Indonesia World Underwater Photo Contest

Dr Alexander MUSTARD, 37 from the UK, trained and worked as a marine biologist, but since 2004 has worked full time as an underwater photographer and author.

His photographs have won many awards including, on multiple occasions, in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and British Wildlife Photography Awards. His most recent book Reefs Revealed won the International Grand Prize for the best book of underwater photographs at the World Festival of Underwater Photography, France. His photographs have been displayed in exhibitions around the world and a particular highlight was personally presenting his work to Queen Elizabeth II.

Alex s a regular contributor to many publications in the marine, wildlife, diving and photographic media, and to date has published more than 400 articles. His images are also regularly featured in other newspapers and magazines around the world. He is one of the photographers working on the 2020VISION conservation photography project in the UK.

One of the most unusual projects Alex has been involved in is Nissan's NV200 concept car built for the Tokyo Motor Show. The car was designed specifically around his needs as an underwater photographer working in the field. He is the inventor of the Magic Filters, filters designed specifically for available light underwater photography with digital cameras. He also runs highly popular underwater photography workshops at top diving destinations around the world.

Born in Hong Kong, educated in N.America, Stephen is a full time marine photojournalist since 1997. His work has taken him around the globe, from the Arctic Circle to the tip of Argentina.

Stephen's works have been published in over 20 countries and 100 individual journals & publications, including Ocean Realm, National Geographic, BBC Wildlife & GEO. His works have also appeared in more than 40 photo exhibitions, including UK's Natural History Museum, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History & Monterey Bay Aquarium. In 2009, Stephen and his wife (also a photojournalist), Takako Uno, have been inducted as members of the prestigious "Ocean Artists Society". Stephen has discovered one new species of Goby.

Stephen's images are featured in over 100# of books, including co-authorship of "Sipadan-Mabul Islands", "Celebrate the Sea", "An Ocean Odyssey" & "Gorontalo Hidden Paradise". He is also one of the guest photographers in Bernardo Sambra's "Oceans", Andrea & Antonella Ferrari's "Art of Underwater Photography", the Conservation International's "The Raja Ampat - through the lens of" and Nikon's "Discover Nikon".

Yoshi Hirata born 1955 in Tokyo, Japan. 39 years in diving world over 20000 dives.Studied marine biology in University of Hawaii. In the year 1992 started operated pcom diving service in Sipadan water village resort Mabul Island. Developed all diving site of Mabul area and made the island famous. Found over 10 new species and many behavioral ecology of marine life. Year 2003 moved to Cebu Philippines make Pcom Dream diving service and Club Paraiso Resort for marine photographers. One of the GURU and a highly distinguished art photographer.

Published "With ... My expression of love for the sea" "Oraga-umi". Adviser & coordinate - Japan National TV. Japan Underwater image. TBS. NTV.Thai TV. ets.

Even at the age of 27, Keri has accumulated 17 years of underwater photography experience. Educated as a mechanical engineer, he currently designs and develops products for ReefNet and is part of DivePhotoGuide.com's editorial team.

Keri's Photography has evolved to a tremendous degree since he took his first underwater shots. He began hiss career by shooting images to be used primarily in ReefNet's electronic marine life field guides, but soon grew bored of the monotony of clinical side-profile identification shots. Wanting more from his time underwater, he experienced his photographic horizons, hoping to capture images of interesting and unusual behaviors in the underwater world. His success in this field was impressive, winning him several international underwater photo competitions while he still teenager. Keri awarded over 100 awards in international underwater photography competitions. His underwater images has been published in numerous magazines, text books, websites, scientific journals, and advertising campaigns around the worlds.

Matt Weiss is the owner, publisher and editor-in-chief of DivePhotoGuide.com, a leading underwater photography media publication with over 50,000 worldwide monthly readers. Matt has been working full time at DPG since 2009, and is the world's only full time underwater photography editor. Matt also helped found the New York Underwater Photographic Society.

