Nederlands
From Monday, October 4 to Saturday, October 9, the World Underwater Photography and Video Championship took place in Porto Santo near Madeira. Our colleague (and owner of UwCameraStore.com / Onderwaterhuis.NL) Marco Heesbeen participated in this world championship together with his buddy Marco Reijnen. Teams from 18 countries from Chile to Kuwait took part in the competition. In general, several teams per country took part. Participants were allowed to submit photos in four categories.
Challenging dives during 2 competition days
During the competition days, 4 dives were made. Everyone dives alternately at the same dive sites to make it as fair as possible. There were 4 dive sites designated as official competition locations. In addition, there were 2 reserve dive spots to turn to if the conditions on the other sites were too bad. Diving at Porto Santo turned out to be very tough at times. The current in particular was very variable. Sometimes barely noticeable and sometimes so strong that it was totally impossible to dive. There were large waves continuously and a strong swell was felt even at a depth of 20 meters. Macro photography in particular became an extra challenge for the participants.
Wide angle photo at the wreck
One of the most spectacular dive sites is without a doubt the wreck Pereira D'Eça. A large warship 83 meters long. The ship itself is impressive, of course, but the real attraction is the huge amount of fish and the interaction between the schools of small fish and the hunting bass and barracuda.
Marco & Marco made their first competition dive there. Their plan was a photo of a school of baracudas they'd seen hanging around the wreck the day before. On the competition day, the school had moved to the bow of the ship and was just above the sand. To get a nice composition, they wanted to photograph the group upwards up from a low point of view. They descended to 29 meters. The maximum depth for the competition is 30.0 meters. 30.1 means disqualification! The depth gauge showed 29.8 and even with the camera below it did not yield the desired picture. Quickly up a bit. Fortunately, a spectacular scene arose on the foredeck. Huge schools of fish shot like a volcano from the large square opening in the deck. The cause turned out to be a group of bass that were hunting. The camera and strobes were quickly reset to capture this spectacle...and it worked! The wide angle shots were made and Marco & Marco were very enthusiastic. When they surfaced, their dive computer showed a maximum depth of 29.9. That was on the edge....but still just right!
Strong current during the afternoon dive on competition day 1
They wanted to use the afternoon dive at "Pedra do Ginja" to shoot a fish portrait. Unfortunately, the resident bass from the previous day were not at home. The current was very strong and the divers had to constantly hide behind boulders or in pits to avoid begin carried away. The average depth was around 20 meters and that combined with the hard work associated with the current resulted in a somewhat shorter dive times. Along the anchor line they were able to make the ascent and safety stop without any problems.
Competition day 2
On second competition day they would be the first to dive at "Cabeço do Poio". The boat captain reported that conditions were good and there didn't seem to be much current. However, the currents at Porto Santo proved un-predictable and treacherous. The first diver to jump into the water was immediately blown away and had to be retrieved by lifeboat. A local dive guide almost didn't manage to swim from boat 2 to boat 1...a distance of about 8 meters! It was immediately decided that diving was NOT allowed.
In the afternoon the planned dive at "CAIC" was first made. Marco & Marco went in search of fish and macro subjects. The current was not too bad but the swell was again merciless. Yet they were able to take beautiful pictures of a moray eel.
In the afternoon they went to "Cabeço do Poio" for the 2nd try. It was like another ocean. A beautiful sun and no current at all! There was still a fair amount of swell, but our team was very happy with the conditions. The underwater life apparently also liked the fact that the current had decreased and had appeared en masse. Spider crabs, hermit crabs and fireworms appeared. After an hour the air supply was exhausted and Marco & Marco started the ascent. While ascending they saw a very nice fireworm crawling around "free". They wanted to take advantage of that! Marco started to shoot photos fanatically and after a few minutes he indicated that he was completely satisfied. The photo looked great. Unfortunately, the number 312 blinked on the right of the screen and only 300 photos can be submitted per day. This one was only for his own archive.
Selecting the photos
The memory card was handed in and they could pick it up again in the evening. The selection had to be made quickly because 2 hours later the form had to be submitted. There are 6 categories and each photographer can submit a photo in only 4 categories. Marco & Marco chose Wide Angle, Fish, Creative and Close-Up.
The quickly agreed on the choice for wide angle and close-up. Fish and creative were a bit trickier. They had several nice pictures (Moray Eel, triggerfish) but the pictures of the dive at the wreck were so spectacular that they far outweighed all the other pictures. Marco & Marco took a conscious gamble by submitting 3 photos from that series of the wreck in the different categories. The photos were original, spectacular but anything but traditional...so they knew they were taking a risk. A typical case of: You Love It Or Hate It. There was also a short consultation with former coach Ron Offermans and of course with Henny, Tanja and Marjo from the other photo team of the Netherlands.
Best Photo Overall: what a surprise!
The Official Awards Ceremony took place at the Porto Santo Congress Center. A beautiful location with a huge screen. The Close-up entry was rewarded with a 9th place. The wide angle with a 10th place and the creative entry took a 14th place.
Of course the men had hoped for a podium place, but they still left the Congress Center fairly satisfied. The big surprise came in the evening during the Gala Dinner. In addition to the regular jury, there was also a media jury. The results were announced during the dinner. After the best film, Marco & Macro were called on stage to receive the award for their wide-angle photo, which was rated Best Photo Overall. They received a voucher for participation (and stay) in the Madeira Open Championship Underwater Photography 2022, but of course they were especially happy with the title. What a surprising turn that was!
Close-up - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto SantoClose-up - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto Santo
Creative - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto SantoCreative - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto Santo
Best Photo overall Media Price - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto SantoBest Photo overall - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto Santo
The winning photo - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto SantoWide Angle - CMAS World Championship Underwater Photography 2021 - Porto Santo
Marco shot the winning photo with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III with 14-42 lens in a Nauticam NA-EM1 III underwater housing with a Nauticam WWL-1 super wide angle lens. For lighting he used 2 INON Z-330 strobes with FlipSnoot Pro Snoots.
