“Dancing Octopus” Gabriel Barathieu/UPY 2017
Winners Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 the competitions have been announced and the photos are absolutely spectacular. The winner is Gabriel Barathieu with a photograph of an octopus taken within the Mayotte lagoon on the island of Mayotte.
He says: “In the Mayotte lagoon, during spring tides, there could be very little water within the shallows. Only 30 cm, in reality. That’s after I took this photo. I needed to get as near the dome as possible to get this effect. The 14 mm is an ultra-wide-angle lens with excellent close-up focus, which supplies the impression of being very large. The octopus seems larger, as does the peak of the water. Also, I didn’t need a flash because I had loads of natural light.”
British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“Out of the blue” Nick Blake/UPY 2017
Cenote Kukulkan, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Cenote Kukulkan on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is a component of the Chac Mool system and is known for its spectacular light effects because the sun breaks through the darkness. I left my flashes to get the natural light I wanted and positioned myself within the shadows of the cave. As I moved my eye through the viewfinder, I could see that the rocky outline of the cave around me created a pleasant symmetry and I adjusted my position to balance the frame. The light show flickered because the sun periodically passed through the clouds and because it appeared, I motioned to my buddy and dive guide, Andrea Costanza of ProDive, to step in to light a few of the stronger beams, completing the composition. My journey from diver to underwater photographer has provided many incredible photographic opportunities and I feel honored and privileged that this image has received such recognition.
2017 Rising Star of Underwater Photography of the Year
“Oceanic within the Sky” Horacio Martinez/UPY 2017
Brothers, Egypt
This was my first experience within the Red Sea and my first live photography workshop on board, so it was all interesting… but tedious. We were on our last dive of the day and I had ventured a bit of deeper to take closer portraits of a whitetip shark after I noticed this shark patrolling in the gap. I took a couple of shots to show the daylight and the surface and was pleased with the dreamlike effect. Ocean sharks are great subjects for close-ups because they’re anything but shy. However, now and again it’s value attempting to capture their apparent loneliness, their wanderlust and their independence in the large blue.
Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2017
“Orca Pod” by Nicholai Georgiou/UPY 2017
Tromso, Norway
Killer whales are by far essentially the most beautiful, intelligent and assured animals I even have ever had the privilege of spending time with. This photo was taken during an incredible week of free diving with a wild killer whale in Norway. The days are quite short in winter and the water is around 5 degrees, but we wore a thick wetsuit and naturally when there was a killer whale around it quickly made us forget in regards to the cold. The light was a very nice sunset color as this graceful pod of killer whales swam past nicely and shut. It was a moment that can be hard to top and I’m glad I even have this photo to share.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Frozen Hunt” Fabrice Guerin/UPY 2017
Andenes, Norway
Judge’s comment:
Stunning behavioral image of a humpback whale in shallow water scattering herring, taken in very difficult conditions. The photographer managed to capture this breathtaking scene thoroughly in very dark waters.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Finally, Whale Sharks” Patrick Neumann/UPY 2017
Gorontalo, Indonesia, Central Sulawesi
Even though I even have been diving for over 30 years and have over 3000 dives under my belt, I had never seen a whale shark before. When I used to be working on a cruise ship in Thailand, there have been two occasions when your complete boat saw one, but not me or my group. It was a running joke amongst my friends. If you ought to see whale sharks, don’t dive with Patrick. On our last trip through Indonesia, a friend told me that there had been a couple of around Gorontalo recently, so we modified our plans and went there to finish my whale shark dilemma. We drove to the dive site and every little thing was perfect. Very good visibility, no waves and a brilliant sunny day. Now all we needed to do was have the large guy there to essentially make it occur. When we got within the water, there wasn’t a single whale shark… but 6! You can imagine my happiness.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Views at Dawn” Pasquale Vassallo/UPY 2017
Miseno, Bay of Naples, Italy
For the past few months, my photographic work has focused mainly on the massive presence of the jellyfish species Rhizostoma pulmo within the Bay of Naples. In this photo, several crabs, species Liocarcinus vernalis, are its residents.
