February 2004

What fun ...

The First Annual Photo Week at Sipadan Water Village was a huge success and offered huge fun!! We had great weather, great diving, and a great group of people.  The participants certainly took advantage of everything that Photo Week had to offer ... seminars by David Fleetham and Jim Watt, private dives with the photo pros, great camera equipment for use and the expertise of the finest dive masters in the world!!

Photo pros ... Jim Watt and David Fleetham offered seminars on composition and image editing.  They were also available all week for private dives with the participants.  And, when they weren't offering a seminar or diving with the participants, they helped critique images and offer tips and advice on cameras and taking that perfect image.
    Equipment ...  Joe Wysocki, from Optiquatics, may have been the hero of the show!!  Joe brought about 500 pounds of camera equipment ... cameras, housings, strobes, batteries, accessories, computers, and anything else you could possibly need to shoot photos underwater!  Joe's knowledge of the equipment and his tireless patience in explaining all of it were so appreciated!!
        Daily seminars ...  Jim and David had been shooting at Sipadan Water Village for a week before the guests arrived.  They started off the seminar schedule with a presentation of images they had taken in the prior week. It was impressive and inspiring for the guests to see a sample of the critters that would be available to them throughout the next week.

                            Best of Show

                                                                        Craig Jones

Macro Winners - 

1st Place - Trudy Storey       2nd Place - Craig Jones            3rd Place - Ruby Ayer

Wide Angle Winners -

1st Place - Craig Jones     2nd Place - Rick Scott           3rd Place - Craig Jones

Best Frog Fish -         Best Crocodile Fish - 

Craig Jones                                                            Rick Scott

Honoroable Mentions - 

Larry Brenner                                Ruby Ayer                         Chris Parsons

Video - 

1st Place - Michael Ayer                            2nd Place - Rob Aschermann

I wish you could see the videos that Michael and Rob created.  They were funny and smart and very representative of the diving and the experience at Sipadan Water Village.  We thank both Michael and Rob for capturing the essence of Photo Week 2004 on video.       

Contact Sipadan Water Village
Phone - (512)323-6961
Toll Free - (866)UW PHOTO
Email - info@travel-masters.net