Hey, good news! Viktor is a winner again! He wins Through The Lens 2013 in category Portfolio with amazing photo set of white whales, lakes and seas, divers and ordinary people.
Cogratulations!
Viktor’s winning photography had been published in the Scuba Diver Australasia 5/2013
The amazing photo of white whale Petrovich by our photographer Viktor Lyagushkin, which won the Best Edit Award from National Geographic Headquarters, was so attractive, that it turned attention of another National Geographic regional magazine – Nordic.
Please meet Whale Petrovich in NG Nordic!
White Rivers in White Sea this is title of our publication in National Geographic Russia Magazine July 2013 about mystery phenomenon, which had been discovered by our team in April 2013 at Polar Circle.
Plunging under the ice of the bay Biofiltry on the White Sea, we found that the bay’s basin at 7 m deep seemed to be filled with smoke. At touch smooth interface between the transparent and whitish water heaved with swirls and its smooth contours restored only few hours later. “Smoke” had a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide.
Although hydrogen sulfide is used for medical purposes, such as hydrogen sulfide baths, the gas is very toxic. Even a small amount of hydrogen sulfide in the air inhaled causes dizziness, headache, nausea; and its significant concentration leads to coma, convulsions, pulmonary edema, and even death. For marine life hydrogen sulfide is as much as dangerous. Divers’ anxiety was clear, so they took samples of the water and turned to the scientists. The explanation was surprising and not simple.
Congratulations to out photographer Viktor Lyagushkin, now he wins the HP Eilat Red Sea Cup and became the Photographer of the Year 2013! We are happy and proud of this, thank you everybody who had helped us to create these stunnuing images!
During our expedition to White sea, where we did a surprising discovery, Viktor made a shot of a 20 year old white whale named Petrovich. The beluga basked in the spring sunshine and was happy about spring coming.
The photo of whale Petrovich became popular; image with some info on white whales was published in National Geographic Russia Magazine (June 2013) and won the Best Edit Award from the National Geographic Headquarters! Congrats Viktor!
Good news for our followers from Poland: article about Blue Lake Project in the Diving Polish Magazine “Nurkowanie” #3 2013. Eight two-page spreads!
“Gdzieś na południu Rosji wznoszą się strome skały, a wysokie góry oślepiają bielą. Rozdzielają je ponure kaniony, którymi pędzą szalone rzeki. Kaniony musiały ustąpić pod naporem wody, więc rzeki stawały się coraz szersze i wypływały swobodnie, przecinając zielone łąki i lasy. Oto Kaukaz.”
Our congratulations to our team member, our heart and conscience, twice world champion in freediving Natalie Avseenko, who became Freediving Instructor Trainer SSI at 20 May 2013.
Great job, Natalie! We are so proud of you!
Note: 5000 or more freedive sessions have been done by her, as the card reads. Just imagine, what does it mean!
Mariinskaya cave. Urals, Russia
The team of speleologists descended the cave to monitor the state of the glacier.
The cave is covered with ice all year round. Relict cave glacier records climate changes, keeping centuries in its memory. Also bones of cave bear had been found in the cave.
Camera Nikon D3x, 12 strobes Nissin Di866. radio controls Flama.
Speleologists: Igor lavrov, Bogdana Vashchenko, Alexander Chemodanov, Natalia Chemodanova, Eugenia Suzdaleva, Nikolay Ushakov.
Photo by Viktor Lyagushkin
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Yay! This needs no comments! Magic World of Blue Lake photo by Viktor Lyagushkin wins week 3 National Geographic Traveller Photo Contest
Stoneworts — an ancient class that combines the attributes of algae and higher-order plants — serve as a source of food for waterfowl, especially during autumn migrations.
Wrapped in a weightless veil of cladophoraceae algae —
poetically named mermaid’s hair — stoneworts adorn this 260-meter-deep karst lake, their mild radiancy juxtaposed against the gloomy rock walls of the deep. When exposed to sunlight or strobes, stoneworts start to shed their own light. This phenomenon is known as photoluminescence, and lasts for only a fraction of a second.
HOW I GOT THE SHOT I used a Nikon D3s, 60mm, f/2.8, Subal housing, and two Ikelite DS160 substrobes mounted on the camera.
Where: Blue Lake, Kabardino-Balkaria, Caucasus, Russia
by Viktor Lyagushkin
Look Section, Scuba Diving Magazine (USA) March/April 2013