Matt spends over a third of the year in the field shooting assignments and running workshops for numerous print and digital publications. In 2011, Matt co-founded Scuba Diver Through The Lens, the world's first international underwater photography print magazine that is published quarterly and distributed in New York, Munich and Singapore.

Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine covering a wide range of subjects and stories.

An award-winning photographer, Brian is praised worldwide for his aesthetic sense as well as his journalistic drive for relevance. His uniquely-creative images tell stories that not only celebrate the mystery and beauty of the sea, but also help bring attention to the large number of issues that endanger our oceans and its inhabitants.

His nearly year-round assignment schedule frequently finds himself in environments of extreme contrast from tropical coral reefs to diving beneath polar ice. While on assignment he has lived on the bottom of the sea, spent months aboard fishing boats and traveled in everything from snowmobiles to canoes to the Goodyear Blimp to get the picture. He has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater over the last thirty years.

For NGM, Brian has covered a wide range of stories, from the harp seal’s struggle to survive in frozen waters to the alarming decrease in the world’s fisheries, both cover stories.

Other features have focused on subjects such as the planet's last remaining pristine coral reefs, the plight of the right whale, sharks of the Bahamas, marine reserves, sea turtles and squid. He is currently at work on his 21^th story for NGM.

Brian has also worked on assignment for or had images featured in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, US News and World Report, BBC Wildlife, GEO, Smithsonian, Esquire, Audubon, Men's Journal. His latest monograph Ocean Soul, released in 2011, has received worldwide acclaim.

Brian frequently lectures on photography and conservation issues having presented at venues such as TED Talks, The National Press Club in Washington, DC and the Royal Geographical Society in London. He is also a regular guest on programs such as NBC’s TODAY Show, CBS’s Sunday Morning, ABC’s Good Morning America. He is also the Explore-In-Residence at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

In 2010 National Geographic magazine named one of Brian’s images among their 50 Greatest Photographs Of All Time. He has had recent exhibits at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan, France and The G2 Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2012 he was honored with the Peter Benchley Award for excellence in Media. In 2013 an exhibit of Brian’s work will open at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

David Espinosa is the Brand Director of Sport Diver Global - Sport Diver (US) and Sport Diver Asia Pacific - that covers the world of the PADI Diving Society. While he oversees Sport Diver's global presence as Brand Director, he is also Editor-in-Chief of Sport Diver and Sport Diver Asia Pacific magazines. Though David prefers shooting underwater video to still photography, he has a keen eye for what makes a great underwater photograph: With 24 years in the dive industry - including four years as a live-aboard Cruise Director in Indonesia and eight years as Editor for both Asian Diver and Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazines in Singapore - he has seen thousands of spectacular underwater images, and has been a judge for several international photo competitions. David has authored a guidebook to diving in Southeast Asia, Diving Southeast Asia, and has written articles on everything from destinations, equipment, and profiles on the world's top dive celebrities and underwater photographers.

Burt Jones is an award-winning marine life photojournalist who specializes in discovering and reporting on marine science in remote dive destinations, including the world's longest underwater cave in Mexico and migrating sea snakes in Borneo. Since 1992 Burt has explored the Indonesian archipelago and recorded images of its spectacular reefs. In 2002 he made his first trip to Raja Ampat and began working with the Indonesian branches of several NGOs, including Conservation International, to educate the world about the region's incomparable marine life and the urgent need to conserve it. With his wife, Maurine Shimlock, he has published two popular guidebooks to the region, Diving Indonesia's Raja Ampat and Diving Indonesia's Bird's Head Seascape, which have promoted sustainable marine tourism to what are considered to be the world's richest reefs.

Burt's photography has been featured on the covers of more than a dozen of the world's most prestigious publications, including GEO, BBC Wildlife, Smithsonian, Natural History, Islands and Sport Diver. The renowned first edition of Fifty Fathoms also featured his images. Secret Sea, the first large format collection of his photography, has won several publishing awards including the Benny Award for best photography book. Committed to marine conservation, Burt uses the art of photography to help preserve life in the sea.

"Compact camera" is defined as any "point and shoot" camera with small sensors (less than 35mm), internal flash and unchangeable lens.

