The results of the first annual SoCal Shootout have been announced. The event had entries of images shot on San Diego wrecks and reefs, Orange County oil rigs, in the deep open ocean on blue-water dives, and at the Southern and Northern Channel Islands from 16 to 18 September.

The overall winner was Nayan Savla, with a black and white sea-lion image. Many congratulations are due to all the winners, and as always it is great to see so many Wetpixel members in the placings.

Bluewater Photo is proud to announce the winners of the first annual SoCal Shootout. There were many excellent entries in all categories, with photographers/videographers from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The SoCal Shootout was judged by some of the top professional underwater photographers in Southern California: Andy Sallmon, Todd Winner, Richard Salas and Mark Strickland. You can check out all the winning images and videos at the event’s website. Congratulations to all the winners for showing what Southern California diving is all about.

Best of Shootout:

“Having Fun” by Nayan Savla.

Wide-Angle:

1st: Michael Zeigler.
2nd: Nayan Savla.
3rd: Walt Conklin.
HM: Matthew Fischbach, Roeland Papen.

Macro:

1st: Michael Zeigler.
2nd: Michael Samale.
3rd: Brian McHugh.
HM: Brian McHugh, Bill Van Antwerp.

Behavior:

1st: Nayan Savla.
2nd: Michael Zeigler.
3rd: Michael Zeigler.
HM: Brian McHugh, Walt Conklin.

Portrait:

1st: Brian McHugh.
2nd: Ron Watkins.
3rd: Michael Zeigler.
HM: Brian McHugh, Ron Watkins, Matthew Fischbach.

Compact Wide-Angle:

1st: Brent Durand.
2nd: David Guth.
3rd: Cindy Shaw.
HM: Brent Durand, Steve Murvine.

Compact Macro:

1st: Eric Aubort.
2nd: David Guth.
3rd: Nick Lawrence.
HM: Deanna Beck, Gerard Lorenzo.

Compact Behavior:

1st: Eric Aubort.
2nd: David Guth.
3rd: Steve Murvine.
HM: Eric Aubort, Carolyn Wang.

Compact Portrait:

1st: Eric Aubort.
2nd: Luz Martinez.
3rd: David Guth.
HM: Nirupam Nigam, Carolyn Wang.

Video:

1st: Walter Marti - “Black sea Bass Shuffle”.
2nd: Xavier Michalet - “Dance of the Torpedo Ray”.
3rd: Nannette Van Antwerp - “Pulsating Nudibranch”.
4th: Roger Uzun - “Feeding Black Sea Bass”.
HM: Roger Uzun - “Dualing Sheephead”.

Special thanks to our sponsors: The grand prizes are a 5-day trip to the Wakatobi luxury resort in Southeast Sulawesi and a 7-night Hans Christian Andersen live-aboard in the Philippines, while other premium prizes include an 8-day stay at the Marco Vincent dive resort in Puerto Galera, Philippines, a 7-day package at Maluku divers in Ambon, Indonesia, a 7-night stay at Manta Ray Bay on the island of Yap, sponsored by Reef & Rainforest, a 7-day dive trip at Club Cantamar in Baja, Mexico, a discounted Solmar V liveaboard in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and free night stays at the Hermosa Hotel on Catalina Island for category winners. Other sponsors include Bluewater Photo, Light & Motion, Sea & Sea, Dyron, Ultralight, Bigblue Dive Lights, Ikelite, Truth Aquatics, Princeton Tec, Channel Islands Dive Adventures and the Peace dive boat.