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If you want to learn more about ocean environments, ecosystems and threats then the Project AWARE, Our World Our Water manual is for you. This 115 page book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding and preserving aquatic environments.
Our World Underwater 2019 Competition Winners Announced
By Ian Bongso-Seldrup, February 17, 2019 @ 06:00 AM (EST)
DPG and Wetpixel are proud to announce the winners of this year’s Our World Underwater International Underwater Photography and Video Competition, which were revealed at the Our World Underwater dive show in Chicago this weekend.
Our panel of esteemed judges—which included underwater imaging legend David Doubilet, filmmaking pioneers Howard and Michele Hall, and image-processing expert and underwater shooter Erin Quigley—pored over thousands of entries submitted by shooters from around the world. Some $55,000 in awesome gear and dive travel prizes were up for grabs, including $1,000 cash for the “Best of Show” image.
![Our Our](http://www.divephotoguide.com/images/lightboximage/orig/1456279232.jpg)
Ultimately, it was Belgian photographer Luc Rooman who claimed the “Best of Show” top prize for his beautifully composed image of mating frogs, which won Gold in the Wide Angle Unrestricted category. Britain’s Henley Spiers was also a big winner, clinching Gold in the Black and White category, Silver in Macro Traditional, and Silver in Macro Unrestricted. Our congratulations to all the winners—and honorable mentions—in the various categories.
The full set of winning images can be found on the UnderwaterCompetition.com site.
A HUGE THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
Gold – Wide Angle Unrestricted by Luc Rooman
Silver – Wide Angle Unrestricted by Matthew Sullivan
Bronze – Wide Angle Unrestricted by Nicholas Samaras
Honorable Mention – Wide Angle Unrestricted by Grant Thomas
Gold – Macro Unrestricted by Songda Cai
Silver – Macro Unrestricted by Henley Spiers
Bronze – Macro Unrestricted by Fabien Michenet
Honorable Mention – Macro Unrestricted by Songda Cai
Gold – Wide Angle Traditional by Pedro Carrillo
Silver – Wide Angle Traditional by Celia Kujala
Bronze – Wide Angle Traditional by Renee Capozzola
Gold – Macro Traditional by Virginia Salzedo
Silver – Macro Traditional by Henley Spiers
Bronze – Macro Traditional by Alessandro Giannaccini
Gold – Compact Cameras by Todor Dimitrov
Silver – Compact Cameras by Enrico Somogyi
Bronze – Compact Cameras by Enrico Somogyi
Honorable Mention – Compact Cameras by Andy Schmid
Gold – Black & White by Henley Spiers
Silver – Black & White by Nick Polanszky
Bronze – Black & White by Christian Vizl
Honorable Mention – Black & White by Jacob Degee
Gold – Video by Lee Burghard
Silver – Video by Lee Burghard
Bronze – Video by Mattias Granberg
Honorable Mention – Video by Atsushi Hori
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Andrea FerrariWhen they are not diving Andrea and Antonella Ferrari live in the countryside south of Milan, Italy, in a beautifully restored farm going back to the eighteenth century, with their beloved English Bull Terrier. After having...
Our World Underwater OWU 2020 is CANCELLEDThis is way more than us losing a weekend of fun, fellowship, sparkly objects, bad hotdogs, education, cheap plastic crap (CPC) from displayers, and the chance to see Pat Hammer, Karina and a host of other still-stinky SCUBA gods. I met NetDoc, Howard, Muggsy, did some stand-up presentations when I was mistaken for being relevant, honored to introduce Chatterton, Kohler and Cousteau, all that and more.OWU- First in a school auditorium, then the Hyatt O’hare, REC, then bobbling around, meshed with similar interest group shows, then what looked just great at the hotel in Des Plaines, it looked Iike it had life again.I sucked my first breath of compressed air in 1959. Guys had compressors in the garage, retail in the basement. (For you Northern Illinois types, recall the first Black Magic LDS). Divers has real pick up trucks, people gathered at tables in the back and smoked and drank while talking about what they were not doing just right now.There were quite a few shops.
Pick up a musty dive magazine, either one, Skin Diver or SCUBA Diver, note all the dive shops that used a 312 area code? There were, over the years, maybe 35 different ones listed. Do seven breathe in that (former 312) zone?Berry SCUBA, the original one. Nationally known for its SDM advertisements, but operated out of a 250 square foot back room.It was always a “niche” market. I do not believe any entity is to blame for the downfall.
People blame LDS, Agencies, Manufacturers, I just see it as people just don’t want this anymore. Vacation in paradise with an occasional Hookah dive or Resort Course. That’ll be it.It can undeniably be seen as a further brick in the wall. Maybe Patrick Hammer selling his shop to DRIS shows he's stepping back a bit?
He's been instrumental in OWU staying alive. A show is a helluva lot of work. I was on the committee for Scubafest in Columbus, Ohio for a few years which was much smaller. I live in Pa. Some of the other people were from Michigan.
Not enough locals wanted to put in the work to keep it going. Booking hotels is a pain. Just getting the drapes to divide spaces can be a nightmare. In larger venues, you need to deal with unions.It's not just rent a hall and let the vendors do their own work from then on. That would be nice but it doesn't happen that way. Local shows don't often also have the support of the local community.
Shops in some areas resent out of towners coming in so they decide not to support it. Then complain more when those get more business.Based on my experience with a small show, unless I were independently wealthy and didn't have to work, I wouldn't get involved in trying to be the head of another one. Maybe Patrick Hammer selling his shop to DRIS shows he's stepping back a bit?
He's been instrumental in OWU staying alive. A show is a helluva lot of work. I was on the committee for Scubafest in Columbus, Ohio for a few years which was much smaller. I live in Pa.
Some of the other people were from Michigan. Not enough locals wanted to put in the work to keep it going. Booking hotels is a pain. Just getting the drapes to divide spaces can be a nightmare. In larger venues, you need to deal with unions.It's not just rent a hall and let the vendors do their own work from then on. That would be nice but it doesn't happen that way. Local shows don't often also have the support of the local community.
Shops in some areas resent out of towners coming in so they decide not to support it. Then complain more when those get more business.Based on my experience with a small show, unless I were independently wealthy and didn't have to work, I wouldn't get involved in trying to be the head of another one. ScubaBoard.comScubaBoard.com is the world's largest scuba diving online community.
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