Everyone loves a good photography contest, right? A selection of stunning photos picked by a talented jury is just the perfect way to find not only entertainment but also inspiration. Underwater Photography Guide just announced the winners of their 2019 Ocean Art Contest. With 16 different categories, such as Wide-Angle, Portrait, and Nudibranchs, the final count of photographs boiled down to a solid hundred, prize winners and honorable mentions included.
Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition offered over $85,000 in prizes and attracted thousands of entries. Underwater Photography Guide describes this particular contest as one of the most prestigious nature photo contests in the world. This year's entries came from 78 countries, a pretty impressive number that guaranteed solid representation from all over the world. The 2019 contest winners were picked out by Tony Wu, Martin Edge, Marty Snyderman, and Scott Gietler. You can read the judges' commentary by clicking here.
More info: uwphotographyguide.com
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Honorable Mention - Enrico Somogyi - Compact Wide Angle Category - "Coconut Octopus"
5th Place - Tianhong Wang - Blackwater Category - "Bride"
3rd Place - Steven Kovacs - Blackwater Category - "Lionfish"
this is a lionfish?? I've never seen one like this before- great job!
3rd Place - Dave Johnson - Macro Category - "The Hyponotist"
3rd Place - George Kuo-Wei Kao - Novice Macro Category - "Who Is It?"
1st - Paula Vianna - Marine Life Behavior Category - "A Friendly Ride"
2nd Place - Paolo Bausani - Blackwater Category - "Blanket Octopus"
4th Place - Greg Lecoeur - Reefscapes Category - "Biodiversity"
1st Place - Greg Lecoeur - Coldwater Category - "Crab-Eater Seal"
3rd Place - Fabien Martinazzo - Compact Macro Category - "Telle Une Torpille Pelagia Cherche Sa Proie"
4th Place - Jake Wilton - Novice Wide Angle Category - "Beauty Spots"
That’s a really good shot of a zebra shark, no not a leopard shark, a zebra shark
2nd Place - Andrea Pescarolo - Nudibranchs Category - "The Sheep"
I love sea slugs! And these look like they are among those who eat pants and digest all but the chloroplasts - instead they store them in their body. It's called kleptoplasty. But it's not really certain what the advantage is, their survival doesn't depend on the photosynthesis. (There's a reason plants are sessile organisms, photosynthesis doesn't produce enough energy unless you're an organism with a HUGE surface-to-volume ratio and very low need for energy (like movement would require))
Honorable Mention - Naomi Strong - Novice Macro Category - "What Are You Looking At?"
the mantis shrimp. Beautiful but feisty as hell. They attack anything in site and pack a powerful punch
2nd Place - Nicholas More - Reefscapes Category - "Mangrove Soft Coral"
4th Place - Johan Sundelin - Coldwater Category - "Catch"
1st Place - Virginia Salzedo - Portrait Category - "Gaspare"
4th Place - Emry Oxford - Portrait Category - "Cuba Croc"
Honorable Mention - Celia Kujala - Coldwater Category - "Welcoming Committee"
1st Place - Fabien Michenet - Blackwater Category - "Snaketooth Swallower"
1st Place - Jules Casey - Novice Macro Category - "Seahorse Bus"
1st Place - Francisco Sedano - Underwater Art Category - "Psychedelic Seahorse"
Honorable Mention - Aia Mar - Underwater Art Category - "The Air Of Jupiter"
1st Place - Shane Gross - Conservation Category - "Victim"
Honorable Mention - Lawrence Wu - Compact Behavior Category - "Fighting For The Female"
Honorable Mention - Jay Clue - Marine Life Behavior Category - "Gigantic Aggregation Of Munk Devil Rays In Baja California Sur"
Honorable Mention - Jose Antonio Castellano - Wide-Angle Category - "Under The Pier"
2nd Place - Tobias Friedrich - Coldwater Category - "Icerock"
