Held on November 28 to December 2, 2018 in Mabini, Batangas, in the Philippines, the 6th Anilao Underwater Shootout photo competition organised by the Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT)’s Office of Product and Market Development Dive Group is an annual photo competition that has been dubbed the “World Cup of Photo Competitions”.
Home to some of the rarest marine life in the world, Anilao is one of the world’s best diving spots and its rich bio-diversity is featured annually in the Anilao Underwater Shootout. This year’s competition saw more than 220 underwater photographers and divers from all over Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific congregate at Anilao.
This year’s competition featured a star-studded panel of judges with French naturalist photographer and marine biologist Laurent Ballesta, award-winning Belgian underwater and wildlife photographer Ellen Cuylaerts, macro photography expert and 2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Indra Swari; renowned underwater photographer William Tan and Underwater360 founder and Asia Dive Expo’s official organizer John Thet.
Our UW360 correspondent, Andrew Lim, was one of the participants of the Anilao Underwater Shootout and wrote about his experience of the competition.
In the Open Class, Macro/Supermacro category, Thing Yun Na (Indonesia) clinched first place, Cai Heng took second place while Henley Spiers (United Kingdom, France) was third.
OPEN CLASS (MACRO/SUPERMACRO)
First place:
Thing, Yun Na (Indonesia)
Second place:
Cai Heng (China)
Third Place:
Henley Spiers (United Kingdom, France)
In the Open Class, Marine Behaviour category, Dennis Corpuz (Philippines) clinched the first prize, Brook Peterson (United States) took second place and Cai Heng (China) was third.
OPEN CLASS (MARINE BEHAVIOUR)
First place:
Dennis Corpuz (Philippines)
Second place:
Brook Peterson (United States)
Third place:
Cai Heng (China)
In the Open Class, Nudibranch category, Bebot Esteban (Philippines) clinched first place, Lai Kam Moon (Hong Kong) took second place while Mohan Thanabalan was third.
OPEN CLASS (NUDIBRANCH)
First place:
Bebot Esteban (Philippines)
Second place:
Lai Kam Moon (Hong Kong)
Third place:
Mohan Thanabalan (Malaysia)
In the Open Class, Fish Portrait category, Peri Paleracio (Philippines) clinched first place, PJ Aristorenas (Philippines) took second place while Marco Steiner (Austria) was third.
OPEN CLASS (FISH PORTRAIT)
First place:
Peri Paleracio (Philippines)
Second place:
PJ Aristorenas (Philippines)
Third place:
Marco Steiner (Austria)
In the Compact Class, Macro/Supermacro category, Ericson Yee (Philippines) clinched first place, Narumon Pimsirinath (Thailand) took second place while Ex Borrega Liao (Philippines) was third.
COMPACT CLASS (MACRO/SUPERMACRO)
First place:
Ericson Avendan Yee (Philippines)
Second place:
Narumon Pimsirinath (Thailand)
Third place:
Ex Borrega Liao (Philippines)
In the Compact Class, Marine Behaviour category, Maria Nerissa Fajardo (Philippines) clinched first place, Jayson Apostol (Philippines) was second and Lee Gyoungmi (South Korea) was third.
COMPACT CLASS (MARINE BEHAVIOUR)
First place:
Maria Nerissa Fajardo (Philippines)
Second place:
Jayson Apostol (Philippines)
Third place:
Lee Gyoungmi (South Korea)
In the Compact Class, Nudibranch category, first place went to Marc Stephen De Leon (Philippines), second place went to Lin Haojie (China) and third place went to Ronald Dalawampo (Philippines).
COMPACT CLASS (NUDIBRANCH)
First place:
Marc Stephen De Leon (Philippines)
Second place:
Lin Haojie (China)
Third place:
Ronald Dalawampo (Philippines)
In the Compact Class, Fish Portrait category, Regie Casia (Philippines) clinched first place, Lim Sudong (United States) took second place and Ajiex Dharma (Indonesia) took third place.
COMPACT CLASS (FISH PORTRAIT)
First place:
Regie Casia (Philippines)
Second place:
Lim Sudong (United States)
Third place:
Ajiex Dharma (Philippines)
SPECIAL AWARDS
In the Special Awards, Smart Phone/Action Camera category, Ria Crucero (Philippines) was named the winner.
SPECIAL AWARDS (SMART PHONE/ACTION CAMERA)
Winner: Ria Crucero
In the Special Awards, Blackwater/Bonfire category, Cai Songda (China) was named the winner
SPECIAL AWARDS (BLACKWATER/BONFIRE)
Winner: Cai Songda (China)
The Philippines swept both the DOT-PAL Photographer of the Year awards for the Open and Compact classes with Dennis Corpuz winning for his entry in the Open Class (Marine Behaviour) category and Regie Casia for his winning Compact Class (Fish portrait) photo.
Read the rest of this article in No. 114/2019 of Scuba Diver Ocean Planet magazine by subscribing here or check out all of our publications here.
