Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 winners introduced

An picture of two Southern elephant seal pups photographed in a rockpool on the Falkland Islands has been topped winner of Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) 2026.

Australian photographer Matty Smith took the highest award with ‘Rockpool Rookies’, chosen from 7,934 entries submitted by underwater photographers from 28 international locations.

‘Once their pups are weaned, elephant seal mothers abandon them ashore,’ mentioned Smith, describing the {photograph}. ‘I watched dozens clamber over each other in shallow rockpools, awkwardly studying to swim.

‘On my very first evening, the sky ignited with colour and I captured a handful of frames before the light vanished. It was the defining moment of the long trip.’

‘The lives of elephant seals traverse land and sea; they are born on wild shores, but thrive in frigid waters,’ mentioned chair of the judging panel, marine ecologist Dr Alex Mustard. ‘Smith used a special dome that he built himself to capture the revealing under-over perspective, perfectly balancing his lighting on the pups’ fur with the setting solar.

‘Elephant seals were hunted right to the brink of extinction,’ added Mustard. ‘Their oil-rich blubber was used for every little thing from gas for lighting to margarine.

‘Fortunately, the hunt was stopped just in time, and their recovery over the last 100 years is a great example of resilience of the ocean. A beautiful and hopeful photograph.’

Other prime prize winners included Sam Blount of the United States, who was named as PADI Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 for ‘Lunging Leopard’, a symmetrical picture of a leopard seal in Antarctica, and Malaysian photographer Khaichuin Sim, who was named Save Our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2026 along with his {photograph} ‘Innocence Meets Tradition’, depicting the annual pilot whale hunt within the Faroe Islands.

The Underwater Photographer of the Year Competition has been operating since 1965, when Phil Smith was named Underwater Photographer of the Year.

This yr’s contest had 14 classes, together with common titles akin to Macro, Wide Angle, Behaviour and Wreck pictures, with three classes for images taken particularly in British waters. This yr’s contest additionally featured a Smartphone class, enabling budding photographers of all expertise ranges to submit their work.

This yr’s judges had been skilled underwater photographers Peter Rowlands, Tobias Friedrich and Dr Alex Mustard MBE. The winners had been introduced in an award ceremony in central London, hosted by The Crown Estate.

Check out all of the class winners under, and head to underwaterphotographeroftheyear.com for all the top-placed photographs in every class.

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Category winner: Portrait and Winner: Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026

‘Rockpool Rookies’ – Matty Smith (Australia)

Location: Sealion Island

Shot with: Nikon Z9; Nikkor Z 14-30mm F4 S; 2 x Ikelite DS230; Aquatica Digital AZ9 housing

Camera settings: f/16, 1/60s, ISO 200

Back story: Once a number of weeks outdated and weaned from their moms’ milk, elephant seal pups are deserted by their mother and father on shore, left to navigate life alone. On Sealion Island within the Falklands, I watched dozens of them clamber over each other in shallow rockpools, awkwardly studying to swim, and fairly participating to my presence.

I’d come right here for this second, to witness and {photograph} their first solo classes in life. On the very first night of my arrival, the sky ignited with color. I donned my dry go well with and rushed into the water, capturing a handful of frames earlier than the sunshine vanished. It turned out to be the defining second of the journey, and I’m glad I didn’t hesitate.

Judge’s feedback: Cold water contrasts with heartwarming cuteness. Southern elephant seals traverse land and sea, born on wild shores, however thriving within the frigid waters. Elephant seals had been hunted remorseless from the tip of the 1700s till the twentieth century, pushing them proper to the brink of extinction.

Their oil wealthy blubber was used for every little thing from lighting to margarine. Fortunately, the hunt was stopped simply in time, and their restoration during the last 100 years is a superb instance of the resilience of the ocean. An exquisite and hopeful {photograph}.
– Alex Mustard

In hindsight, it’s simple and apparent however when you may have almost 8,000 photographs vying on your eye’s consideration it may be a troublesome name. Fortunately, this yr, the winner virtually selected itself by being so good.Cute, pet eyes and completely lit with a sundown background; prime it with an ideal break up stage and you’ve got the judges on their toes. Deserved congratulations.
– Peter Rowlands

What a cutie! I like the break up picture strategy that the photographer took to seize this stunning and emotionally very participating picture. The look of the newborn elephant seal under the floor is simply magic and a really effectively deserved and undisputed winner of this years competitors! Well performed!
– Tobias Friedrich

Category winner: Up & Coming and Winner: Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026

‘Lunging Leopard’ – Sam Blount (United States)

Location: Antarctic Peninsula

Shot with: Sony A1; Sony 16-35mm f4; OneUW 160X Strobes; Nauticam NA-A1 housing

Camera settings: f/10, 1/500s, ISO 1000

Back story: For years, the leopard seal topped my Antarctic want record, a predator I dreamed of encountering head to head. I’ve to say, this dive was every little thing I might have hoped for: clear water, good lighting, and a playful seal.

