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Steven Kovacs’ picture Tired Fish, captured throughout a blackwater dive in Okinawa, has gained him the Best in Show award on the Ocean Art 2025 underwater pictures competitors.
Kovacs spent practically a fortnight trying to find a not often documented larval goosefish, then caught a fleeting second because the elusive topic opened its mouth towards the digital camera.
The 14th annual Ocean Art occasion, organised by Underwater Photography Guide (UPG), noticed prizes of diving holidays and tools valued at greater than US $60,000 awarded to the winners, who had been chosen from 1000’s of entries submitted by photographers throughout greater than 90 international locations. Entries had been made underneath 14 class headings.
“These images are the result of obsession, patience and exploration,” stated Nirupam Nigam, contest organiser, UPG editor-in-chief and Bluewater Photo & Travel president. “Many of this yr’s winners spent weeks – and even years – chasing moments most individuals won’t ever witness.
“While all great photography demands dedication, underwater photography requires a uniquely intense combination of patience, persistence and technical skill.”
The judging panel, comprising Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman, Mark Strickland and Ipah Uid Lynn, evaluated the entries in accordance with technical, creative and storytelling standards. In every class 4 winners plus extremely counseled awards may very well be made – beneath are the outright winners:
“Cuba is home to one of the last abundant populations of sharks in the Caribbean,” says Conroy, who was diving within the Jardines Del Reina marine park. “This shot was taken at sundown with these surface-patrolling silky sharks. I wished to inform the story of the variety of sharks and the wholesome inhabitants and the motion as they patrol the shallow water.
“I used a slow shutter-speed to burn in the ambient light coming through the partial Snell’s window and a front curtain flash fore to freeze the sharks sharp in among the chaos of the surface movement and the sunset.”
This class was notably aggressive in 2025, say the Ocean Art organisers. “Tucked deep within coral polyps above the black volcanic sand of Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait, this pughead pipefish revealed itself for only a brief moment,” says Sly.
“While not particularly uncommon, capturing a clean view of this small syngnathid’s face among the busy coral it inhabits can be a real challenge. By waiting patiently for it to edge forward into a natural gap, its wide-eyed, almost startled expression was revealed.”
Jeon specialises in photographing seahorses in Korea. “To witness the start of the Korean seahorse in 2022, I efficiently filmed it by diving at night time. However, I heard a few seashore dive-site in Kumamoto, Japan the place there are a lot of seahorses and the local weather is healthier than in Korea, so in July I contacted an area information about filming the start of a seahorse on a night-dive.
“Among macro topics seahorses are comparatively massive and have poor imaginative and prescient, so I captured the second when a child seahorse comes out of its father’s abdomen utilizing a 35mm macro lens with a large subject of view and a steady taking pictures perform.
“Seahorses mate and give birth several times a year, but because it is very difficult to predict the date and time, I was able to shoot by diving between midnight and dawn.”
“During the dive, I noticed this sea snake’s (Hydrophis sp) unusual behaviour, at first rubbing on the sand in a vertical U, then forming a knot on itself with pieces of old skin hanging at the tail,” says Galice, who was diving in Anda within the Philippines. “It was shedding!
“Although sea snakes have been recognized to make these knots on themselves to assist shedding their previous pores and skin, this behaviour has not often been captured on picture.
“From the surface, Lake Huron’s frozen expanse appears plain and unremarkable,” says Ferrara, who captured his profitable shot at Tobermory in Ontario, Canada. “An enormous, glimmering sheet of ice stretches so far as the attention can see, seemingly nonetheless and lifeless.
“Yet beneath this frozen floor lies a completely different world – a cathedral of shifting shapes, delicate textures and complex patterns that shimmer within the filtered gentle. Weather, wind and waves continually fracture, shift and refreeze the ice, sculpting formations which are by no means the identical twice.
“Every gap we lower into the floor revealed a brand new spectacle, a fleeting glimpse of an underwater panorama that feels nearly otherworldly.
“My aim was to seize the freediver as if they had been suspended between two worlds. Every descent demanded meticulous planning, with each of us diving on a single breath. Having correct spacial consciousness was essential, as we solely had a technique in and a technique out.
“As I watched the diver glide by the water, their actions contrasted the geometric patterns of the ice itself. Beneath Lake Huron’s unassuming floor lies a world that’s really mesmerizing – one which invitations exploration but instructions profound respect.
“I photographed this Cratena peregrina nudibranch while it was feeding on its preferred prey,” says Bausani – the location was the Mediterranean island of Giannutri off Italy. “It feeds on the stinging cells of a hydrozoan without suffering the venom. The ambient light combined with the strobe flash emphasised the vivid coloration of its livery.”
