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The winners of the 14th annual Ocean Art Underwater Photography Competition have been introduced, showcasing one of the best underwater pictures from hundreds of entries taken by photographers from greater than 90 international locations.
The general Best in Show award was introduced to Steven Kovacs for his {photograph} Tired Fish, taken throughout a blackwater dive off Kumejima, Japan. The picture reveals a not often documented larval goosefish species and was captured after almost two weeks of focused diving.
Awards had been introduced throughout 14 classes, with greater than $60,000 in prizes obtained this 12 months by the winners, together with dive journeys to a few of the world’s prime resorts and liveaboards, plus a variety of substances from underwater imaging producers.
The judging panel for 2025 included underwater photographers and trade figures Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman, Mark Strickland and Ipah Uid Lynn, who highlighted significantly robust entries within the in macro and underwater vogue classes.
Winning images additionally documented a variety of not often noticed behaviours and environments, together with the start of a seahorse and a sea snake tying itself in knots whereas shedding.
‘These images are the result of obsession, patience, and exploration,’ stated Nirupam Nigam, president of Bluewater Photo and editor-in-chief of the Underwater Photography Guide. ‘Many of this year’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 full listing of successful pictures and honourable mentions will be discovered on the Underwater Photography Guide’s Ocean Art 2025 Ocean Art internet pages.
The Story: One of my favorite topics to come across on blackwater dives is the goosefish, also called the monkfish. 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, Japan, 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 almost two weeks of nightly looking out and nearing the top of my keep, my elusive topic all of a sudden appeared.
Unfortunately, this lovely little fish turned out to be extremely uncooperative and troublesome to {photograph}. After spending a while with it, I used to be very lucky that, for one transient second, it determined to yawn whereas going through the digicam. I in some way managed to press the shutter at that actual instantaneous, ensuing on this picture.
Location: Blackwater dive off Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
Equipment Used: Nikon D500; Nikon 60 mm macro; Ikelite housing with twin Ikelite DS230 strobes.
Camera Settings: f22, 1/250s, ISO 250
The Story: Cuba is house to one of many final considerable populations of sharks within the Caribbean. 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 gradual shutter velocity to burn within the ambient mild coming by means of the partial Snell’s window and a entrance curtain flash to freeze the sharks sharp in amongst the chaos of the floor motion and the sundown.
Location: Jardines del Reina Marine Park, Cuba
Equipment Used: Sony A7R V; Nauticam housing; Backscatter HF-1 strobes; Canon 8-15 mm fisheye
Camera Settings: ISO 160, f/18, 1/5 s
The Story: Tucked deep inside coral polyps above the black volcanic sand of Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait, this pughead pipefish revealed itself for less than a quick second.
While not significantly unusual, capturing a clear view of this small syngnathid’s face among the many busy coral it inhabits is usually a actual problem. By ready patiently for it to edge ahead right into a pure hole, its wide-eyed, nearly startled expression was revealed.
Location: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Equipment Used: Nikon Z8; Nauticam housing; two Retra Pro Max strobes; Nikon 105mm macro lens
Camera Settings: ISO 64, f/11, 1/160s
The Story: I’m an underwater photographer who primarily images seahorses in Korea. To witness the start of the Korean seahorse in 2022, I efficiently filmed it by diving at evening.
However, I acquired to know a diving web site in Kumamoto, Japan, the place there are a lot of seahorses in Japan and the local weather is healthier than in Korea, and in July this 12 months, I used to be in a position to contact a neighborhood information to movie the start of the seahorse whereas diving at evening.
Among the macro topics, seahorses are comparatively giant and have poor imaginative and prescient, so I captured the second when a child seahorse comes out of thefather’s abdomen utilizing a 35mm macro lens with a large area of view and a steady capturing operate.
Seahorses mate and provides start a number of occasions a 12 months, however since it is rather troublesome to know the date and time, I used to be in a position to shoot by diving from 00:00 a.m. to the following morning.
Location: Beaches in Kumamoto and Shinminamata, Japan
Equipment Used: Canon EOS R7; Marelux Canon R7 housing; Sea & Sea 250pro, Weefine wfs07 strobe/mild; EFS 35 mm macro lens
Camera Settings: 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200
The Story: During the dive, I observed this sea snake (Hydrophis sp.) uncommon habits, at first rubbing on the sand in a vertical U, then forming a knot on itself with items of outdated pores and skin hanging on the tail: it was shedding! Although sea snakes have been recognized to make these knots on themselves to assist shedding their outdated pores and skin, this habits has not often been captured on photograph.
Location: Anda, Philippines
Equipment Used: Camera – Sony a7r v; Nauticam housing; 2x Retra professional max strobes; Sony 90mm lens with EMWL 160
Camera Settings: ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/160s
The Story: Beneath the frozen floor of Lake Huron, I discovered myself surrounded by a shifting cathedral of ice. Freediving in these circumstances means there’s just one exit level, and each breath and motion carries weight.
I wished to seize the stillness of the second and the distinction between the crystalline world above and the deep blue beneath. This picture is a reminder of the wonder and thriller that exists even within the coldest waters on Earth.
