2019 CONTEST SUBJECTS

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JANUARY

MASTERS

GROUP SHOTS – ANY LENS – Schools, bait balls, aggregations, small or large groups. Shot must be of a group of 4 or more individuals of the same species.

CHALLENGERS

FRONT PORTRAITS – ANY LENS – Must be symmetrical evenly-lit critter or fish faces, snoots welcome, concentrating on good eye contact. Both eyes must be in the frame and should be looking at the camera.

FEBRUARY

MASTERS

BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS BY NATURE – ANY LENS – Isolate a subject against a beautiful natural background (sponge or soft coral for example). Background to be natural and not colored by a slate or other artificial lights. No open water blue or black backgrounds. Submission Deadline: February 2nd

CHALLENGERS

UGLY BUT BEAUTIFUL – ANY LENS – Dedicated to those animals with an ugly face but beautiful as subjects. Composition is key. Submission Deadline: February 2nd

MARCH

MASTERS

PIPEFISH & PIPEHORSES – ANY LENS – A uniquely difficult animal to get a good shot of. NO seahorses. NO sea dragons from Australia. Submission Deadline: March 2nd

CHALLENGERS

HELLO/GOODBYE – ANY LENS – Any marine creature appearing to be waving hello or good-bye. Submission Deadline: March 2nd

APRIL

MASTERS

FACING AWAY – ANY LENS – Show us your best butt shot, but make it a good one where the creature is looking on to something – making the most of a butt shot – non human of course – contemplative. Submission Deadline: March 30th

CHALLENGERS

DIAGONAL COMPOSITION – ANY LENS – Wide angle or macro composition showing use of diagonal lines to draw your eye through the image. Submission Deadline: March 30th

MAY

MASTERS

SNOOT-OLOGY – ANY LENS – Snooted image. Open to any subject. Must be as shot in camera, not produced in post processing. Submission Deadline: May 4th

CHALLENGERS

NATURAL LIGHTING – ANY LENS – Ambient light, no strobes. Submission Deadline: May 4th

PRINTABLE .PDF

For a printable version of this years contest subjects, click here:

2026 CONTEST SUBJECTS

VIDEO CONTEST RULES

Click here to view or print the video contest instructions:

VIDEO CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

PHOTO CONTEST RULES & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Photos must be taken underwater by the entrant. No aquarium or pool shots.

Each month the contest is divided into two categories – Masters and Challengers, each with different subjects to promote participation by all SFUPS members of all skill levels.

A maximum of 2 images per person may be submitted per meeting.

Read More…

NOTE:

If you are uncertain about what qualifies in a category, please consult a reputable guidebook such as Humann/DeLoach’s reef set. If still in doubt, contact Eleanor Hornberger well before the contest. She will be happy to clarify a potential submission to confirm if it fits the category.

JUNE

MASTERS

A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW– ANY LENS – Capturing a shot of a common subject but in a more interesting perspective or creative point of view, but not using software to embellish. Looking for images compositionally interesting – not snooted or manipulated. Submission Deadline: June 1st

CHALLENGERS

MINIMAL – ANY LENS – Less is more; focus is on non-busy backgrounds, isolated subjects that are exceptional and beautiful. Submission Deadline: June 1st

JUNE VIDEO CONTEST

BEST SINGLE VIDEO CLIP – FISH BEHAVIOR – One continuous video clip not to exceed 30 seconds. May add music and title, but no merging of multiple clips.

  • Must be shot underwater with any video camera, camcorder, DSLR, or GoPro.
  • May add music, title and music credits.
  • May add a 2 second black “lead-in” and a 2 second black “lead-out” to allow for title and music credits. Maximum length of
  • the video if using “lead-in” and “lead-out” to be 34 seconds.
  • Minimal global color correction allowed.
  • NO other editing allowed.
  • NO combining of multiple video clips.
  • NO speeding up or slowing down of footage.
  • NO narration.
  • Videos to be kept anonymous. No identifying name or watermarks.

Video must be submitted in VIMEO format.

Go to Video Contest for more instructions.

Submission Deadline: June 1st

JULY

MASTERS

GUARDIANS AT THE GATE – ANY LENS – Any image that conveys a sense of protective behavior. Doesn’t have to be just eggs. Anything from a goby guarding the eggs to dolphins guarding a baby, a fin over another, etc. Submission Deadline: June 29th

CHALLENGERS

SEAHORSE BEAUTY – ANY LENS – Finding the beauty is one thing, capturing a great shot of one of these animals is difficult because of their shyness and rotating eyes. Your job should you accept this challenge is to show us a beautifully-captured rendition. Submission Deadline: June 29th

AUGUST

MASTERS

WILD MOVEMENT – ANY LENS – Any photo that makes you think of a storm, wind or strong currents, its violent and unpredictable movement. The key is that there must be an indication of movement. Over/Unders welcome but not necessary -image tells a story of the trials of living underwater in current. Submission Deadline: August 3rd

CHALLENGERS

POLKA DOT FISH – ANY LENS – Must be fish that have noticeable round or roundish spots of a different color than the background skin color. Ex: Stargazers, trunkfish, pajama cardinalfish, juvenile barramundi, etc. Submission Deadline: August 3rd

SEPTEMBER

MASTERS

OUR AMAZING PLANET – ANY LENS – Share your most amazing or favorite underwater creature taken this year (2019). Submission Deadline: August 31st

CHALLENGERS

MACRO ABSTRACTIONS – MACRO – Abstract textures that capture color and forms of beauty that are not usually perceived with the naked eye. Submission Deadline: August 31st

OCTOBER

MASTERS

MANTIS ‘TUDE – ANY LENS – Mantis shrimps have the ability to be a scary creature, but also quite inquisitive. Capture the attitude of the mantis shrimp. Submission Deadline: September 28th

CHALLENGERS

HORRORVILLE – ANY LENS – Show us your scary, looking for menacing shots … what is Halloween underwater to you? (No mantis shrimp). Submission Deadline: September 28th

OCTOBER VIDEO CONTEST

CREATURE FEATURE – Edited video featuring a single animal or type of animal. Maximum 2 minutes.
Submission Deadline: September 28th

NOVEMBER

MASTERS

BEST COVER SHOT – ANY LENS – Select your best …must be a vertical with sufficient negative space for copy. Cropped images OK. Submission Deadline: November 2nd

CHALLENGERS

GOLIATH GROUPER – ANY LENS – Your best Goliath Grouper shot. Submission Deadline: November 2nd

PRINTABLE .PDF

For a printable version of this years contest subjects, click here:

2026 CONTEST SUBJECTS

VIDEO CONTEST RULES

Click here to view or print the video contest instructions:

VIDEO CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

PHOTO CONTEST RULES & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Photos must be taken underwater by the entrant. No aquarium or pool shots.

Each month the contest is divided into two categories – Masters and Challengers, each with different subjects to promote participation by all SFUPS members of all skill levels.

A maximum of 2 images per person may be submitted per meeting.

Read More…

NOTE:

If you are uncertain about what qualifies in a category, please consult a reputable guidebook such as Humann/DeLoach’s reef set. If still in doubt, contact Eleanor Hornberger well before the contest. She will be happy to clarify a potential submission to confirm if it fits the category.