Awards

Alan James and Heather Hammond have won numerous awards for their underwater work. Here are some of their recent accolades.

• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003

2007

BSoUP Splash-In Plymouth

Alan won both 1st and 2nd prize in the close-up category with his shots of a Candy-Striped Flatworm (which was also runner-up for the grand prize) and a Nudibranch, respectively. He also won the fish category with his study of a male Cuckoo Wrasse.

2006

BSoUP Splash-In, Plymouth

Alan won 1st with this lobster image in the Digital Close up- the Prize was the Image Centre Trophy.

This picture also took the Grand Prize and this was judged as the best shot taken on the day by a panel of judges comprising Kelvin Boot, Director of the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth; John Boyle, freelance videographer; and Colin Doeg, co-founder of BSoUP [standing in for Tony Backhurst]. Alan received a fabulous one week liveaboard holiday in the Red Sea.

Alan also won Third in the Digital Close Up with this image of a Corkwing wrasse

Finally Alan was 3rd in the British Prints Competition with this Seal image

2005

Bristol Underwater Photographers Group- Portfolio 1st Prize
BSoUP Open Portfolio Competition- 4th place

Another success for Heather with this lovely portfolio- first prize in the local BUPG portfolio competition and fourth place in the national British Society of Underwater Photographers Open Portfolio competition.

BSoUP International Focus On- Third Place

Heather won Third Place in the prestigious competition with this stunning image.

The British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP) introduced its first ever International Focus-On competition on 17 August 2005.

Photographers from around the world were invited to send one image to compete with the United Kingdom's finest photographers.

This competition was free to enter, and open to all photographers and will be judged by the audience of attendees at the BSoup society's meeting on 17 August.

More details...

BSoUP Splash-In 2005

At the British Society of Underwater Photographers' annual Splash-In, held at Mountbatten in Plymouth, Alan scooped First Prize in the Open Print Category with his superb image of a Coral Grouper and Cleaner Shrimp.

More on how this shot was taken...

More images from the Splash-In...

More images from this portfolio...

2004

SUBIOS 2004

Alan was the Digital Image winner in 2003, which resulted in a free return trip to compete in SUBIOS 2004. Whilst attending the Seychelles SUBIOS International Film Festival October 10th - 17th 2004, one of Alan's Whale Shark shots was voted the winning Image of the "SUBIOS Shoot Out" 2004 and will result in yet another Free return trip to compete in SUBIOS 2005 which will take place May 19th- 22nd 2005. Details on this competition can be found on the www.subios.sc.

St Abbs Marine Reserve Splash-in 2004

BSoUP Splash-in 2004

This was the first On The Day Digital competition held by BSoUP at the Mountbatten Centre in Plymouth. This competition, in which entrants must obtain their images on the day, proved quite a challenge due to unseasonably poor weather conditions. Alan's Image of Jewel Anemones, taken with the Nikon D100 won first place.

2003: A sucessful year!

All of these awards were won with images taken using housed digital SLR cameras:

• Image 2003- Special British Awards: Highly Commended, Silver medal, Gold medal
• Image 2003- Grand Master Awards: Bronze medal, Silver medal
• Image 2003- Grand Master Portfolios- Bronze medal
• Subios 2003- Bronze medal, Gold medal
• BSoUP Splash-In 2003: First, Second and Third prizes in the print competition.

IMAGE 2003 Digital Success!!

The Eleventh International Festival of Underwater photography and Film is sponsored by Diver magazine in association with the British Society of Underwater photographers.

It has long been recognised as the worlds biggest and most celebrated competition for underwater photographers and film makers with its awards presentations and a splendid print exhibition conducted at DIVE 2003 at the NEC.

SPECIAL BRITISH AWARDS

In this years awards Heather Hammond was Highly Commended for her shot of a Cuttlefish Eye taken on her first dive using her new Fuji Finepix S2pro camera in a Sea & Sea housing fitted with a 'POPs' ring flash.

Alan James was awarded the Silver Medal for his digital portrait of a Compass Jellyfish taken at the most westerly point in Europe: The Blaskett Islands, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland.

The Gold Medal also went to Alan for his splendid digital wide angle natural light image of a mature Basking Shark taken off of Black Head, The Lizard, Cornwall.

GRAND MASTER SECTION
MARINELIFE/PEOPLE/SCENERY

AWARDS:
COMPASS JELLYFISH BRONZE MEDAL
BASKING SHARK SILVER MEDAL

Quote by Nigel Eaton:
"British diving can never be all things to all divers. When it comes to underwater photography , for instance, there are some tough challenges.

"It was therefore no surprise, at the judging of Image 2003 to see British entries lagging behind those from warmer climes

"That said images such as Alan James' portrait of a Basking Shark won not only a British Gold medal but also a Silver Medal in the Masters world wide Marinelife category to show just what can be achieved."

GRAND MASTER SECTION
PORTFOLIOS

This Portfolio presentation of six images was produced from just eight days diving at KBR on the Lembeh Straits, Sulawesi.

During this short visit during March 2003 Alan took 2980 digital macro portraits and symbiotic relationship images of 126 subjects.

The portfolio was arranged to show three eye catching red portraits in landscape format of a staggered formation to contrast with three similar blandly coloured symbiotic shots all taken in portrait format.

Balancing mixed formats on a theme and achieving harmony created by compositional choice and subject position while providing impact by colour co-ordination is what this portfolio is all about

AWARDS: BRONZE MEDAL

SUBIOS 2003
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Subios International film festival opened its doors to a digital stills category for the first time this year. Images were judged in an open category and could have been taken underwater anywhere in the world.

The competition rules allowed for the following editing changes only: Cropping, resizing, adjustments to levels, curves, Sharpness, colour balance, brightness and contrast,

Images were to be submitted as Tiff or Jepg format with a minimum size of 1024 X 768 pixels.

AWARDS

Alan took the Bronze Medal and Dolphin trophy with a symbiotic portrait of a Snake eel and cleaner shrimp taken during march 2003 in the Lembeh straits, Sulawesi.

Also the Gold Medal, Dolphin Trophy and a free trip to the Seyshelles to enter next years Subios shoot out competition on the 14-17th of October 2004 with his nocturnal image of a flying gurnard also taken in Sulawesi.

Watch our trips and courses section if you are interested in either entering this competition next year or perhaps joining us in the Seyshelles for the shoot out.