a global audience to learn about and protect this fragile realm. A selection of winning images will appear in an upcoming edition of Nature’s Best Photography and Alert Divers magazine, and will be featured on Pixcetera, Discovery Network International, and other online galleries. Celebrate the ocean through the art of photography.

PRIZES: $2,010 (US) cash • 9-night dive trip to Papua New Guinea with Peter Hughes Diving© • 5-night dive trip at Marina Del Mar, Key Largo, Florida with Ocean Divers© • Scubapro© regulator • Henderson Aquatics© his and hers H2 titanium wetsuits • Backscatter© gift certificate • Ikelite© DS160 digital strobe and charger • DAN© Dive Safety Kit.

DEADLINE: March 1, 2010

Submit up to 20 of your very best images in these topics for an entry fee of $25 US dollars:
• Ocean weather: waves, storms, rain, fog, lightning
• Beaches, shores, estuaries, tide zones, tide pools
• Tropical and temperate reef ecosystems
• Shallow-shore and deep-water environments
• All living things that depend upon the oceans: fish, mammals, birds, plants, etc., in or near the water
• Natural feeding, breeding, and other behavior
• Geologic processes or features on seashores or in the ocean
• People enjoying the ocean environment
• Submersibles and mini-subs
• Sunken vessels
• SCUBA, hard hat, and free diving, snorkeling

Important: All images must be taken in the wild of natural settings and behaviors.
No captive animals will be considered and no entrapment of any kind is permissible.

Competition Link / Set Reminder

The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is beginning its annual search for the best and most astonishing images from around the world, whether they come from the wildest places on Earth or urban gardens. With the bar being raised each year, the 2009 competition promises to be bigger and more inspiring than ever before.

‘This is the greatest and most prestigious competition for wildlife photographers anywhere in the world. It raises the profile of wildlife photography and provokes a wider awareness of wildlife conservation. It is not just professionals who are successful – amateurs of all ages have won awards in the competition many times. In recent years the judges have been particularly impressed by the standard of images being produced by many young people.’ Mark Carwardine (Chairman of the judges)

The winning photographer will be presented with £10,000 at an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London, in October. Each category winner receives £500 and every runner-up £250. Special Award winners receive £1,000.

Info:
online entry fee: £20
postal entry fee: £27 (CDs only)
closing date for online entries: Friday 27 March 2009

Veolia Environnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year
If you are 17 years or younger, this is the competition for you. You can enter pictures of any wild animals, plants or landscapes. The judges will be looking for original, beautiful or striking shots rather than rare or exotic subjects. Creatures or places close to home that you know well or have easy access to may be your best subjects.
The three categories are: 10 years and under, 11–14 years, 15–17 years
The winning photographer will receive £500 and a day out with a well-known wildlife photographer. Category winners will receive £250 and runners up £100.

Adult categories
You can enter up to three digital images or scans of transparencies in each of the following categories.

1. Animals in Their Environment
Images in this category must show how the animal fits into its natural home and convey a sense of place. Remember, the environment is as important a part of the picture as the animal itself, allowing you to tell a story and reveal more about your subject.

2. Behaviour: Birds
3. Behaviour: Mammals
4. Behaviour: All Other Animals
Images must capture a memorable, unusual or interesting behaviour. It is crucial to show genuine behaviour (just looking or sitting isn’t enough). Judges will look for images with an aesthetic appeal, a unique interest value and dramatic action.

5. The Underwater World
Images must feature marine or freshwater life taken under water. A combination of interest value and aesthetic appeal is just as important underwater as on land. See a list of top ten tips (PDF 1.5MB) for underwater photographers from Project AWARE

6. Animal Portraits
Portraits should capture the unique character or spirit of the subject. Images should be imaginative and convey a sense of intimacy and immediacy.

7. In Praise of Plants
Pictures should capture the beauty, diversity and importance of plant life. The judges will be looking for artistic merit rather than a simple scientific record.

8. Urban and Garden Wildlife
Look for nature on your doorstep, and capture images that are unusual, poignant, beautiful or striking compositions of wild animals or plants in urban or suburban settings. Judges will be looking for uncommonly good images of common subjects.