Leopard seals wield an astonishing array of dominance shows, and this one put all of them to make use of, darting round me with easy energy. Watching that huge mouth lined with sharp tooth cost straight towards me is a thrill I’ll always remember.

Judge’s feedback: Probably among the best photographs of a Leopard seal that shut that I’ve ever seen! I believe all of us agreed very quickly that that is the clear class winner as such a shot is every little thing however simple to take. The sheer quick distance and the sunshine that needs to be good for is simply good. Very effectively performed in such an intense second!
– Tobias Friedrich

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Highly recommended: Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2026

‘Crowded House’ – Natalie Yarrow (United Kingdom)

Location: Bali

Shot with: Sony A7RV; Sony FE 90mm f/2.8; Retra Pro Max; Nauticam NA-A7RV housing

Camera settings: f/5.0, 1/200s, ISO 80

Back story: Peering into the crevices of this vibrant barrel sponge, I might see a number of darkish figures transferring round like shadow puppets. This turned out to be a big colony of hinge-beak shrimps, residing collectively in very shut quarters! While considerably of a decent squeeze, communal residing fits these social and cooperative creatures, in addition to offering ‘safety in numbers’ in opposition to predators. Further, the craggy pink partitions permit for nice camouflage. I chosen a large aperture so that every shrimp is rendered more and more out of focus as the attention is drawn deeper into the sponge. Those people on the again are diminished to a fuzzy puzzle of white dots and stripes. I wish to thank my information, Wix (Scuba Seraya), for locating these shrimps for me, and in addition for taking me again to the identical spot a second time as I appreciated them a lot, which resulted in my getting this shot.

Judge’s feedback: Sometimes you don’t need to shout to say ‘Look at me’. You let your picture do the speaking and this picture made the judges pay attention and take discover. The stepped, receding depth of discipline leads the attention effortlessly by means of the body and again to the topic. Talent certainly.
– Peter Rowlands

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Category winner: ‘Save our Seas Foundation’ Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2026

‘Where Innocence Meets Tradition’ – Khaichuin Sim (Malaysia)

Location: Hvítanes

Shot with: Sony A7RM2; Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM; No Lighting; No Housing

Camera settings: f/2.5, 1/8000s, ISO 800

Back story: In the Faroe Islands, the annual pilot whale hunt generally known as Grindadráp, stays one of many world’s most controversial traditions. Seen by locals as a cultural heritage and supply of meals, it’s condemned globally for its brutality and affect on marine life. In this poignant scene, a younger boy sits atop a slain whale amid blood-red waters, a haunting reflection of how custom, id, and ethics collide. It captures not only a second, however a generational query: what ought to be preserved, and what ought to change?

Judge’s feedback: A tragic however highly effective picture which asks extra questions than it solutions. The message have to be that traditions akin to these haven’t any place in trendy society whatever the meals justification. Photography has the facility to deliver change.
– Peter Rowlands

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Category winner: Wide Angle

‘Happy Baby’ – Cecile Gabillon Barats (France)

Location: 5 miles offshore from Roseau, Dominica

Shot with: Nikon D850; Tokina 10-17, at 17; pure gentle; NAUTICAM NA D850

Camera settings: f/7.1, 1/400s, ISO 800

Back story: As a tour chief and photographer in Dominica, I used to be lucky to expertise a really magical encounter with a curious juvenile sperm whale. We entered the water at a respectful distance alongside the mom and her calf, watching because the mom ready to dive looking for meals, leaving her teen on the floor.

Almost instantly, the calf spun round and approached us, coming remarkably shut, mouth huge open to disclose his rising tooth, rolling playfully the other way up. It appeared he was wanting to work together. We might clearly see a piece of squid held in his jaw and the various scars already etched into his pores and skin.

