Winners of the 2021 Ocean Art Photography Competition
The contest, organised by the Underwater Photography Guide
“We were excited to see photographers continue to travel locally and internationally to capture amazing photos,” says Scott Gietler, BUnderwater Photography Guide published and Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel owner.
The overall Best in Show winning image was captured by Belgian photographer Luc Rooman, who won a dive cruise in Indonesia.
Snoeken: First Place, Marine Life Behavior. This photograph was captured during a night dive in October at the dive site Domein Muisbroek, near Antwerp, Belgium. To my surprise, I came across these fighting pike. © Luc Rooman / Ocean Art Closer to home, Australian photographer PT Hirschfield took out the compact behaviour category, with her image of two mating seahorses captured on the Mornington Peninsula.
First place, Compact behaviour. After many hundreds of dives with the Mornington Peninsula's Bigbelly seahorses and observing these animals in their pre-mating dances which can last for several days, this was my first opportunity to witness a female transferring her eggs into the male's pouch. © PT Hirschfield/Ocean Art You can see all the other category winners below, and a selection of the other finalists on the 2021 Ocean Art competition page .
First place, Black and White. I joined Ellen Cuylaerts and my partner Julia Gugelmeier for a cave dive at Cenote Zacil Ha. After spending some time swimming through some very small passages the cave suddenly opens up and presents you with these giant speleothems which took millenia to form. The diver, Ellen, is dwarfed by the massive columns as she hovers awestruck and motionless, while Julia uses a video light to expertly backlight her and stay completely hidden from the camera (photographing in underwater caves is always a team effort!). © Tom St George/Ocean Art Traffic Jam: First Place, Coldwater. I anchored myself against a rock at the base of a small plunge pool and watched wave after wave of pink salmon cruise by and make the leap up the falls to head toward spawning grounds upstream. The fish are so singularly focused on their mission, they paid no mind to me at all. I was just part of their environment. Photographed on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. © Matthew Sullivan / Ocean Art Party Time: First Place, Compact Macro. I took this photo during my first diving holiday in Egypt last year. I had just gotten a new camera before that I wanted to test there. I didn't know what to expect, and I was hoping for some tiny underwater critters, which are my favorites. It was at the end of a dive at the house reef and we were just heading to the exit when a diver from another group grabbed me and showed me this gathering of Idiomysis shrimp. © Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge / Ocean Art First place, Portrait, Joker. This shot catches the moment when a fish opens its mouth wide showing the internal gills. The picture highlights the bright and vivid color of male anthias, typical of the courtship period. © Paulo Bausani/Ocean Art First place, Nudibranch. A Godiva quadricolor spawning, seen from below. This photo was taken in the Mediterranean in a lagoon of the Gulf of Naples, Italy. © Salvatore Ianniello/Ocean Art. First place, Macro. Blenny Grabs A Quick Meal. This is a shot taken on a night dive where we were looking for the famous Epaulette Walking sharks. This little guy caught my eye and I stayed with him for a few images hoping to get some portraits. I loved the colour around the eyes and the expressive face so I thought this little guy would make a great photo subject. As I shot some images, I noticed my lights attracted some zoo plankton, and then I saw the Blenny became really active feeding on the plankton. In the shot you can see the Blenny lining up a strike on a passing copepod. I love the focus on the Blenny's face in this image. © Nigel Motyer/Ocean Art Motherhood: First Place, Compact Wide Angle. Humpback whale mothers and their calves are seen annually in the shallow waters off of Mo'orea, Tahiti, typically from August to October. It's important to approach a mother and calf slowly and with respect—not every pair will stay in the area once they spot you. We were fortunate that this mother was quite comfortable in our presence, even encouraging her shy calf to get a closer look at us by pushing him toward us with her nose. © Kate Rister / Ocean Art First place, Underwater Art. Whilst diving in Cuba I caught some captivating images of vivid fairy basslet. The complementary colours of this fish lent themselves to artistic creation. Through the use of masks and filters in post processing, I crafted the basslet bodies to disperse into wisps of colourful smokey clouds against a jet black background. © Jenny Stock/Ocean Art First place, Underwater conservation. In this image, a diver examines the progress of coral fragment growth on a coral tree, set up by CORALL, Coral Reef Restoration Alliance in Barbados to propagate new coral growth from live fragments. © Catherine Holmes/Ocean Art Family: First Place, Wide Angle. A group of pilot whales resides in clear waters in the southwest of the channel between the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera. We can see adult females with calves and juvenile whales swimming together. It is normal to see this group of interrelated individuals apart from the big males. © Eduardo Acevedo / Ocean Art
