Home to some of the best cold water diving in the world, Monterey is also home to The Monterey Shootout & Underwater Film Festival. This unique, weekend-long event combines diving, capturing images, competing for fantastic prizes and learning more about honing our craft and conservation of our oceans. In addition, the Underwater Film Festival featured some of the industry's top cinematographers, showing their captivating imagery on the big screen of the historic Golden State Theatre.
With seminars on Friday and Sunday, there was something for every level of shooter in the bunch. Jim Decker, CEO of Backscatter, kicked off our seminar series by sharing some of his tips and tricks with our beginning image makers. Then, Mary Lynn Price of Dive Film HD, continued with an Introduction to Video Workflow, de-mystifying the video capture and editing processes. Fast forward to Sunday where Erin Quigley, AKA: GoAskErin, cut her whalesharks trip short a day just to be a presenter at our event! Her overview of Lightroom5 showed the underwater photographers in the audience how easy it is to take your images from blah to aaaaah. Wrapping up our seminar series, Shawn Heinrichs, who was also a presenter at our Film Festival, shared some of his philosophies toward image making and how he uses his images to spread his message of conservation.
This year's Underwater Film Festival featured an all-star line up with Howard & Michele Hall, Bob Talbot, Shawn Heinrichs and Berkley White, all presenting awe-inspiring imagery for the sold out crowd of 700+ at the Golden State Theatre. Berkley White opened the show with his short film, Dancing With Giant Mantas, which showed the exquisite flight of mantas dancing in unison. Next, the audience was treated to commentary from Bob Talbot on the behind-the-scenes making of the IMAX documentary, Oceanmen. His quips and tales often had the audience laughing, all while showing the amazing talent of the freedivers, Pipin Ferreras and Umberto Pelizzari, as well as what it takes to make a full feature IMAX film. With his message of conservation and hope for the future of our oceans, Shawn Heinrichs took us on his image-making journey to date, describing his disappointments and his wins for sharks and mantas. His current project, Fashion Inspiring Conservation, depicts fashion models swimming and connecting with the largest fish in the sea, a fresh approach to catch the attention of the masses, with the underlying message that our oceans are in serious trouble. The evening's final presenters, Howard & Michele Hall, shared some of their fabulous, up close and personal imagery of some majestic leviathans from the past 20 years in Whales We Have Known. The dynamic duo tag-teamed the commentary with engaging and entertaining stories, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
While the 700+ crowd was treated to a visual feast of stunning underwater imagery, the takeaway message here is to get involved and spread the word about the current condition of our oceans. Let's preserve what we have for future generations!
Months of planning and organization go into executing The Monterey Shootout & Underwater Film Festival. From the event organizers, to the presenters and judges, and everyone else who volunteers their time to make this event a success… A GINORMOUS THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNEQUALLED EFFORTS! And to our overly generous sponsors whom we could not do this without… Thank you for supporting Monterey diving, underwater image-making and The Monterey Shootout!
The Monterey Shootout is a 32 hour competition for underwater photographers and videographers of all skill levels to dive, shoot, edit and enter their images into the competition for some pretty awesome prizes. While cold-water diving is not for the feint of heart, the strict time table adds another level of challenges and complexity to this unique event. Based on a point-awarding system that spans across all skill levels, the winners can choose their one favorite prize from the pool of exotic trips, underwater photo gear or dive accessories. This year, some beginning and intermediate level shooters just nailed it, resulting in them picking their prizes first! Congratulations to all who participated in the 2013 Monterey Shootout!
Below are the winning photos and videos from the 2013 Monterey Shootout.
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Honorable Mention 1
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1st Place - Brad Brown |
2nd Place - Joe Roualdes |
3rd Place - Brad Stegmann |
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Honorable Mention 1 - Kyle McBurnie |
Honorable Mention 2 - Mike Costa |
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1st Place - Kyle McBurnie |
2nd Place - John Trone |
3rd Place - Mike Costa |
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1st Place - Andy Charal |
2nd Place - Brad Brown |
3rd Place - Brad Stegmann |
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Howard & Michele Hall
Howard and Michele Hall are wildlife filmmakers who specialize in marine wildlife films. Working as a team Howard and Michele have produced and directed many television films including a National Geographic Special, three episodes of the PBS series Nature and the five-hour PBS series Secrets of the Ocean Realm. Their television work has resulted in seven Emmy Awards.