Over the years, I’ve photographed sperm whales numerous instances for documentaries and a characteristic movie, however this unforgettable second will at all times maintain a particular place in my coronary heart. Looking again on the encounter, it’s tempting to imagine he was smiling—and even perhaps about to offer us a cheeky wink!

Judge’s feedback: The curiosity and enthusiasm of youth bursts out of this photograph connecting us with one among our planet’s most opulent species. Sperm whales stay unusual and secret lives, diving deep into the ocean’s inside, however we now know that when they’re younger they are often filled with mischief.
– Alex Mustard

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Category winner: Macro

‘Calm at the Heart of Turmoil’ – SeongCheol Cho (Republic of Korea)/UPY 2026

Location: Tulamben, Bali

Shot with: Nikon D850; AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED; Weefine Solar Flare Zoom 1500, Smart Focus 1200FR; Nexus D850

Camera settings: f/16, 1/160s, ISO 560

Back story: While diving in Tulamben with my information, Jaye, I encountered a commensal shrimp residing inside a naturally spiralling whip coral. Something I had lengthy hoped to see. The coral’s deep, wealthy inexperienced fashioned a placing nest for the brightly colored shrimp resting inside.

By introducing pink and blue gentle in opposition to the inexperienced coral, I wished to create a way of intense magnificence mixed with visible turbulence, whereas expressing the shrimp’s stillness on the centre.

Everything about this dive was a primary for me, the situation, the information, and dealing with steady gentle, however assembly a topic I had dreamed of photographing and capturing it in a satisfying method made the expertise particularly memorable.

Judge’s feedback: Creative macro is vastly widespread in underwater pictures. This is the perfect of the style, first discovering an incredible creature after which elevating it to a creative imaginative and prescient utilizing solely the kiss of revolutionary lighting.
– Alex Mustard

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Category winner: Wrecks

‘The Guns of the Nagato’ – Niclas Andersson/UPY 2026

Location: Bikini Atoll

Shot with: Sony A7R IV; Sony 12-24mm F4G; 2x Inon Z330, 2x BigBlue 30,000 lm videolights, 2x; Ikelite 200DL

Camera settings: f/9, 1/100s, ISO 8000

Back story: IJN Nagato is a famed Japanese battleship from which Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have issued the order to assault Pearl Harbor. Seized by the United States on the finish of World War II, she was later towed to Bikini Atoll and used as a goal ship throughout Operation Crossroads, the early nuclear weapons checks.

Today Nagato rests the other way up at roughly 52 meters, making it a demanding however extremely rewarding dive. On descent, divers are greeted by 4 monumental propellers, whereas the standout options are the dual stern weapons, greatest approached from the port aspect. This picture was fastidiously staged by a four-person staff to maximise security and scale back silt, since visibility will be restricted and particles stir simply.

Judge’s feedback: A robust picture of highly effective topics complemented by effectively positioned lighting produces a picture which grabs one’s consideration instantly and nonetheless has loads of delicate element to entertain the attention on repeated viewings. A credit score to the staff.
– Peter Rowlands

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Category winner: Behaviour

‘Clownfish Hatchout’ – Kazushige Horiguchi (Japan)

Location: Kagoshima Minamisatsuma

Shot with: Nikon D500; AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED; INON Z330 + Marelux SOFT Lite; Anthis Nexus D500

Camera settings: f/16, 1/125s, ISO 200

Back story: This {photograph} captures the precise second clownfish eggs hatch in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. In the late afternoon, my shut good friend Koji Matsuda instructed me that the eggs would hatch that day. Even earlier than hatching, the mother or father clownfish fastidiously guarded the eggs, continuously anticipating predators as they waited for the second to return.

I used to be capable of seize the moment the larvae emerged. Holding a snoot in a single hand, I fastidiously managed the sunshine in order that it illuminated solely the clownfish and their new child larvae, permitting them to face out in opposition to the darkness. I’ve been photographing clownfish for over three years and pressed the shutter numerous instances that day, however this single picture is the one one that actually succeeded.

