Underwater photographers flocked to the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve over the bank holiday weekend to take part in the Reserve’s annual underwater photography competition, the Splash In. The competitors were spoilt for subject matter with kelp forests, coral encrusted shipwrecks and all manner of colourful marine life to capture in their photographs.
This year’s Splash In was the 26th year the competition has been held by the Voluntary Marine Reserve so along with the usual categories of Macro (close up of the Reserve’s inhabitants) and Wide Angle (underwater scenic shots), competitors could enter for the special John Goldie Themed Category, which was nudibranchs (brightly coloured sea slugs)this year.
We invited 3 judges to help decide on the winners; Voluntary Marine Reserve Chairman Lawson Wood, Jim Greenfield, a regular St Abbs diver and photographer and Jack Laws, former Vice Chair of the committee and long time diver of the reserve. They chose the winners of the Macro and Wide Angle categories while the Themed Category and overall best image of the competition were voted for by the audience.
Marine Ranger, Laura Smith said “The Splash In is a great opportunity for divers to showcase their photographs and for people to see the colour and diversity of the marine life off St Abbs and Eyemouth. This year the competition attracted a fantastic amount of support from our generous sponsors, who donated over £3000 worth of prizes for the lucky winners. We are very grateful for their continued support!”
Diving conditions were less than perfect but despite this some brilliant photos were snapped. The competition is open to everyone whether a professional photographer or a complete beginner and you can certainly never predict the outcome. This year, to our delight, the Best Beginners in both the Macro and Wide Angle categories also won first prize. John Spencer won 1st prize and Best Beginner for his beautiful macro photo of a Ballan Wrasse. John Ferguson won 1st prize and Best Beginner in the Wide Angle category with his original split-shot photo of St Abbs and was also voted Best Image in Show by the audience. The Themed Category was also won by John Spencer with a fantastic shot of a brightly coloured purple nudibranch.
All of the images entered can also be viewed on our Facebook page here.
Ballan Wrasse by John Spencer. This photo won 1st prize and Best Beginner in the Macro category.
Flat Fish by Jason Gregory. This photo won 2nd prize in the Macro Category.
Butterfish by Colin Samuel. This photo won 3rd prize in the Macro category
Split-shot of St Abbs by John Ferguson. This photo won 1st prize and Best Beginner in the Wide Angle category and was also voted Best Image in Show.
Anenome Rocks by Derek Haslam. This photo won 2nd prize in the Wide Angle category.
Diver and a Wolffish by Mike Clark. This photo won 3rd prize in the Wide Angle category.
Purple Nudibranch by John Spencer. This photo won 1st Prize in the John Goldie Themed Category.
Yellow Nudibranch by Mike Clark. This photo won 2nd prize in the John Goldie Themed Category.
Blue Nudibranch by Julie Forrest. This photo won 3rd prize in the John Goldie Themed Category.
We would like to finally thank our very generous sponsors, whose logos are shown below.