“One of my favourite subjects to encounter on blackwater dives is the goosefish, also known as the monkfish,” says Kovacs. “So once I started seeing images of a never-before-seen species of larval goosefish taken off Kume Island, Japan, I knew I needed to go to and attempt to discover one.
“Blackwater diving within the very deep waters off Kumejima in Okinawa is an thrilling new alternative, and though discovering my goal fish was a protracted shot, I booked an prolonged keep in hopes of getting fortunate.
“After practically two weeks of nightly looking and nearing the top of my keep, my elusive topic all of the sudden appeared. Unfortunately, this lovely little fish turned out to be extremely unco-operative and tough to {photograph}.
“After spending some time with it, I was very fortunate that, for one brief moment, it decided to yawn while facing the camera. I somehow managed to press the shutter at that exact instant, resulting in this image.”
“The moray eel was trapped in an abandoned trap,” says Nicosia, who captured the shot in Syracuse, Sicily. “When it saw me, it put its nose in one of the meshes to ask for help. It was an incredible emotion. The story had a happy ending – after taking the photos, I freed it.”
The authentic {photograph} of a Valentini pufferfish was taken close to the reef off Bunaken Island in Indonesia’s north Sulawesi. “Using the Fractalius plug-in, a fractal of the pufferfish’s head was created from this image, which was then further edited with smoke brushes in Photoshop,” says Stros.
“The colourful smoke behind the fish highlights its dynamic movement and signals to potential predators that the fish is poisonous. The reflections on the water’s surface mirror the colour of the wavy smoke.”
“During a dive in Zeeland [at Den Osse in the Netherlands] I encountered this lovely Rhizostoma pulmo close to the floor. It was a sunny day, and I used to be capable of play with the daylight to seize this picture, which showcases this magnificent 50cm jellyfish specimen.
“The black and white processing highlights the animal’s texture against the murky, dark water, creating a black background.”
This class was judged by the most recent of the judges, Canon and Marelux Ambassador, Ipah Uid Lynn. “Angel Flying was made during a brief encounter when movement, light, and position aligned without warning,” says Campbell, who was working in a pool in Florida.
“The topic’s type and movement resolved naturally within the water, providing a fleeting sense of carry and quiet that existed just for a second earlier than passing. There was no alternative to regulate or repeat the scene. The picture emerged by stillness and restraint – by permitting the encounter to unfold fairly than trying to direct it.
“In an area, this {photograph} introduces calm and elevation. Its presence attracts the attention upward whereas sustaining a grounded sense of steadiness, creating an environment of quiet attentiveness fairly than spectacle.
“Angel Flying is a photographic work created largely in-camera during a single underwater encounter. Post-processing is minimal and deliberate, preserving the qualities shaped by water, light, and movement at the time the image was made.”
“I captured this image during a check dive at Shark Point in Komodo, Indonesia,” says Cho. “Ironically, regardless of the location’s identify, there have been no sharks to be discovered that day. Instead, I noticed a sea turtle rising towards the floor to take a breath.
“Above the surface, a group of snorkellers was watching the scene unfold. I instinctively captured this moment, highlighting the peaceful connection and coexistence between the marine life and the human observers.”
“While diving in the waters of Anilao in the Philippines, I found this super-tiny sea snail (Cystiscus minutissimus) on a ribbon of nudibranch eggs,” says Michelutti. “It measures barely 2mm, nearly invisible to the bare eye, a kind of miniature creatures that simply escape consideration.
“What caught my attention was the contrast between its translucent, purple‑tinted shell and the soft texture of the egg spiral beneath it. A small, quiet moment that reveals how much beauty hides in the micro world of the reef.”
Taken with a Sony RX100 M7 + AOI +23 Macro, Marelux housing, two Inon Z330 strobes. f/11, 1/a thousandth, ISO 100 (Andrea Michelutti / Ocean Art 2025)
“After being relentlessly pursued by two male stallions, this large yellow female seahorse anxiously attempts to transfer her eggs to her chosen mate at the height of a copulatory rise as the contender falls away,” says Taylor.
“Mating is difficult for inexperienced seahorse pairs to accomplish successfully and many of her bright eggs were spilt in the process. I had this rare and exciting opportunity while diving in the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. “Owing to the flexibility of compact photography, I was able to capture this special moment.”
All the Ocean Art 2025 winners and their descriptions will be discovered on the competitors web page on the Underwater Photography Guide site.
Also on Divernet: Mono goes huge in Ocean Art picture contest
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