The Hall's are perhaps best known for their underwater IMAX® films. In 1994 Howard directed the first-ever underwater IMAX 3D feature, Into the Deep, and in 1998 he directed and Michele produced the IMAX film, Island of the Sharks. The Hall's returned to the IMAX 3D format in 2005 when Michele produced and Howard directed the Warner Bros./IMAX feature Deep Sea 3D, a film that has grossed more than $94 million at the box office. In 2009 the Hall's followed Deep Sea 3D with the award-winning sequel, Under the Sea 3D.
Howard and Michele have participated in many other underwater IMAX productions in various capacities and in 2002 their underwater production team was featured in the MacGillivray Freeman's IMAX film Coral Reef Adventure.
Currently, Howard and Michele are again working with MacGillivray Freeman films in IMAX film production for their One World, One Ocean campaign. |
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Bob Talbot
As a world-renowned marine photographer, award-winning filmmaker and dedicated environmentalist, Bob Talbot has combined his unique visual style and storytelling ability with state-of-the-art entertainment technologies to create intimate ocean experiences on film.
His photographs of whales and dolphins have been reproduced into millions of lithographs distributed around the world, and his motion picture work has appeared in many television, film and special venue productions. Talbot filmed the wildlife sequences for the Warner Bros. series of FREE WILLY feature films and Universal Pictures' FLIPPER. He directed and photographed the IMAX® Ridefilm™ motion simulation system film DOLPHINS - THE RIDE, and acted as a director and cinematographer for sequences in the Academy Award-nominated MacGillivray Freeman IMAX® film, DOLPHINS. Talbot also directed and photographed the award winning IMAX® film OCEANMEN - EXTREME DIVE about world champion free divers Pipin Ferreras and Umberto Pelizzari.
Talbot is a recipient of the Environmental Hero Award presented by the United States Department of Commerce, as well as the Ark Trust Genesis Award. In 2004 he was presented with International SeaKeepers Society's prestigious SeaKeeper Award by HSH Prince Albert of Monoco.
Talbot has worked on several Cousteau Society productions, and continues to collaborate with Jean Michel Cousteau on Ocean Futures projects. He serves on the board of governors for Oceana, on boards of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Earth Communications Office and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Talbot also works with many other environmental groups on marine conservation issues. |
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Shawn Heinrichs
Shawn is a passionate photographer, cinematographer and marine conservationist. He has worked with leading journalist and film teams including CNN's Anderson Cooper, Yann Arthus Bertrand, and National Geographic, and delivered projects for many of the top marine conservation organizations including WildAid, Shark Savers, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and Pew Environment Group. His award-winning work has been featured with National Geographic, BBC, New York Times, Huffington Post, Washington Post, WIRED and numerous other print and online publications. See more of Shawn's work.
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Berkley White
Berkley White is the founder of Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo which has grown to be the largest underwater photographic equipment supplier is the USA. Since 1994, Backscatter helped develop a community of local cold water divers and has now spent years supporting a thriving tribe of international artists, film makers, and first time shooters from its locations in Monterey, California and Derry, New Hampshire in the USA. For more about Backscatter or articles on equipment and techniques, please see: http://www.backscatter.com
Berkley's images and technical articles are regularly published in international magazines and he regularly serves a photographic judge or technical editor on publications. He is also a major promoter for educational events designed for both industry and consumer users such as the Digital Shootout and the DEMA Imaging Center. To learn more about his intensive educational events, please see: http://www.thedigitalshootout.com.
Berkley runs a limited schedule of exotic photo safaris each year. From the warm diverse waters of Indonesia to the cold adventure of Alaska, Berkley's shared adventures are always scheduled to be at the best time with the best local knowledge for image makers. For a complete schedule of events, please see his travel company: http://www.underexposures.com. |
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Eric Cheng
Eric Cheng is an award-winning underwater photographer known for his passion as an educator. Eric won a prestigious Antibes Festival award for his work with Wetpixel.com, the Antibes underwater imaging web site of the year. His underwater photographs have won contests like the prestigious Nature's Best Magazine photo competition, which placed some of his work in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. Eric's photography has been seen in over 60 magazines and books worldwide. Eric is the editor and publisher of Wetpixel.com, the premiere online community for underwater photographers. Hosting thousands registered underwater photographers internationally, Wetpixel's friendly community offers breaking news, reviews, features, community forums, image galleries, photo contests, photo expeditions, and more.
In 2007, Eric and co-editor Elijah Woolery launched Wetpixel Quarterly, a landscape print magazine featuring the best in underwater photography. In both online and print endeavors, Eric strives to provide a forum for photographers to share their work and discuss ocean-related issues, and in turn, educate viewers about the beauty and fragility of the marine ecosystem.