Judge’s feedback: The second. We’ve by no means seen a picture like this earlier than. Kazushige Horiguchi not solely exhibits the egg tending by the anemonefish, however amazingly the second the infants burst free, with the grownup wanting on. We additionally cherished the infants’ perspective of the grownup anemonefish, which appears to be like comparatively enormous within the image.
– Alex Mustard

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Category winner: Coral Reefs

‘Underwater Meteor Shower’ – Dr. Tom Shlesinger (Israel)

Location: Northern Red Sea

Shot with: Sony a1; Sony FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM; Retra Flash Pro Max; Nauticam

Camera settings: f/18, 1/5s, ISO 200

Back story: Corals are animals, and that is how they reproduce. Revealing the hidden world of coral copy exposes one of many ocean’s most extraordinary spectacles. Like clockwork, 1000’s of corals throughout a whole lot of kilometers synchronize to launch egg-and-sperm bundles into the open sea.

Capturing this fleeting occasion is exceptionally difficult: it happens solely every year, on a particular evening of a specific month, inside a slim window of simply minutes. Using a sluggish shutter velocity as waves break and sweep the buoyant bundles upward transforms the scene into a colourful underwater meteor bathe.

This picture is a part of an ongoing scientific-documentary journey exploring the colourful nocturnal life and reproductive rituals of corals within the northern Red Sea, a undertaking formed by greater than 300 nights spent underwater throughout spawning season.

Judge’s feedback: Coral reefs are below strain and struggling world wide, so it was unbelievable to award such an uplifting picture, celebrating the bubbling begin of the subsequent era.
– Alex Mustard

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Category winner: Black & White

‘Coral Window’ – Shunsuke Nakano (Japan)

Location: Sado

Shot with: Nikon D850; Nikkor 28 70mm f3.5-4.5 d; Ambient gentle; Nauticam NA D850

Camera settings: f/16, 1/50s, ISO 320

Back story: Light enters the wreck by means of a window, a sq. lower into historical past and now taken over by life. Choosing to shoot in black and white, I’m inviting the viewer to distinction the thick, straight artifical strains with the fragile and complex patterns of nature.

Gorgonians fan outward like frozen breath, turning rust into artwork. Between them, a lone wrasse punctuates the body, offering motion in an in any other case nonetheless composition. Off Sado Island, the previous just isn’t misplaced, it’s inhabited. The window now not appears to be like out; it invitations us to look in, framing the story of nature reclaiming steel.

Judge’s feedback: The ocean framed. Simply a wonderfully noticed scene for an underwater monochrome picture. But the picture additionally captures the decisive second. I believe there was additionally quite a lot of persistence ready for the wrasse to so completely full the composition.
– Alex Mustard

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Category winner: Compact

‘Alpine lookout’ – Andrea Michelutti (Italy)

Location: Lake Cornino, Forgaria nel Friuli (Friuli Venezia Giulia), Italy

Shot with: Sony RX100 M7; Integrated; Single Inon Z330; Marelux

Camera settings: f/11, 1/50s, ISO 125

Back story: After years of ready, I dived into a chilly Alpine lake close to my residence in northeastern Italy. Its clear, deep-blue waters rise from a spring, making it a gem among the many mountains. Low vitamins favour inexperienced algae development, the fixed low temperature (round 9–11 °C) contributes to the water’s readability and distinctive color.

Life is sparse, however I noticed a freshwater crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) among the many aquatic vegetation. Impetuous, it swam towards me till it was touching my moist lens.

With the housing too low to make use of the LCD, I needed to shoot blind, holding the digicam in a single hand and one strobe within the different. I turned off my second strobe, positioning the remaining gentle above the dome for pure top-down illumination.

The composition I’d deliberate for years is constructed on the transition from inexperienced vegetation to deep blue water, with mountain peaks framed in Snell’s Window.

Judge’s feedback: A particular picture with complementary colors, unambiguous composition and an incredible upward angle up by means of Snell’s window to the distant mountains. A praise to the capabilities of compacts in the fitting arms.
– Peter Rowlands

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Category winner: Smartphone

‘The Roar’ – Jack Ho (China)/UPY 2026

Location: Lembeh Strait

Shot with: VIVO X100; 22mm; X-ADVENTURER M2000; Divevolk

Camera settings: f/2.7, 1/460s, ISO 200

Back story: While taking pictures on the sandy seabed at 15 meters within the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, I discovered this well-camouflaged frogfish patiently mendacity in look ahead to prey. I waited for not less than quarter-hour. To get a clear shot in opposition to the messy background, I aimed a macro gentle at its head to seize the break up second it opened its enormous mouth. Luckily, I obtained the right second.

