Photography

The winners of the 2022 Underwater Photographer of the Year awards

The winners of the 2022 Underwater Photographer of the Year awards
Runner Up, Portrait/British Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Great white split. Australia, North Neptune Islands
Runner Up, Portrait/British Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Great white split. Australia, North Neptune Islands
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Winner, Wide Angle/Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Giants of the night. Maldives, Ari Atoll
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Winner, Wide Angle/Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Giants of the night. Maldives, Ari Atoll
Winner, Behavior/My Backyard Winner. All You Need Is Love. Finland, City of Vantaa
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Winner, Behavior/My Backyard Winner. All You Need Is Love. Finland, City of Vantaa
Runner Up, Portrait/British Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Great white split. Australia, North Neptune Islands
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Runner Up, Portrait/British Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Great white split. Australia, North Neptune Islands
Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022. Supernova in paradise. Thailand, Sairee beach Koh Tao
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Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022. Supernova in paradise. Thailand, Sairee beach Koh Tao

Third, Macro/Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2022. Diamonds and Rust. England, Swanage Pier
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Third, Macro/Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2022. Diamonds and Rust. England, Swanage Pier

Winner, Marine Conservation/'Save Our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2022. Big appetite. Vietnam, Hon Yen, Phu Yen province
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Winner, Marine Conservation/'Save Our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2022. Big appetite. Vietnam, Hon Yen, Phu Yen province

Third, Wide Angle. At Heron Island, Australia, a Green Sea Turtle hatchling cautiously surfaces for air to a sky full of hungry birds.
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Third, Wide Angle. At Heron Island, Australia, a Green Sea Turtle hatchling cautiously surfaces for air to a sky full of hungry birds.
Winner, Macro. This image is the result of many hours working with the species that live in the seagrass meadows. Both species, both the pipefish (Syngnathus abaster) and the green prawn (Hippolyte sp.) live on the leaves of seagrasses.
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Winner, Macro. This image is the result of many hours working with the species that live in the seagrass meadows. Both species, both the pipefish (Syngnathus abaster) and the green prawn (Hippolyte sp.) live on the leaves of seagrasses.
Winner, Wrecks. The wreck of Tyrifjord is one of the favorite wrecks in the Gulen dive resort area of Norway
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Winner, Wrecks. The wreck of Tyrifjord is one of the favorite wrecks in the Gulen dive resort area of Norway
Third, Wrecks. This image was taken on the Kittiwake wreck in Grand Cayman
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Third, Wrecks. This image was taken on the Kittiwake wreck in Grand Cayman
Runner Up, Behavior. A Mediterranean predatory fish (Sereranus scriba) has hunted a green fish (Labrus viridis), an endemic species to the Mediterranean and abundant in the Posidonia oceanica meadows
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Runner Up, Behavior. A Mediterranean predatory fish (Sereranus scriba) has hunted a green fish (Labrus viridis), an endemic species to the Mediterranean and abundant in the Posidonia oceanica meadows
Third, Portrait. One Green Turtle "meditating"
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Third, Portrait. One Green Turtle "meditating"
Winner, Compact. Pond in Leipzig
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Winner, Compact. Pond in Leipzig
Runner Up, Compact. Headspace.
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Runner Up, Compact. Headspace.
Runner Up, Up & Coming. Beauty on a red anemone skirt. Oman, Westside dive site, Fahal Island, sea of Oman, Muscat
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Runner Up, Up & Coming. Beauty on a red anemone skirt. Oman, Westside dive site, Fahal Island, sea of Oman, Muscat
Third, British Waters Wide Angle. A grey seal pup stretches and performs an exaggerated yawn as it awakens from a snooze in the kelp
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Third, British Waters Wide Angle. A grey seal pup stretches and performs an exaggerated yawn as it awakens from a snooze in the kelp
Winner, British Waters Macro. Two beautiful little blennies holed up in a crack in the rock
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Winner, British Waters Macro. Two beautiful little blennies holed up in a crack in the rock
Winner, British Waters Living Together. In the summer months Jelly fish frequent the British isles in larger numbers
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Winner, British Waters Living Together. In the summer months Jelly fish frequent the British isles in larger numbers
Runner Up, British Waters Compact. Fireworks anemones fluorescing under blue light
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Runner Up, British Waters Compact. Fireworks anemones fluorescing under blue light
View gallery - 19 images

From oceans to lakes to swimming pools, the Underwater Photographer of the Year contest celebrates all kinds of images taken from below the water’s surface. This year delivers the competition’s most spectacular batch of winners to date including an extraordinary shot face to face with a Great White Shark and a surreal glimpse at a shipwreck off the coast of Norway.

This years contest spanned 13 categories including four focusing specifically on imagery taken in waters surrounding the United Kingdom. From 4,200 entries covering 71 countries the top Underwater Photographer of the Year award went to Spanish photographer Rafael Fernandez Caballero for an incredible and rare shot of five whale sharks hunting at night.

Winner, Wide Angle/Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Giants of the night. Maldives, Ari Atoll
Winner, Wide Angle/Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2022. Giants of the night. Maldives, Ari Atoll

“To capture five whale sharks in one frame is already considered to be super lucky for a photographer, but to get them at night is just incredible,” explains one of the judges, Tobias Friedrich. “The photographer did an amazing job to not just capture the five animals, but he managed to get them in a very nice formation and also put some excellent light on them. Very well done and a truly deserved winner of this year.”

Runner Up, Compact. Headspace.
Runner Up, Compact. Headspace.

Winning the British Photographer of the Year prize was a frightening shot of a great white shark from Australian-based Englishman Matty Smith. The photographer had been trying to get this particular shot for several years and ultimately had to design his own remote camera rig to achieve his vision.

“Some techniques I had previously tried failed terribly, so this time I designed and constructed my own carbon pole and remote trigger,” says Smith. “This enabled me to safely lower my camera and housing into the water with my own 12” split shot dome port attached. Surprisingly the sharks were instantly attracted to the camera with no extra bait needed, in fact it was a battle to stop them biting the dome port!”

Winner, Behavior/My Backyard Winner. All You Need Is Love. Finland, City of Vantaa
Winner, Behavior/My Backyard Winner. All You Need Is Love. Finland, City of Vantaa

Other highlights include a unique look at frog mating season from Finnish photographer Pekka Tuuri, an evocative and gorgeously lit shot of the Tyrifjord wreck in Norway, and an incredibly surreal inverted image of a swimmer standing in a pool.

Take a look through our gallery at more shots from this year’s wonderful competition, and check out past winners here and here.

Source: UPY

View gallery - 19 images
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