When the jellyfish brush against the sandy bottom, the crabs jump on them and move to other places.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Humpback eating krill” Jean Tresfon/UPY 2017
Just a few miles off the shore of Hout Bay in Cape Town, South Africa
Every summer a whole bunch of humpback whales gather off the coast of Cape Town in an enormous feeding group. Working as a part of a movie crew I used to be privileged to have the chance to photograph this phenomenon. Although visibility within the water was really good, contained in the krill group it was very limited. Without warning the whales appeared just a couple of metres away with their folds widened as they emerged with huge mouthfuls of krill. Realising they have to be feeding deeper, I plunged into the darker water to search out the densest group of krill. Suddenly the humpback appeared right in front of me, its huge mouth wide open because it sifted through the water for tiny crustaceans. I took a couple of photos before it disappeared into the darkness after which I used to be surrounded by a large number of massive bodies as the remaining of the group went about feeding. Quite scary!
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“The Big Red” Guglielmo Cicerchia/UPY 2017
Giannutri Island, Italy
While diving, I discovered a fishing net with many live fish trapped inside. They were struggling to get free. Using a slow shutter speed and zoom throughout the exposure, I wanted to emphasise the try and free themselves from the fishing net.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Imp of Darkness” Damien Mauric/UPY 2017
Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
During a visit to the Galapagos, Charles Darwin was disgusted by the looks of those animals, writing: “The black lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large, hideous, clumsy lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl and seek their prey in the sea. I call them the ‘pixies of darkness’. They will certainly become the land they inhabit.” Marine iguanas are almost monsters. Endemic to the Galapagos, it’s a rare privilege to share a moment under water with this animal, now considered an endangered species.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Green Turtles within the Rays” Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2017
Tenerife, Spain
During a diving trip to Tenerife I got here across these green turtles. It was early morning and the sun was breaking through the surface. I adjusted my camera settings and waited for the turtles to get close enough to trigger the camera. After some time they were circling us and it was a fantastic opportunity to photograph them.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“The Clown Around” Luc Roman/UPY 2017
Lembeh, Indonesia
Towards the top of the dive I suddenly saw a pleasant anemone with clownfish. I focused on the clownfish and needed to take a couple of pictures through an aluminum tube mounted on my port to get a round mirror effect.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
‘Sacrifice?’ Free MP3 Download So Yat Wai/UPY 2017
Anilao, Philippines
This photo was taken during a blackwater dive in Anilao. Even though the mantis shrimp larva (left) could be very small, it remains to be a predator that uses its predatory limbs to hunt. Has it spotted prey and is able to pounce?
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Competition” Richard Shucksmith/UPY 2017
Shetland, United Kingdom
I used to be on the coast taking pictures for SCOTLAND: The Big Picture – a rewilding project that creates images to strengthen the case for a wilder Scotland. Hundreds of gannets were circling the boat searching for fish being thrown overboard. Suddenly one bird dives, and the others see this as an indicator and 20, 30, 40 birds dive without delay. Because of this behaviour there’s at all times competition between the gannets, creating several gannets diving for a similar fish. I could hear the birds as they hit the water just above my head, just before they appeared on camera. A beautiful experience.
Underwater Photography Awards 2017
“Capturing History” Tanya Houppermans/UPY 2017
Wreck of U-352, North Carolina, USA
An underwater photographer frames a shot of the conning tower of the wreck of the U-352 off the coast of North Carolina, USA. During World War II, German U-boats patrolled the waters just off the eastern coast of the USA. In May 1942, the U-352 fired on the USCGC Icarus but missed. The Icarus returned fire and sank the U-352 in 120 feet of water, 26 miles southeast of Beaufort Inlet. On this particular dive, visibility was particularly good, so my goal was to capture wide-angle images with as much of the wreck within the frame as possible. While I used to be framing the shot, one other photographer was specializing in the conning tower, so I made a decision to incorporate it within the shot to offer the wreck a way of scale.
Image and news source: dpreview.com
