Winners medal
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.
You may not agree with the judges. You may think you have 'better shots' at home - prove it! Enter this year's contest.
| World Champion 2009/10 |
|
The judges award the photographer who submits the most consistent and complete portfolio over the year World Champion.
Other photographers of distinction are awarded Grand Master.
 The overall 2009/10 World Champion is...
|
|
|
|
|
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
shots that cross the surface boundary (so under/overs like Snells Window too)
Gold Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
diver on agrounded wreck
Location: Croatia
Silver Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
This swimming pig came out to meet us in our tender at Big Majors near Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, the crew from the boat are standing on the beach behind.
Location: Bahamas
Bronze Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
I took 20 photos using different angles so I will try not to bore everyone with these shots. This Starfish was on the beach so I placed him back in the water. I used my DC500 and 1 single strobe with a wide angle lens. Fantasy Island - Roatan - 2006.
Location: Honduras
Runner Ups
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
shots taken using ambient light i.e. unlit by flash or continuous lighting like HID but filters on the lens are allowed if declared
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
Manta Silhouette
Location: Maldives
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
Dolphins flight
Location: Israel
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
new addition
The larger one below is almost 10, the upper one is probably a month old.
Olympus 5050, Inon Dome
Location: Dominica
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
Wide Angle - Wrecks
anything man-made that is sunk including cars, tanks, planes etc. - oh and ships!
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
Wreck of a Jill Torpedo Bomber, Chuuk Lagoon (Truk), Micronesia.
Location: Micronesia
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
Hilma Hooker in Bonaire with David Fleetham as the model
D300 subal housing 2 ys-250 strobes 11-16 tokina @11mm
Location: Netherlands Antilles
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
The Fearless at BVI.
Location: Virgin Islands (British)
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Wrecks
Wide Angle - Divers
Divers doing what divers do - underwater or on the surface
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
Roaring Silence
Diver explores wreck of a sunken fregate.
Location: Cuba
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
Watching over the reefs
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
A couple of photographers met in Dahab swimming out of the canyon.
Location: Egypt
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Divers
Wide Angle - Marine Life
wide angle shots with no divers in frame
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
Closeup image of a humpback mother and calf. Vava'u Tonga. No cropping. Nikon D300 with 10-20mm sigma lens.
Location: Tonga
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
Bigeye Jacks (Caranx sexfasciatus) at the USAT Liberty (Bali).
Nikon D300, 10,5 mm, Ikelite, 2xDS125
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
"Queue" Canon G7 Internal flash
Location: Indonesia
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Marine Life
Wide Angle - Close Focus
shots taken with a WIDE ANGLE (or fisheye) lens having 1) a well defined close subject (usually strobe-lit) AND 2) a wide angle BACKGROUND with a second subject, usually a diver
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus
Divespot Shaab Rumi/Sudan; Precontinent II, Cousteau-house from 1963. Nikon D2Xs, Nikon Zoom AF 12 - 24 mm; 2 flashes: Seacam Seaflash 150 TTL, Seacam flash Mini 100. Model: Karin.
Precontinent II is one of my absolute topspots worldwide!
Location: Sudan
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus
"Super model" Giant cuttle fish
Location: Malaysia
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus
Cozumel wall dive, a gray angelfish checking my camera out
Location: Mexico
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Close Focus
Macro - not swimming
Smaller subjects typically 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5cm) shot on macro settings or with macro equipment that are NOT MOVING usually on the bottom (i.e. between 1:1 and 1:3)
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
Spider crab
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
Crocodile Fish in Komodo. G9/Ikelite DS160s.
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
porceleine crab
Location: Philippines
Runner Ups
Macro - not swimming
Macro - swimming
Smaller subjects typically 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5cm) shot on macro settings or with macro equipment that are in MID WATER not touching anything (i.e. between 1:1 and 1:3)
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - swimming
"Spiral" (Rhinomuraena quaesita) Free swimming Blue Ribbon Eel in Lembeh
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - swimming
An interesting subject that cares for its eggs on their mouth just up to the time they hatch then released into open waters.