This category is for images taken with a basic compact camera using only an underwater housing with no accessories attached. The lighting must use the internal flash from the camera.

	Basic Compact	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	10,000	1,200	11,200
	2	6,500	1,200	7,700
	3	3,500	1,200	4,700
Honnor	1	1,500	800	2,300
	2	1,000	800	1,800
			Total Category	27,700

"Compact camera" is defined as any "point and shoot" camera with small sensors (less than 35mm), internal flash and unchangeable lens.

This category is for images taken with basic compact camera in an underwater housing with additional wide angle wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

"Wide angle shot" is defined as any image that shows a wider angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), including over-under shots and close up - wide angle shots.

	Compact Plus Wide	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	9,000	1,000	10,000
	2	5,500	1,000	6,500
	3	2,500	1,000	3,500
Honnor	1	1,500	600	2,100
	2	1,000	600	1,600
			Total Category	23,700

"Compact camera" is defined as any "point and shoot" camera with small sensors (less than 35mm), internal flash and unchangeable lens.

This category is for images taken with a basic compact camera in an underwater housing with additional macro wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

"Macro shot" is defined as any image that shows a narrower angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor). Macro images resulting from excessive cropping will be disqualified (See C. Image and Submission Regulations above).

	Compact Plus Macro	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	9,000	1,000	10,000
	2	5,500	1,000	6,500
	3	2,500	1,000	3,500
Honnor	1	1,500	600	2,100
	2	1,000	600	1,600
			Total Category	23,700

"DSLR" is defined as any camera with the capability for lens change, cameras with a sensor size less than or equal to 35mm, and may be with or without attached flash. Mirrorless cameras (Olympus PEN, Sony NEX) are also in this category.

This category is for images taken with a DSLR (Digital SLR) camera in an underwater housing with additional wide angle wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

"Wide angle shot" is defined as any image that shows a wider angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), including over-under shots and close up - wide angle shots.

	DSLR Wide	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	12,000	1,200	13,200
	2	7,500	1,200	8,700
	3	4,000	1,200	5,200
Honnor	1	1,500	800	2,300
	2	1,000	800	1,800
			Total Category	31,200

"DSLR" is defined as any camera with the capability for lens change, cameras with a sensor size less than or equal to 35mm, and may be with or without attached flash. Mirrorless cameras (Olympus PEN, Sony NEX) are also in this category.

This category is for images taken with a DSLR (Digital SLR) camera in an underwater housing with additional macro wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

"Macro shot" is defined as any image that shows a narrower angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), Macro images resulting from excessive cropping will be disqualified (See C. Image and Submission Regulations above).

	DSLR Macro	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	12,000	1,200	13,200
	2	7,500	1,200	8,700
	3	4,000	1,200	5,200
Honnor	1	1,500	800	2,300
	2	1,000	800	1,800
			Total Category	31,200

This category is also open to non-divers and is for images taken with any camera. The image does not have to be an underwater image.

The image(s) must portray people and/or marine conservation issues such as: protection of marine life, community involvement in marine conservation, people active in the marine environment setting, and (positive or negative) human and animal interaction. There is no minimum age for non-underwater shots.

	People & Conservation	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	9,000	1,000	10,000
	2	5,500	1,000	6,500
	3	2,500	1,000	3,500
Honnor	1	1,500	600	2,100
	2	1,000	600	1,600
			Total Category	23,700

This category is for Entrants aged under 15 years old using any type of underwater camera. The participant must be under 15 years old at the time of submission.

Junior participants must dive under the supervision of a parent/guardian or dive professional as specified in his/her certification requirement. Junior participants with no valid dive certification are not allowed to participate.

	Junior (< 15 years old)	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*	Total
Winner	1	3,000	600	3,600
	2	1,750	600	2,350
	3	1,000	600	1,600
Honnor	1	500	300	800
	2	300	300	600
			Total Category	8,950

	Best of Show	Prize US$*	Dive Leader Prize US$*
Macro	1	13,000	2,000
Wide	1	13,000	2,000