The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced its 2018 winners. The 7th annual competition attracted a very high caliber of photos from waters around the world and showcases the best underwater photographs of the year. 2018 was the most competitive year to date.
Winning photos can be seen on the Underwater Photography Guide at http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/2018-ocean-art-contest-winners
The Best of Show is a graceful photo of three Giant Devil Rays performing a “ballet”, which uses soft, ambient light to accentuate the movements of elegant giants, shot by Duncan Murrell. Other exceptional images include some astonishing fish and marine life shots, rarely seen animal behavior, innovative shooting techniques, stunning portraits, seals, ocean adventure, whales and some dramatic moments between humans and marine life. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from 70 countries before selecting the final set of images as Ocean Art winners.
Ocean Art 2018 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Martin Edge, and Marty Snyderman, accompanied by Underwater Photography Guide publisher Scott Gietler.
Over $80,000 in prizes will be awarded, making the Ocean Art prize value among the highest in the world.
The most lucrative prizes included a luxury liveaboard trip on the Socorro Vortex, Indonesia liveaboard trips (and 50% off a companion) on the S.M.Y. Ondina and M.Y. Oceanic, a 7 night Palau liveaboard trip with Solitude Liveaboards, a 7 nights Solomon Islands liveaboard trip on the Solomon PNG Master, a 7 nights Solomon Islands liveaboard trip with Bilikiki Cruises, a 7 night dive package at Villa Markisa Resort in Bali, Indonesia, a 9 night Passport to Paradise dive package at three Indonesian destinations with Critters@Lembeh and Murex Dive Resorts, and a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo. Premium travel prizes are provided by VoliVoli Beach Resort (Fiji), Siladen Resort & Spa (Indonesia), two packages with Solitude Liveaboards (Komodo, Indonesia, and Lembeh Straits, Indonesia), Atlantis Dive Resort (Philippines), Manta Ray Bay (Micronesia), Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard (Australia), Atmosphere Resort & Spa (Philippines), Aiyanar Dive Resort (Philippines), Crystal Blue Resort (Philippines), Blackbeard’s Cruises (Bahamas), El Galleon Beach Resort (Philippines), Aquamarine Diving and the Watergarden Hotel (Bali, Indonesia), Eco Divers Lembeh (Indonesia), Scuba Club Cozumel (Mexico), and premier scuba travel agency Bluewater Travel. Premium gear prizes are provided by Bluewater Photo, SEA&SEA, Ikelite, and ThinkTANK Photo.
Sixteen different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography, including compact, mirrorless, and DSLR cameras. There is also a new category called “Underwater Art.”
The quality of image submissions was incredible this year, making judging very difficult but also proving that these photos are the best in the world. Bluewater Photo and Travel owner and Underwater Photography Guide publisher, Scott Gietler comments, “This year’s outstanding underwater images in the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition continue to raise the bar for underwater photographers. Myself and the other 3 judges were honored to be viewing such amazing results of the dedication and drive of the human spirit.”
Complete list of winners:
Best of Show
“Courting Devil Ray Ballet” by Duncan Murrell
Wide-Angle
1st François Baelen
2nd Grant Thomas
3rd Celia Kujala
4th Geo Cloete
5th Edwar Herreno
6th Daniel Flormann
HM Steve Kopp
HM Wu Yung Sen
Macro
1st Jeff Milisen
2nd Chun Zhou
3rd Fabio Iardino
4th Jinggong Zhang
5th Tianhong Wang
6th Stefano Proakis
HM Shane Gross
HM Dennis Corpuz
Marine Life Behavior
1st Duncan Murrell
2nd Anders Nyberg
3rd François Baelen
4th Richard Barnden
5th Flavio Vailati
6th Liang Fu
7th Mei Hing Sin
HM Doris Vierkötter
HM Richard Barnden
HM Els Van Den Borre
Portrait
1st Claudio Zori
2nd Christina Barringer
3rd Doris Vierkötter
4th Shane Keena
5th Mirko Zanni
HM Jinggong Zhang
HM Matteo Visconti
HM Kyler Badten
Coldwater
1st Greg Lecoeur
2nd Tyler Schiffman
3rd Claudio Zori
4th Rémi Masson
5th Eiko Jones
HM Henley Spiers
HM Simon Lorenz
HM Adam Martin
Nudibranchs
1st Flavio Vailati
2nd Fredrik Ehrenström
3rd Bettina Balnis
4th Giacomo Giovannini
HM Chun Ho Tam
Supermacro
1st Edison So
2nd Wayne Jones
3rd Ludovic Galko-Rundgren
4th Leon Zhao
5th Gaetano Gargiulo
HM Iyad Suleyman
Reefscapes
1st Yen-Yi Lee
2nd Tobias Friedrich
3rd Alex Lindbloom
4th Renee Capozzola
HM Fred Bavendam
HM Brett M Garner
Novice dSLR
1st Alvin Cheung
2nd Antonio Pastrana
3rd Marie Charlotte
4th Steven Walsh
5th Alvin Cheung
Mirrorless Wide-Angle
1st Eugene Kitsios
2nd Pier Mane
3rd Pier Mane
4th Max Holba
HM Fabrice Dudenhofer
HM Pier Mane
Mirrorless Macro
1st Steven Walsh
2nd Owen Yen
3rd Younghun Kan
4th Enrico Somogyi
HM Rafi Amar
Mirrorless Behavior
1st Fabrice Dudenhofer
2nd Debbie Wallace
3rd Yeh Hung Wei
4th Lorenzo Terraneo
5th Tiffany Poon
HM Pier Mane
Compact Wide-Angle
1st Melody Chuang
2nd Andrea Falcomatà
3rd Alessandro Raho
4th Andreas Schmid
HM Jon Anderson
HM Miguel Ramirez
Compact Macro
1st Sejung Jang
2nd Kate Tinson
3rd Matteo Pighi
4th Sunbong Jung
HM Jim Chen
Compact Marine Life Behavior
1st PT Hirschfield
2nd Miguel Ramirez
3rd Jin Woo Lee
4th Danny Van Belle
HM Dennis Corpuz
HM Jack Berthomier
Underwater Art
1st Bruno Van Saen
2nd Jordan Robins
3rd Guillaume Néry
4th Dennis Vandermeersch
HM Alexandre St-Jean
HM Thomas Heckmann
The Underwater Photography Guide is the #1 destination for all things underwater photography. Featuring highly-regarded tutorials, technique tips, in-depth gear reviews, amazing international workshops and breaking u/w photo news, UWPG is here to help divers around the world achieve their photo and video goals. For more information, please visit [http://www.uwphotographyguide.com
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