Judge’s feedback: Wow! The focus, the picture high quality, the composition, the sunshine and the second are simply good! Very effectively performed by the photographer and a powerful showcase of the potential of the smartphone class. The clear and effectively deserved winner of this class.
– Tobias Friedrich

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Category winner: British Waters Wide Angle

‘A Meeting of Giants’ – Evan Johnston (United Kingdom)

Location: Sea of the Hebrides

Shot with: Sony A7R iii; Sony FE 28-60mm f/4-5.6; None; Nauticam NA-A7R iii

Camera settings: f/6.3, 1/400s, ISO 640

Back story: What began out with 2 massive sharks feeding on the floor became 3, then 4, then 5 over the course of the day. At some level a lot of the sharks had gone, and after watching the final tail fade away, I rotated and was greeted with the picture right here.

These sharks had stopped feeding and fashioned a decent shoal, earlier than breaking off and swimming in sluggish rhythmic circles, ultimately spiralling off into the deep. This behaviour is named a Torus and is considered a courtship behaviour and the precursor to mating – though that is still a thriller.

Over the course of the summer season we noticed a number of toruses from the boat, with shut to twenty sharks slowly circling for hours at a time. It felt like an historical ritual that occurs out of sight from the world and was an unbelievable second to witness and seize.

Judge’s feedback: The sea nonetheless reveals it’s secrets and techniques slowly and the invention of those toruses is the newest revelation. Traditionally, single basking shark photographs had been celebrated however now photographs of a number of of those massive sharks, not feeding however probably constructing as much as a mating ritual, are a most fun phenomenon visually and biologically. A primary in UK waters.
– Peter Rowlands

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Category winner: British Waters Macro

‘Mum’ – Tom Ingram (United Kingdom)

Location: Porthkerris Beach, Lizard peninsula, Cornwall

Shot with: Canon Canon G7X Mark iii; Nauticam CMC2 Wet Lens; 2x Inon Z-330 Strobes; Isotta housing

Camera settings: f/11, 1/200s, ISO 500

Back story: 2025 was undoubtedly the Year of the Octopus. Being such an imposing creature underwater, these clever and charismatic animals had introduced delight not simply to me however many fellow UK divers.

Throughout 2025 I’ve been handled to an array of pure behaviour, starting from searching pray to mating, however on this case I wished to seize a females last act of selflessness, as after she lays her eggs she diligently guards, cleans and wafts oxygen wealthy water over them to maintain them wholesome.

During this time which may final for a number of months, she doesn’t go away their aspect not even to feed herself, and as soon as the eggs hatch she’s going to sadly die.

In this bitter candy and fairly poignant time I spent along with her, I wished to try to seize the narrative of her last few weeks by taking pictures her face on, and encircling her offspring within the background.

Judge’s feedback: Wonderful total sharpness of the picture and nice seize of the second when the octopus surrounds itself with it’s arms. Especially having such an incredible encounter from the UK makes the picture very particular in addition to the wonderful execution.
– Tobias Friedrich

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Category winner: British Waters Living Together

‘Life Under the Pier’ – Valerie Reid (Netherlands)

Location: Scottish Hebrides

Shot with: Nikon D500; Tokina 10-17mm; Retra strobes; Seacam housing

Camera settings: f/9, 125s, ISO 400

Back story: Last summer season, I used to be lucky to dive in my native west coast of Scotland after a few years, and this pier dive was a specific spotlight. The man-made metal piles present an incredible substrate for marine life to develop and flourish. I managed to discover a pile the place the useless man’s fingers delicate coral had its polyps out.

I selected a close-focus wide-angle perspective, utilizing Seacam mini dome with a fisheye lens and Retra strobes within the “12 and 6 o’clock” place. Shooting at an excessive upward angle to seize the pile’s full top, protecting it vertically centred for a robust symmetrical picture.

I used to be delighted to seize this magnificent scene of British marine life, and particularly grateful to the UPY judges for awarding my picture because the winner! I dedicate this picture to the late Martin Edge, who taught and impressed me to understand the photographic alternatives below piers and jetties.

Judge’s feedback: A shocking mixture of color and lightweight, each expertly managed in a flawless composition by Valerie Reid.
– Alex Mustard

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Head to underwaterphotographeroftheyear.com for the whole record of successful and most extremely recommended images.