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 2011/12 |
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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 2011/12 World Champion is...
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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)
"After the Sunset at the Red Sea Reef"
Location: Egypt
Silver Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
Swiming.
Location: Turkey
Bronze Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)
Afternoon Laguna Beach....while couples were getting married in the gazebo above i snapped this image of the bottom being reflected on the surface above.....
Location: United States
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)
Underwatershooting in the great Pacific, Philippines.
Location: Philippines
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
Big Heart, Big Love
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
Trumpetfish (Aulostomus maculatus) hanging around near some soft coral near the surface
Location: Honduras
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
This is the newly-sunk wreck of USS Kittiwake in the Cayman Islands. Shot with a 10-17mm lens in clear water, you can see the wreck from bow to midships.
Location: Cayman islands
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
SS Thistlegorm
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
The remains of the Marcus - Abu Nuhas - Egypt
Location: Egypt
Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Wrecks
Wide Angle - Divers
Divers doing what divers do - underwater or on the surface
Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
A swarm around a diver near the liberty-wreck in tulamben/bali.
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
Freediving competition in swimming pool / Dahab
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
feel freee in another space
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
Once in a lifetime chance! A mother Humpback Whale stops by for a visit while diving off Molokai off the coast of Maui. This was more stunning than the Hammerheads we saw. These beautiful mammals make a long journey to Hawaii to raise their calves.
Location: United States
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
Nose touched to port :) Caretta caretta From Kaş / Turkiye. Taken with Nikon 10,5mm fisheye lens.
Location: Turkey
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
I feel that this photos is getting closer to what I am hearing from the UnderwaterPhotography team - many thanks again!! Hard to get the whole animal in the frame when I'm this close... ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f11, Tokina 17mm
Location: Australia
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
Levitation
/ Giant octopus Dofleini
Location: Russia
Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus
Roatan diver looking at crab, D300, Tokina 10-17 lens
Location: Honduras
Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus
Heliotropism (Raja Ampat)
Location: Indonesia
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
Goby on tunicate. Seraya, Bali
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
Call of the Wild.....
Location: United States
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
Amoray Family
Location: Seychelles
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
Trumpetfish at Lembeh, Indonesia
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - swimming
"DIRTY DANCING"
Location: Philippines
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - swimming
Weird Jelly Fish
Location: Philippines
Runner Ups
Macro - swimming
Macro - Nudibranchia
Sea slugs. A subject popular with macro guys! (means naked gills) Flatworms allowed
Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Golden
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Pair of hypselodoris bullocki mating.
Lembeh Strait, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
Kanga hypselodoris
Location: Indonesia
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
I'm out of here! This baby froggie was about 1 cm long on a mission to get somewhere. At the slope by the stern of the US Liberty wreck. Nikon D7000 105mm Ikelite strobes and housing.
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro
Wipe coral goby
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro
"Coral Tree Candy"
Location: Australia
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
Sand Trap
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up
cowrie in a sponge
Location: Philippines
Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up
Close up of thorny seahorse with back-lilt snooted.
Location: Indonesia
Runner Ups
Macro - Close-Up
Sharks
Shots where sharks are the predominant subject. Sponsored by Stuart Cove's
Gold Medal Winner
Sharks
Back light bull shark feeding
Location: Mexico
Silver Medal Winner
Sharks
longimanus !
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Sharks
Grey sharks
Location: Papua New Guinea
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
Sea Scape. This view of the reef at Anacapa Island includes an ochre star set against the kelp forest on a clear day. Shot with a Canon Digital Rebel and 10-22mm in Ikelite Housing with dual DS51 strobes.
Location: United States
Silver Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
the wreck of SS Borghild , resting on nice sandy bottom on 150 feet.
Location: Norway
Bronze Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
Kelp 'Head' Queen Charlotte Island, Canada's Pacific Northwest
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
Wraysbury Lake's London Taxi Cab and Diver, taken with a Sigma Circular fish eye. Black & white conversion
Location: United Kingdom
Silver Medal Winner
Freshwater
Underwater Beauty
Location: Egypt
Bronze Medal Winner
Freshwater
Great lightning in der Verzasca River in Switzerland.
Location: Switzerland
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)
Into the sea eye...
Location: Indonesia
Silver Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
Red Spider
Location: Indonesia
Bronze Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
A montage of a beautiful Spanish Dancer "dancing" in the current
Location: Australia
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)
Freestyle frog! A masked tree frog promptly exits the swimming pool when a hungry snake appears. Shot taken in the jungle in Costa Rica after a liveaboard trip to Cocos Island.
Location: Costa Rica
Silver Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
The Human Shadows on the Sea..........
Location: Italy
Bronze Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
Cayman at night...
Location: Brazil
Runner Ups
Topside (above water but marine related)