The 8th Marine Awareness through Digital Underwater Shootout (MAD about US) will be held from the November 26, 27 & 28, 2010, in Panglao Island, Bohol.
Here is a brief about the competition:
1. To help promote the awareness, understanding and appreciation of the diversity of the underwater world in the Philippines and the need to preserve it
2. To help promote the Philippines as the critter capital of the world by improving services and standards of ALL OPERATORS but not limited to resort and boat. By meeting the needs of underwater photographers during the “shootout”, the operators will eventually meet up with international service standards catering to all guests both local and foreign.
3. To help promote as well as stimulate and improve standards of underwater photography.
4. To provide the local dive guides the chance to better their skills thereby empowering them to earn more.
This 5th Mad about Us should attract entrants from all over the globe, of all ages and a chance to meet professional photographers.
The organizing committee of MAD about US will recommend ALL OPERATORS to improve their standard of individualized service specially for this event to cater to underwater photographers and if applicable, to their family members.
Photographers may acquire the services of OPERATORS of their choice. Should entrants need information on OPERATORS, only OPERATORS registered with the Mabini Tourism Office will be listed.
There are three skill levels:
Special Beginners – This class is for photographers who are beginning to learn about underwater photography and who do not have external strobes or lights for their camera. Judging level is rudimentary level of exposure. Have not taken underwater pictures for more than two years and using point and shoot. Young Photographers division is below 15 years of age.
Intermediate – This class is for anyone equipped with external strobes or lights with their camera or who has been photographing for more than two years. Judging is as for special beginners but also including elements of managing external lightning and demonstrating elements of composition. Have not published any pictures. Young Photographers division is below 15 years of age.
Open - This class is unrestricted and is intended to be for all photographers who use a house digital SLR system, have been published previously or have been placed in any photographic competition. Judging is the same as above but with creative flair and impact. Young Photographers division is below 15 years of age.
Best-of-Choice will be chosen by the judges from the winning first place photographs.
Special Mention will be among all the other photographs not chosen to win.
People Choice will be during the awards night where guests will be given a chance to choose a picture by sticking a mark on the chosen photograph. The photograph with the most mark wins. The prize money will be given to the guide of the winner.
There is only one category:
Macro/Close up – digital shots taken with reproduction ratio of smaller than 1.6
Eligibility:
The competition is open to all photographers who are duly certified by an internationally recognized diving certification agency.
Organizers and sponsors involved in the managing of the judging are not eligible to enter.
Registration:
PRELIMENARY Registration will be done in selected dive shops and dive resorts. Each entrant is entitled to only ONE entry. If a participant wishes to submit more than ONE entry, he/she will be charged P 500.00 per additional entry. Acceptance of late registration will be at the discretion of the Judge Convenor.
OFFICIAL Registration will be on the 22nd of October at the Amarela Resort. A briefing will also be conducted and it is highly recommended that all participants attend this briefing because misinterpreting the rules will lead to disqualification.
Entrants will be informed of the date to which the camera’s clock must be set. Images entered in the competition that do not conform to this date will not be eligible for a place/prize. THEY WILL ALSO BE GIVEN THEIR SECRET NUMBER.
Sharing of a camera will be allowed as long as rule number 2 in Submission of Entries is followed.
After the registration and the briefing the opening ceremony will follow with free dinner for the participants.
Submission of entries:
1. Competitors must submit their entries in a compact flash card “flash disc/ or digital cam media. It is the responsibility of the competitor to ensure that images are retrievable from the flash card. You may connect your camera by USB cord to our PC.
2. More than one entrant may put their entries on a single flash card, as long as the files are appropriately named as presented below. Do not use separate folders
Ex: (skill level)_(category code)_(secret no.)_(picture entry)_(original pix)
I M 001 a ORG
O W b
SB A c
C d
N e or f , etc.
If entry is cropped, add underscore (_) and picture entry code e.g. _a
Ex: I_M_001_a_ORG_a
3. If you save your pictures, “SAVE AS”. Just COPY to your laptop or computer. To crop, use ‘SAVE AS” and copy to your flash drive. Then, delete all unselected pictures in your flash card. Only your selected pix. will be transferred to the STI computers for the judges to review.