Location: Lake Huron, Great Lakes
Equipment Used: Canon EOS R6; Nauticam housing; 8–15mm fisheye
Camera Settings: ISO 400, f/8, 1/125s
The Story: I photographed this nudibranch of the species Cratena peregrina whereas it was feeding on its most popular prey. It feeds on the stinging cells of a hydrozoan with out struggling the venom. The ambient mild mixed with the strobe flash emphasised the vivid colouration of its livery.
Location: Giannutri Island, Mediterranean Sea, Italy
Equipment Used: Nikon D500, Isotta housing, Nikkor 60mm lens, Backscatter Mini Flash 2, Backscatter optical snoot
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/22, 1/200s
The Story: The moray eel was trapped in an deserted entice. When it noticed me, it put its nostril in one of many meshes to ask for assist. It was an unbelievable emotion. The story had a contented ending; after taking the photographs, I freed it.
Location: Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
Equipment Used: Nikon D300s, Isotta housing, 2 SEACAM 150 digital flashes, Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8G ED Micro lens
Camera Settings: ISO 250, f/36, 1/200s
The Story: The unique {photograph} of the ‘Valentini pufferfish’ was taken close to the reef off Bunaken Island. Using the Fractalius plug-in, a fractal of the pufferfish’s head was created from this picture, which was then additional edited with smoke brushes in Photoshop.
The vibrant smoke behind the fish highlights its dynamic motion and indicators to potential predators that the fish is toxic. The reflections on the water’s floor mirror the color of the wavy smoke.
Location: Bunaken Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Equipment Used: Canon 80D, Ikelite housing, Two YS-D2 Sea & Sea strobes, Canon 60mm lens
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/16, 1/160s
The Story: During a dive in Zeeland, I encountered this lovely Rhizostoma pulmo close to the floor. It was a sunny day, and I used to be in a position to play with the daylight to seize this photograph, which showcases this magnificent 50 cm jellyfish specimen. The black and white processing highlights the animal’s texture in opposition to the murky, darkish water, making a black background.
Location: Pays-Bas, Zélande, web site Den Osse
Equipment Used: Canon 5D Mark IV, Seacam housing, 2x Seacam flashes, 16 mm fisheye lens
Camera Settings: ISO 200, f/16, 1/200 s
The Story: Angel Flying was made throughout a quick encounter when motion, mild, and place aligned with out warning. The topic’s kind and movement resolved naturally within the water, providing a fleeting sense of elevate 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 means of stillness and restraint—by permitting the encounter to unfold quite than making an attempt to direct it. Angel Flying is a photographic work created largely in-camera throughout a single underwater encounter, with minimal and deliberate post-processing, preserving the qualities formed by water, mild, and motion on the time the picture was made.
Location: Waterbear exhibit pool, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Equipment Used: Nikon Z8, Nauticam housing, Nikon 24–50 mm at 50 mm with Nauticam WWL-C moist lens, scrim modifiers utilizing pure mild
Camera Settings: ISO 220, f/4, 1/320s
The Story: I captured this picture throughout a verify dive at Shark Point in Komodo, Indonesia. Ironically, regardless of the location’s title, 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 floor, a bunch of snorkelers was watching the scene unfold. I instinctively captured this second, highlighting the peaceable connection and coexistence between the marine life and the human observers.
Location: Shark Point, Komodo, Indonesia
Equipment Used: Sony RX100 V, Nauticam housing, Sea&Sea YS-D2J strobe, Inon UWL-H100 lens
Camera Settings: ISO 125, f/11, 1/100s
The Story: While diving within the waters of Anilao, Philippines, I discovered this tremendous tiny sea snail (Cystiscus minutissimus) on a ribbon of nudibranch eggs. It measures barely 2 millimetres, nearly invisible to the bare eye, a kind of miniature creatures that simply escape consideration.
What caught my consideration was the distinction between its translucent, purple-tinted shell and the gentle texture of the egg spiral beneath it. A small, quiet second that reveals how a lot magnificence hides within the micro world of the reef.
Location: Anilao, Mabini, Batangas (Luzon), Philippines
Equipment Used: Sony RX100 M7, Marelux housing, 2 x Inon Z330 strobes, AOI +23 macro lens
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/1000s
The Story: After being relentlessly pursued by two male stallions, this massive yellow feminine seahorse anxiously makes an attempt to switch her eggs to her chosen mate on the peak of a copulatory rise because the contender falls away.
Mating is troublesome for inexperienced seahorse pairs to perform efficiently and lots of of her vibrant eggs had been spilt within the course of.
I had this uncommon and thrilling alternative while diving within the Lembeh Strait. Owing to the pliability of compact images, I used to be in a position to seize this particular second.
Location: Lembeh, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Equipment Used: Canon G7x Mak II, Isotta housing, one Inon S-220 strobe
Camera Settings: ISO 125, f/7.1, 1/250s
For extra details about the Ocean Art contest and the Underwater Photography Guide, head to www.uwphotographyguide.com
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