“If it were easy, everybody would do it.
It's the hard that makes it great.”
— Jimmy Dugan
(Tom Hanks - A League of their Own)
UNITED BY OUR SHARED LOVE OF THE OCEAN
While the Shootout is a learning event with emphasis on improving underwater shooting and editing techniques, the event organizers, Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo and Under Exposures, manage to gather some very cool prizes to give away in the friendly competition. Regardless of whether or not your images won a prize, congratulations to all of this year's participants for your hard work and improvement shown during the Shootout! Each of you created captivating, artistic ocean images to be proud of, and you are all winners!
Thank you to all of this year's Digital Shootout participants for choosing to spend your summer holiday with us! Welcome to the Shootout family, a group of like-minded folks, dive buddies and underwater imaging enthusiasts! If you crave more of the same camaraderie, join us in 2024 in Little Cayman!
“We are all winners!
Some of us are just prize challenged.”
— Berkley White
THE 2023 DIGITAL SHOOTOUT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:
The Digital Shootout has always had a Share-the-Wealth policy for the incredible prizes awarded. Those whose talent and good fortune allowed them to win, place or show in more than one category will certainly be recognized for their achievements; however, only the one favorite prize can be taken home, with the others going into the all-entries raffle. Winners that were ambitious enough to compete in both photo and video can keep their favorite prize selected from both the photo and video contest.
In the judging room, sometimes there is agreement, most times there is argument. This year's judging panel – Berkley White, Hergen Spalink, Todd Winner, Erin Quigley, Joel Penner, Jen Penner, Cristian Dimitrius, Davide Lombroso and Dan Baldocchi – had the difficult task of determining the merits of 12 submitted videos based on the criteria, "Would I share this video with my friends?" For still images, the judging was based on, "Would I hang this photo on my wall?" Nearly 400 images were submitted, making the judging process a daunting task, often resulting in heated debate and a little arm wrestling.
Enjoy the stunning photos and videos from the 2023 Digital Shootout!
WINNER - JIM WATT AWARD
Jim Watt was more than a friend to the Shootout. He was a living example of our mission statement. Jim was one of the first professional underwater photographers to adopt digital photography and was thrilled to share all his shooting secrets with first time shooters or fellow professional photographers. His passion and skill in creating new images was infectious and inspired hundreds of Digital Shootout guests over the years. Our Best of Show image is honored with the Jim Watt Award of excellence.
| PRIZE FOR JIM WATT AWARD |
 11 Night trip for 1 $6,700.00 |
WINNERS - WIDE ANGLE TRADITIONAL
 1st Place  2nd Place  3rd Place  Honorable Mention 1 
Honorable Mention 2 |
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WINNERS - WIDE ANGLE UNRESTRICTED
 1st Place  2nd Place  3rd Place  Honorable Mention 1  Honorable Mention 2 |
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WINNERS - MACRO TRADITIONAL
 1st Place  2nd Place  3rd Place  Honorable Mention 1 |
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| PRIZES FOR MACRO TRADITIONAL | ||||
 7 Night Trip for 1 $4,550.00 |
 MF2 Triple Remote$1,800.00 |
 Travel Voucher $1,500.00 |
 YS-D3 Strobe$800.00 |
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WINNERS - MACRO UNRESTRICTED
 1st Place  2nd Place  3rd Place  Honorable Mention 1  Honorable Mention 2 |
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| PRIZES FOR MACRO UNRESTRICTED | ||||
 7 Nights$3,000.00 |
 San Ignacio Gray Whale Glamping$2,500.00 |
YS-D3 Strobe $800.00 |
MF2 Snoot Package $550.00 |
GoPro Pack Filter Kit $200.00 |
WINNERS - Point & Shoot
 1st Place  2nd Place  3rd Place  Honorable Mention 1 |
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| PRIZES FOR POINT & SHOOT | ||||
 7 nights for 1 $2,500.00 |
 OM-D E-M10 IV w/14-42 EZ Lens & Backscatter Octo Housing$1,500.00 |
TG6 & PT-059 Housing $800.00 |
MF2 Strobe $400.00 |
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Please enjoy the underwater views from behind the lenses of this year's participants in the all-submitted videos and all-submitted images slideshow. A very special THANK YOU to all of our prize sponsors for your generosity and support of The Digital Shootout – we couldn't do it without you!
VIDEO — ALL ENTRIES
Here are all of the videos that were submitted for the friendly competition of this year's Digital Shootout.