This year marked the 8th annual shootout, with a record breaking number of prizes and dollar values!
After hearing reports from our various contestants, conditions were quite mixed depending on where
you went out, making some divesites much more challenging to shoot than others, but overall there
were some great marinelife sightings and some stunning photos submitted!
See below for the full list of winners. All winning photos and the prizes won, can be found at bluewaterphotostore.com
The 2018 SoCal Shootout weekend took place September 14-16th, 2018 with participants diving
throughout our Southern California waters. The participants for the event were a great blend of local
divers, and commuters coming as far as the East Coast in order to participate!
Over $25,000 in prizes are being awarded to the winners with top sponsors including Quino el
Guardian, Aquatica Digitial, Kraken Sports, Volivoli Beach Resort, Clearly Cayman Resorts, Bluewater
Travel, El Galleon Dive Resort, & Think Tank Photo. Bluewater Travel will be organizing the winner’s
trips from our international sponsors. A full list of sponsors can be located at shootout sponsors page
About the SoCal Shootout
The SoCal Shootout is a weekend-long photography extravaganza in which underwater photographers
strive to capture the best possible photos over a single weekend. Major editing is not allowed, so the
competition truly tests their abilities to capture stunning imagery in-camera. Bluewater Photo, a
dedicated underwater photography center, hosts the event along with sponsors from many top
underwater photography brands, international dive resorts, and local California dive boats. All share the
excitement of supporting the Southern California scuba diving community.
For those interested in participating next year, the 9th annual SoCal Shootout will be September 13th –
15th, 2019.
SoCal Shootout 2018 / Best in Show
Josh Musselwhite
BEST IN SHOW
Josh Musselwhite
Honorable Mention: Desmond Ho
OPEN WIDE
1st: Davis Huber
2nd: Jon Anderson
3rd: Curtis Wee
4th: Tiffany Poon
5th: Jon Anderson
PORTRAIT
1st: Josh Musselwhite
2nd: Jon Anderson
3rd: Jon Anderson
4th: Desmond Ho
5th: Craig Hoover
BEHAVIOR
1st: John Ericksen
2nd: Tiffany Poon
3rd: Brook Peterson
4th: Jim Agronick
5th: Davis Huber
OPEN MACRO
1st: Desmond Ho
2nd: Michael Edward Francisco
3rd: Desmond Ho
4th: Devon Fox
5th: Jon Anderson
COMPACT MACRO
1st: Michal Ross
2nd: Michal Ross
3rd: Michael Edward Francisco
COMPACT MID TO WIDE
1st: Bruce Olinder
2nd: Jason O’Rourke
3rd: George Moakley
MIRRORLESS WIDE
1st: Andre Labuda
2nd: Tyler Schiffman
3rd: Andre Labuda
4th: John Ericksen
5th: Bruce Sudweeks
MIRRORLESS MACRO
1st: John Ericksen
2nd: Desmond Ho
3rd: Desmond Ho
4th: Desmond Ho
5th: Julie Gordon
EDITED VIDEO
1st: Todd Kortte
2nd: Weiwei Gao
3rd (tie): Weiwei Gao
3rd (tie): Dan McGanty
UNEDITED VIDEO
1st: Dan McGanty
2nd: Weiwei Gao
3rd: Todd Kortte