Caught between technical and creative worlds, Eric holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from Stanford University, where he also studied classical cello performance.
Through Wetpixel Expeditions, Eric leads regular photography expeditions and workshops around the world. He has given seminars and lectures internationally at events such as TEDx, Boston Sea Rovers Clinic, DEMA, Digital Shootouts, Kona Classic, Scuba Diving Magazine events, and others.
Eric is also involved in ocean conservation, and is technical advisor and photographer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He was the head photographer for Operation Musashi, Sea Shepherd's 2008-2009 anti-whaling campaign in Antarctica, which was featured in season 2 of the hit TV show, Whale Wars.
Eric is also on the Board of Directors of Shark Savers, an organization dedicated to shark conservation.
Eric's underwater images can be found on his personal website:
http://echeng.com/photo/
http://echeng.com/travel/ |
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Jay Ireland
Jay's innate understanding of animal behavior is a key ingredient for the success of both Bradley Ireland Productions and The Imaging Foundation. Jay's quest, to get close enough to capture the ultimate stingray image, launched Stingray City. The 1986 National Geographic story promoted friendly rays and the Wall Street Journal called Stingray City the most successful underwater attraction in the world.
Logging over 2,000 dives at Cocos Island alone, Jay's photos of shark finning were used to initiate a successful campaign to protect Cocos. Later, his experience and his images were incorporated into the petition, which won the Island its UNESCO World Heritage status.
Ireland's images have appeared on countless magazine covers worldwide, calendars postage stamps and lottery tickets. Jay's work with Paramount Productions won Wild Things the top rating in sweeps week. His work documenting the Humboldt Squid was showcased on National Geographic's Squid Invasion.
He is a driving force behind the Imaging Foundation, and uses the power of video and production to teach about the ocean. |
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Mary Lynn Price
Mary Lynn is a videographer, video editor, and pioneering video podcaster based in La Jolla, California. She creates short form videos for education institutions, science, and news organizations, scuba adventure and shark diving operations, film festivals, and art galleries.
Her work includes news, science, and education video packages, adventure and sports videos, exploration, historical, and art videos. Mary Lynn's work has appeared in nationally broadcast documentaries, award-winning news productions, and educational projects. Please view samples of her work on the Sample Videos page.
Mary Lynn launched DiveFilm.com in early 2000 as one of the first websites dedicated to streaming underwater video on the internet. In 2005 she released the first podcast of underwater video to be featured at iTunes, DiveFilm Podcast Video. In 2007, she launched the first high definition podcast of underwater video, DiveFilm HD Video. DiveFilm Podcasts were named to the iTunes "Best of 2007 Podcasts" list, and showcase some of the best underwater short videos being created today by underwater filmmakers all over the world.
In 2008, Mary Lynn deployed to Antarctica as part of a National Science Foundation grant to produce educational short video portraits of some of the amazing women working in Antarctica.
In 2010 and 2011, she deployed to Antarctica to produce science communication videos about the work of the Weddell seal research team studying Weddell seal ecology in the Erebus Bay region of Antarctica's pristine Ross Sea. Mary Lynn plans to return to Antarctica in 2012 to continue this work.
An Apple-certified Pro in Final Cut Pro, Mary Lynn teaches video editing and short-form video storytelling on land and at sea. She is one of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition |
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Erin Quigley
Erin Quigley is a Adobe ACE certified digital imaging consultant specializing in customized workflows and editing strategies using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. She is an award-winning underwater photographer and video editor, and creator of GoAskErin.com, which provides one-on-one instruction, custom video tutorials, and Photoshop and Lightroom resources specifically developed for the underwater photographic community. Along with her private consulting business, Erin runs the Go Ask Erin digital help desk online and at The Digital Shootout.
Erin began her career as the resident costume designer for Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company , during which time she earned two Tony Award nominations for her work on Broadway. In the ensuing years, she returned to her hometown of Los Angeles and designed the television sitcom "Roseanne", along with many other stage, television, and film projects. Later, Erin worked as a producer and development executive for 23 Red Productions, in collaboration with 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers Television.
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Jim Decker
As the CEO of Backscatter, Jim is one of the top experts in the world on underwater photo and video equipment and shooting technique. From SLRs to compacts and handycams to broadcast video, Jim has shot video and photo systems from all the major underwater manufacturers and has been a consultant on many of the designs seen in the water today. Jim has also consulted with many professional photographers, production companies, resorts, and magazines including Mythbusters, Discovery Channel, Sport Diver Magazine, Scuba Diving Magazine, Into The Drink, National Geographic, Freshwaters Illustrated, and many more. |
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