4. Those who wish to submit their entry(ies) before the 23th October 2010 may do so in Amarela Resort up till 5 pm of the 22nd of October 2010.
5. All entrants must sign a form that signifies he/she has submitted the entries to the official organizers and that they have checked that the images are correctly named and submitted according to the rules.
6. The judge convenor has the right to accept late entries.
7.Entrants will be required to submit/show their original entries.
Important Note: If your digital media cards are full and you need to empty them to shoot again, bring them to the STI DIGITAL Service Desk at Amarela Resort before 5 pm on the of 23rd or the 24th of October 2010 where we can download your images and burn them to CD for PHP150.00 for a max of 650mb
There will be no objections to the decisions of the judges.
Awarding will be held at the Amarela Resort on October 25, 2010. All participants and sponsors will be given invitations for the ceremonies that will entitle them to dinner and drinks. For those without invitations, a minimal fee will be charged.
Copyrights:
In submitting an entry the owner grants the MAD about US the right to use such photographs for a period of two years for promotion of the competition, underwater photography or diver safety in printed, slide show, video and web page formats and non-profit educational purposes. Copyrights will be retained by the entrant for his/her photographs and recognition will be given to the photographer. Model releases will be the responsibility of the person retaining copyright. The organizers and members officiating the competition cannot be held responsible for loss or damage of an entry before or after the competition.
General Diving Conduct and Rules:
1. Diving is not a right. It is a privilege and so is taking underwater pictures. Dive with humility and be aware of the underwater environment. Divers exhibiting disregard for the underwater environment and it’s inhabitants maybe disqualified.
2. Diving while taking photographs requires skill in trim and buoyancy. LEARN AND PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Watch fin placement so that you do not cover the corals with silt, debris or worst, damage the very same corals you had just admired a while ago.
3. Be aware of safety diving practices. ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS MUST CARRY A SURFACE MARKER BUOY WHILE DIVING.
4. Be considerate of other photographers. If someone is taking a picture, stay a respectable distance. Wait for the photographer to finish and then approach.
5. Usually, some dive operators will allow a photographer around 2 minutes to stay with a subject. Since this is a contest, we will allow more time for each subject to be taken without ignoring safety of the group and the environment.
6. Police yourselves. Should you see that another photographer about to or is damaging the environment, call his attention or the guide accompanying him, to avoid further damage to the underwater environment.
7. Only paid up competitors who have registered are allowed to enter the competition
8. All photographs must be taken underwater and only in the dive sites found in the Municipality of Panglao EXCEPT in all MARINE SANCTUARIES.
9. All photographs should have been taken from the 22nd till the 23rd of October 2010
10. The same image may not be taken in more than one category. Two different images may, however, be submitted in the same category.
11. Entries may not be part of a commercial production.
12. If a winning entry(ies) was later found to have violated any rule, the officials of the competition will have the entrant disqualified and retrieve the prize or request appropriate reimbursement for the prize at fair market value.
13. Images must have at least 1200 pixels in the longest dimensions
14. Manipulation of pictures with your computer will not be allowed. Only minimal cropping. Entrants will be required to submit the original images as well
REGISTRATION FORM
MAD about US
FIFTH MARINE AWARENESS THROUGH DIGITAL UNDERWATER SHOOTOUTS
NAME
ADDRESS
HOME PHONE
OFFICE PHONE
FAX
E MAIL
PLEASE CHECK WHICH CATEGORY YOU WILL BE ENTERING:
SPECIAL BEGINNERS
INTERMEDIATE
OPEN
CERTIFICATION NUMBER
CERTIFYING AGENCY
NEED
RESORT RESERVATION
BOAT RESERVATION
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
JOEL F. UICHICO bezobohol@yahoo.com
ATTY. LUCAS NUNAG
BEATRICE GALONNIER
12.879721
121.774017
