Underwaterphotography.com has a yearly contest for underwater photography and the winners this year are incredible! We’ve posted 10 of our favorites here but be sure to check out the site to see all the winners and runners up. Above is the first place winner from the over/under category. It was taken in Mexico by Uwe Schmolke. Here’s some more information on the contest:
Winning here (or even just being placed) is Underwater Photography’s most coveted accolade because it says you succeeded in the most competitive environment there is, against the top talent of the moment.
Every year a panel of judges select the best images entered in our online photo contest from the previous year. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for the top three from each category in order of merit.
The judges comprise of industry professionals, previous year’s World Champions, our site moderators – anyone we can rope in! They are unpaid, non-affiliated, and (of course) cannot vote for themselves.
Here’s 9 more of our favorites!
This one is the first place winner from the wide angle wrecks category and was taken by Ellen Cuylaerts in the Cayman islands. It’s a, “Fly free diver at the bow of the EX-USS Kittiwake”.
This one is the first place winner of the wide angle – close focus category. It was taken by Helmy Hashim in the Red Sea in Egypt.
This super creepy photo is the second place winner of the Macro – Close-up category. Taken by Doris Vierkötter in Indonesia.
This one is the 3rd place winner from the Wide Angle – Natural Light (no strobe) category. Taken by Shane Gross in Sri Lanka.
3rd place winner from the Wide Angle – Marine Life category. By Valda Fraser taken in South Africa.
2nd place winner from the Macro – not swimming category. By Ellen Cuylaerts taken in Mexico.
3rd place winner from the Macro- swimming category. By Uwe Schmolke taken in Indonesia.
2nd place winner from the Macro – super macro category. Taken by Iyad Suleyman in the United Arab Emirates.
First place winner from the sharks category. Taken by Petteri Viljakainen in Mexico.