Christopher Pen wins First ‘Nudi Festival’ UW Photography Contest

The underwater photography contest jointly organized by Deepblu and scubashooters.net concluded with a bang after receiving over 1500 entries.

TAIPEI, 10 May 2017 – After a marathon deliberation that lasted several days, a professional judge panel of seven seasoned professional photographers officially announced the winner of the ‘Nudi Festival’, the underwater photography contest that solicited the best nudibranch macro photography from participants.

“It was exceptionally hard to choose from so many excellent images,” said lead judge Henry Jager, “but we finally made a decision. We consider this contest a terrific success not only in terms of numbers of entries and participants, but also in terms of quality of the entries.”

Deepblu underwater photographers Christopher Pen, Ace Wu, Claudio Ceresi, chandy, and nicdives all took home a fashionable COSMIQ+ Dive Computer and other prizes sponsored by Deepblu. A Romanian called Dragos Dumitrescu, also received a COSMIQ+ after winning the popular vote on Deepblu with an exquisite detail of smiling face on a nudibranch’s back. All winning entries are on display on the Nudi Festival contest page at Deepblu.

The contest, which lasted for 2 months, was jointly organized by Deepblu, the fastest-growing social network for divers and ocean enthusiasts, and scubashooters.net, the popular underwater photography community. The contest received 1582 entries and was widely praised for its exceptionally high-quality entries.

Marino Palla, owner of scubashooters.net said that “the results of this Nudi Festival prove that scubashooters.net and Deepblu can easily compete with well-established and larger UW photo contests. Scubashooters.net and Deepblu are a perfect match in the diving industry.”

James Tsuei, CEO of Deepblu was also pleased with the outcome. “We are honored to work together a partner as prominent as Scubashooters and I’m confident that this outcome shows that Deepblu is a quickly maturing community of divers and ocean enthusiasts.”̦

1st Place - Christopher Pen

"Cheetos Tiger in White" Polycera abei @ Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi
"Cheetos Tiger in White" Polycera abei @ Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi Nikon D7200 + Nauticam NA-D7200 Nikon 105mm VR Micro + Nauticam SMC Inon Z240 x 2 F32, 1/250, ISO 100

2nd Place - Ace Wu

"Bloom", Lembeh Indonesias
"Bloom", Lembeh Indonesias Canon 5dsr Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens: F20, 1/250, ISO 400 SEACAM silver CANON EOS5D MKIII SEACAM SEAFLASH 150 DIGITAL RETRA LSD Nauticam SMC-1 Howshot M50 Video Light 5000/Lumen

3rd Place - Claudio Ceresi

"Costasiella sp. nudibranch", Bali
"Costasiella sp. nudibranch", Bali Nikond800e + housing Isotta lens nikon 105 micro vr + add. strobe Nauticam SMC strobe Inon Z240 1/200 f29 iso 100

4th Place - Chandy

Bornella sp.
Bornella sp. Canon G12 in Recsea housing 2x INON D2000 strobes INON focus light Aquako lV diopter 1/1250 f8 ISO 80

5th Place - Nicdives

Glaucus Atlanticus, Bar Beach Newcastle NSW
Glaucus Atlanticus, Bar Beach Newcastle NSW 60mm 1/80 f16 iso 100

Popular Vote - Dragos Dumitrescu

Smiley Face Nembrotha Lineolata, Philippines
"Smiley Face Nembrotha Lineolata", Philippines Canon G12 & Inon S2000 with home made snoot, 1/250. F8, Iso80
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Author
Deepblu

Deepblu is the company behind the COSMIQ Dive Computer, the Deepblu online community for divers, and Planet Deepblu, where divers can discover, plan, and book their next dive. Deepblu is a team of divers and technology enthusiasts whose goal is to use technology and the power of the internet to revolutionize the diving community and lifestyle.