Location: Philippines
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - swimming
Anemonefish & Cmmensal shrimp-Lembeh
Location: Indonesia
Runner Ups
Macro - swimming
Macro - Nudibranchia
Sea slugs. A subject popular with macro guys! (means naked gills) Flatworms allowed
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Chromodoris coi on a slippery underground, taken at Wakatobi with Canon S70 and double CloseUp Lens
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Glossodoris cruenta. A great find in the last few minutes of our last dive in Lombok.
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Hypselodoris Bullockii with buddy on his nose.
Location: Vietnam
Runner Ups
Macro - Nudibranchia
Macro - Super macro
Shots taken (at smaller than 1:1) with multiple extension rings, diopters, or teleconverters of extremely small subjects typically less than 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro
"Spotty"
Location: Philippines
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro
Boxer crab mumy and child
Nikon D200, 60 micro,Twin strobo
Manado 2008
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro
found in Lembeh - no crop, D200
Location: Indonesia
Runner Ups
Macro - Super macro
Macro - Close-Up
Shots taken of a subject between 3 inches and 1 foot (7.5 to 30cm) in size (e.g. large fish or diver head) that dominates the frame - any background is incidental and occupies LESS THAN 50% of frame
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up
Giant Frogfish amongst an old iron structure in Anilao. Canon G10, Sea and Sea YS110a/YS27Dx
Location: Philippines
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up
Blénie nain sur un corail fil de fer
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up
Cleaner
Location: Indonesia
Runner Ups
Macro - Close-Up
Sharks
Shots where sharks are the predominant subject. Sponsored by Stuart Cove's
Gold Medal Winner
Sharks
Fish are friends!!! This heavily pregnant female bull shark is having a final feed before heading up the river to give birth. Shot in Beqa Passage, Fiji on 18 November 09. Nikon D90 twin Z240 strobes with Nikon 10-24 lens.
Location: Fiji
Silver Medal Winner
Sharks
BIG WHITE SHARK
Location: South Africa
Bronze Medal Winner
Sharks
Hammerhead at Darwin's Arch, Galapagos - shot taken with 50mm 1.8f portrait lens
Location: Ecuador
Runner Ups
Sharks
Temperate Waters
Seas with green water well north or south of tropical zones typically cold enough for drysuits!
Gold Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
"Volga – Don" German Cargo Ship
Location: Ukraine
Silver Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
Sammy the sea-lion
Location: Australia
Bronze Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
The class clowns. Sea lions at Hornby Island, BC, Canada
Location: Canada
Runner Ups
Temperate Waters
Freshwater
shots taken bodies of water with no salt e.g. in lakes, streams, pools, rivers i.e NOT the Sea!
Gold Medal Winner
Freshwater
Divers coming back out of Kilsby's Sinkhole near Mt Gambier South Australia. Canon 20D Tonika 10-17.
Location: Australia
Silver Medal Winner
Freshwater
A tiny snail
Location: Switzerland
Bronze Medal Winner
Freshwater
Areoplane at Capernwray, Nikon D80 Tokina 12-17mm
Location: United Kingdom
Runner Ups
Freshwater
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
Shots that have been digitally edited outside of the camera for creative reasons (not brightness/contrast etc.) in a program like PhotoShop
Gold Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
Hopefully the political statement is ok.
Just saw a photo of a Stealth plane today and got the idea of combining the Stealth's of the ocean with the manmade ones in joined force to fight finning. Background:Maldives. Manta shots from Bali.
Location: Maldives
Silver Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
My daughter, Jenny, makes a kaleidocopic circle by holding hands with herself.
Location: Cayman islands
Bronze Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
Sunglasses under water
Location: Czech Republic
Runner Ups
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
Topside (above water but marine related)
shots above the surface. Can be on land but with relevance to the marine environment
Gold Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
What a beautiful mermaid...
Location: Spain
Silver Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
The sea gypsy village of Pan Yee as an HDR photo.
Location: Thailand
Bronze Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
Driftwood - Natures Valley
Location: South Africa
Runner Ups
Topside (above water but marine related)