9. Nature in Black and White
The judges will be looking for skilful use of the black and white medium, where pure graphic quality and a well composed image can often increase the intensity. Sepia tone images are allowed. The subject can be any wild landscape, animal, plant or other living organism.

10. Creative Visions of Nature
Photographs should reveal new ways of seeing natural subjects or scenes, conveying an imaginative, unique or abstract view of wildlife or wild places. Realism takes a back seat in this category – the judges will be looking for artistic vision and true originality. Let your imagination run wild.

11. Wild Places
Images should show scenes that are truly wild and awe-inspiring. But there is much more to it than a breathtaking landscape – the judges will be looking for beautiful light, a true feeling of wilderness and a sense of awe.

Special Awards

Eric Hosking Award
This award encourages and rewards the talents of young photographers aged 18–26. You must submit a portfolio of 10 images you think represents your very best work. Judges will choose five or more images for the winning portfolio.
Prize: £1,000

Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife
This highly important award raises our awareness of endangered species through photographic excellence. The images must be memorable and capture the unique character or spirit of the subject.

Species photographed must be categorised in the 2008 IUCN Red List as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or near threatened at an international or national level (if the latter, please supply details).
Prize: £1,000

One Earth Award
Photography plays a critical role in conservation, and this award seeks to highlight conservation issues or actions. Don’t rely on the shock value of your subject – the judges will be looking for genuine photographic merit. Remember to focus on positive messages as well as negative ones. Images can be graphic or symbolic, but must be thought provoking, memorable and encourage respect or concern for our natural world.
Prize: £1,000

Judges
Mark Carwardine (Chair) zoologist, writer and photographer
Jack Dykinga, landscape photographer
Laurent Geslin, photographer
Chris Gomersall, wildlife photographer
Orsolya Haarberg, nature photographer
Josef (Sepp) Hackhofer, nature photographer
Tim Harris, manager, nature and garden collections, Photoshot
Tony Heald, wildlife photographer
Rosamund Kidman Cox, editor and writer
Jan-Peter Lahall, photographer
Tor McIntosh, picture editor
Vincent Munier, nature photographer
Erik Sampers, photo director, Terre Sauvage
Brian Skerry, marine wildlife photojournalist
Sophie Stafford, editor, BBC Wildlife Magazine

Competition Link / Set Reminder

International Underwater Image & Video Competitions Celebrate The Beauty, Mystery & Plight of The Oceans With Categories For All Levels From Novices To Professionals

Photographers of all levels will help celebrate the beauty, Mystery and delicacy of the marine environment as the 4th annual international underwater photography and video competition series hosted by UnderwaterCompetition.com kicks off this week. The competition has become the “Superbowl” of international underwater imagery competitions, with over $75,000 of world-class prizes, major industry involvement, and the opportunity to have your images showcased to the world as some of the best. Esteemed judges include leading professional underwater photographers, cinematographers and magazine editors from around the world.

The unique competition series was founded by professional underwater photographers Jason Heller & Eric Cheng and hosted by popular websites DivePhotoGuide and Wetpixel. The series is held in association with two leading scuba diving expos on opposite sides of the world, simultaneously – Our World Underwater, now in its 39th year and one of the largest consumer scuba diving expos in the US, and DEEP Indonesia, the first and only scuba diving and watersports expo in Indonesia.

Participants will compete in technical, themed and video categories, to win more than $75,000 in prizes including premium dive travel, underwater photo and video equipment, scuba diving gear and more! Dive packages include trips to some of the top photo destinations in the world. A complete list of sponsors and prizes are listed on the website.

New this year is a novice category in the Our World Underwater competition, which opens up the competition to a far greater number of scuba divers who are casual underwater photographers.

Deadline for submissions Jan 15, 2009

Winners for each respective competition will be announced live on stage at either the Our World Underwater film festival in Chicago (February 20-22, 2009), or at DEEP Indonesia in Jakarta (March 27 – 29, 2009), and will be published by our supporting media partners worldwide. Winning videos will be broadcast via podcast as episodes of the iTunes-featured DiveFilm Podcast Video and DiveFilm High Definition Podcast Video

15% of entry proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts.

Competition Link / Set Reminder