In its 17th year the Through Your Lens underwater photography contest continues to deliver an extraordinary assortment of undersea images. This year's highlights include a stunning shot of a shrimp helping clean the teeth of a moray eel and a clever composition of a scuba diver under thick ice.
This year, the Through Your Lens contest, which is developed and produced by Scuba Diving Magazine, accrued more than 1,700 submissions spanning four simple categories: Behavior, Wide Angle, Compact and Macro.
![Grand Prize Winner. Nikon D810 in a Nimar Pro housing; Nikon 60mm f2.8 lens; two Sea&Sea YS-D2J strobes; Orcatorch D910V focus light, f/22; 1/250; ISO 80. French Angelfish, Bonaire Island](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/0eac707/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x1200+0+0/resize/960x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F81%2F19%2F024990414d2fa7196215c919b8da%2Fgrandprize-dsc-8305-french-angel-fish-lorenzo-mittiga-edit.jpg)
The Grand Prize this year went to experienced photographer and marine biologist Lorenzo Mittiga, whose winning shot was taken around his Caribbean home of Bonaire Island and offers a unique portrait of the inquisitive and territorial French angelfish.
"In this case, I was totally concentrated to get a nice front portrait of a less common queen angelfish, shyer and faster, hiding intermittently behind a rock," says Mittiga. "This French angel looked like it wanted to be the prima donna, and it stole the scene."
![1st Place - Wide Angle. Nikon D750 in a Subal housing; Nikon AF-S Fisheye Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED lens, f/9; 1/100; ISO 200](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/23fc108/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x1200+0+0/resize/640x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F74%2F24%2F54b797df4045a44e980b5e8467c1%2F1st-place-wide-bgd-2496-edit.jpg)
Another highlight comes in Viktor Lyagushkin's Wide-Angle-category-winning shot contrasting the world under sea ice with a person standing on the surface. Lyagushkin says he spent hundreds of dives looking for this particular shot.
"I dreamed of showing the difference between the surface and under-ice worlds in one shot," says Lyagushkin. "It was not an easy task: The difference in quantity of light under and over the ice was great. I also wanted to include a diver and something on the bottom of the frame."
![2nd Place - Behavior. Nikon D90 in a Nauticam housing; 60mm macro lens; two Inon Z-240 strobes, f/22; 1/200; ISO 125. Viper Moray Eel with Cleaner Shrimp](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/983b0af/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1327+0+0/resize/1440x955!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F99%2Fad%2Fef9a059d454c8524250cb65192c6%2Fbehavior-2-cedric-peneau.jpg)
Take a look through our gallery at all the winners in this year's impressive contest.
Source: Scuba Diving Magazine