In its 17 year history, Scuba Diving magazine’s Through Your Lens underwater photo contest has awarded underwater photographers from around the globe for their unique imagery. Thousands of dollars in cash prizes, liveaboard trips and scuba gear are given out each year to the top shooters in each category. With only four categories and one grand prize winner, selecting wining images is a difficult task for the contest judges. That’s why every issue of Scuba Diving features a “LOOK” back at one or more of the incredible entries received. Take a look at the gallery below to be inspired by the incredible underwater photography.
Think you have what it takes to win a prize? Enter your best underwater images by June 4 in one of the following categories: behavior, compact camera, macro or wide-angle.
Photographer: Lewis Burnett
Location: Western Australia
Behind the Shot: Perhaps the most graceful shark I’ve had the privilege of sharing the ocean with, the zebra shark is a rare sight on the Ningaloo Reef. So when I found this mature adult cruising over our shallow coral gardens, it’s safe to say I was pretty stoked! I was lucky enough to be able to photograph it for over half an hour as it went about its business, completely unfazed by my presence.
Gear: Sony a6500 with a Sony 20mm f/2.8 lens and Ikelite housing, using natural light
Settings: f/4; 1/1000; ISO 1000
Instagram: @huntingforparadise
Photographer: Renata Romeo
Location: Dahab, Egypt
Behind the Shot: While diving at the Lighthouse dive site I observed many hardyhead silversides sheltering under an abandoned boat near the shore. I wanted to take some pictures of my freediver friend swimming close to them as they moved together, creating curves and hypnotic movements. One of our friends joined in spontaneously, and I liked the scene so much that I immediately decided to freeze this unexpected and incredibly suggestive moment in a photograph.
Gear: Canon EOS 70D with a Tokina 10-17mm lens in an Easydive Leo3 housing; two Sea&Sea YS-D1 strobes
Settings: f/8; 1/200; ISO 100
Instagram: @superennyphoto
Photographer Name: Conor Culver
Location: Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Behind the Shot: The fastest Show in the Sky is an image created to reference the speed of the fastest fish in the ocean: the sailfish. These amazing fish can reach speeds up to 70 mph and work in teams, circling their prey. I photographed these sailfish in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, during the sardine run in January. It was absolutely incredible watching the interaction between the individual sailfish working together and the group of sardines they were hunting, all moving and interacting together in their show of predator versus prey.
Gear: Nikon D800; Ikelite housing; Nikkor 16-35mm lens; ambient lighting
Settings: f/8; 1/160; ISO 400
Instagram: @conorculver
Photographer: Andrey Shpatak
Location: Anilao, Philippines
Behind the Shot: This photograph of an argonaut, aka paper nautilus, was taken during a night dive in black water at Balayan Bay, Anilao, in March 2020. The depth here is more than 330 feet. At 40 feet, I met this argonaut on top of a jellyfish, surrounded by a flock of sardines. I was very lucky that I hit the exposure the first time because it was this image that turned out to be the best in a series of photographs of this subject.
Gear: Nikon D500 with a Nikkor 60mm macro lens; Sea&Sea housing, two Inon Z-220 strobes
Settings: f/14; 1/125; ISO 400
Photographer: André Fredriksson
Location: Corsica, France
Behind the Shot: I took this image at the beginning of a dive in Corsica a few years ago, hovering next to the chain and looking up as a second group of divers was getting ready to descend. Back then I had recently gotten into underwater photography, and was using a compact Canon G16 in a Fantasea housing, without additional lenses and, in this case, using only natural light. I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with perspectives, capturing the interaction between divers and ocean, so I personally like how the chain makes the divers appear so tiny in this image, as they embark on their adventure.
Gear: Canon G16 in a Fantasea housing
Settings: f/1.8; 1/1000; ISO 80
Instagram: @andrediving
Photographer: Lewis Burnett
Location: Perth, Australia
Behind the Shot: Blue dragons are a pelagic species of nudibranch found mostly in open ocean. After a large winter storm brought constant onshore winds to Western Australia I got a message that a friend of mine had found one stranded. A couple of calls were made, and he was told to collect it to be kept for genetic testing by the local museum. In one day before the museum managed to collect it, I was lucky enough to photograph it!
Gear: Sony a7r III with a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens and Aputure AL-MX light
Settings: f/2.8; 1/350; ISO 100
Instagram: @huntingforparadise
