Manta Fest Awards
All of this photography-game-stepping-up dive partying peaked with the contest awards banquet full of generous prizes. Everyone took home something from the sponsors. Winners were selected in dSLR and non-dSLR divisions with several categories that included big animals, macro, island/culture, night and Mandarinfish. Participants were also allowed to submit a slideshow where judges weighed in the creativity and bulk of work.
“Best of Show” winner was Sheila Ott with a portrait of a manta ray with several juvenile pilot fish from Goofnuw Channel. Sheila will be booking any week she wants with Dive Damai on a super luxury Indonesia liveaboard adventure.
First place winners in each category received a Mares Icon HD air-integrated dive computer, worth $1,900. Among the other category prizes were Mares puck dive computers, week-long hotel and dive packages at Manta Ray Bay, Henderson wetsuits and Ikelite LED dive lights.
Honorable mentions were awarded to several photographers for their work that came with Armor gear bags, Pelican cases, Mares and Henderson ware as well as McNet towels and Ikelite lens cloths.
Participants are familiar with the uniqueness of Yap with such a special mix of people – photographers from all over the world, the local staff, the family who started it all, the Ackers, as well as the presenters mixed it up for two weeks of our best shots with refined party photo game.
Frank Schneider, Marty Snyderman, Sheil Ott, Bill Acker, Ray Bullion and David Fleetham wind up this year’s awards ceremony and start planning for 2015.
There’s a big thank you that goes out to well-deserving sponsors, if it wasn’t for these businesses, and the people behind them, awesome dive & photo parties on tiny little islands that most people never heard of would not be possible.
These are the industry’s supporters of good times, learning underwater photography and epic dive travel.