Honorable Mention - Suzan Meldonian - Blackwater Category - "Long Lure Larval Flounder"
Honorable Mention - Mirko Zanni - Coldwater Category - "Reflection"
5th Place - Aldo Costa - Coldwater Category - "Sup On The River"
2nd Place - George Kuo-Wei Kao - Novice Wide Angle Category - "The Blue Arch"
2nd Place - Enrico Somogyi - Underwater Art Category - "Hairy At Sunrise"
5th Place - Kierstin Zetterberg - Novice Macro Category - "Chestnut Moray"
~~When you are down by the sea And an eel bites your knee That's a moray ~~~
4th Place - Hannes Klostermann - Marine Life Behavior Category - "Strange Encounters"
1st Place - Jenny Stock - Nudibranchs Category - "Treats From Maloolaba River"
Honorable Mention Place - Fabien Michenet - Blackwater Category -"Alciopid Worm"
1st Place - Ferenc Lorincz - Compact Behavior Category - "Open Mouth Grouper"
4th Place - Fabien Martinazzo - Compact Macro Category - "La Communication Non Verbale"
3rd Place - Benhur Sarinda - Compact Wide Angle Category - "Stretching"
Honorable Mention - Paolo Bondaschi - Macro Category - "Rospo Smeraldino"
Honorable Mention - Pedro Carillo - Marine Life Behavior Category - "The Choir"
Honorable Mention - Galice Hoarau - Portrait Category - "Snooty"
4th Place - Lureen Ferretti - Blackwater Category - "Mom Keeping An Eye On The Little Ones"
Honorable Mention - Steven Kovacs - Marine Life Behavior Category - "Egg Release"
1st Place - Paolo Isgro - Supermacro Category - "Clownfish Eggs"
5th Place - Francis Perez - Conservation Category - "Sea Turtle Trapped"
4th Place - Borut Furlan - Wide-Angle Category - "Anemone City"
Honorable Mention - Alesso Tinti - Compact Macro Category - "Reflection"
1st Place - Stephano Cerbai - Macro Category - "Radiography"
4th Place - Mel Wu - Novice Macro Category - "Cuttlefish And Friends"
1st Place - George Kuo-Wei Kao - Novice Wide Angle Category - "The Shepherd"
4th Place - Qing Lin - Supermacro Category - "Spikefin Goby"
2nd Place - Tobias Friedrich - Wide-Angle Category - "The Engine"
2nd Place - Fabien Martinazzo - Compact Behavior Category - "Protective Cocoon Of The Parrot Fish"
4th Place - Simon Deblock - Compact Behavior Category - "Hairy Frogfish Hunting At Night"
2nd Place - Wu Yung-Sen - Macro Category - "The Story"
4th Place - Petr Polách - Macro Category - "Lucernaria Quadricornis"
3rd Place - Andrey Savin - Nudibranchs Category - "The Sky"
2nd Place - Davide Lombroso - Portrait Category - "Look At Me"
3rd Place - Brooke Lori Pyke - Conservation Category - "Plastic Soup"
3rd Place - Johan Sundelin - Coldwater Category - "Hungry"
3rd Place - Steven Kovacs - Marine Life Behavior Category - "Worm With Eggs"
Honorable Mention - Greg Lecoeur - Portrait Category - "Cormoran Underwater"
2nd Place - Alessandro Grasso - Conservation Category - "Trapped"
Honorable Mention - Alessandro Buzzicheli - Wide-Angle Category - "The Cave"
Honorable Mention - Yat Wai So - Macro Category - "The Indian"
4th Place - Mauro Apuleo - Nudibranchs Category - "Green Field"
3rd Place - Claudo Zori - Portrait Category - "Toads"
3rd Place - Enrico Somogyi - Reefscapes Category - "Reef At Sunrise"
3rd Place - Adam Martin - Wide-Angle Category - "Eye Of The Tornado"
Honorable Mention - Donghoon Lee - Compact Macro Category - "Dancing In The Garden"
5th Place - Cedric Peneau - Nudibranchs Category - "Orange UFO"
1st Place - Eduardo Acevedo Fernandez - Reefscapes Category - "Raja Ampat"
2nd Place - Leon Zhao - Supermacro Category - "Hiding In Flowers"
3rd Place - Jenny Stock - Underwater Art Category - "Bubble Portrait"
2nd Place - Stan Chen - Compact Macro Category - "Ponda Goby With Eggs"
1st Place - Talia Greis - Compact Wide Angle Category - "Blended"
4th Place - Enrico Somogyi - Compact Wide Angle Category - "Boat Full Of Bottles"
2nd Place - Paolo Bausani - Marine Life Behavior Category - "Lethal Fluid"
3rd Place - George Kuo-Wei Kao - Novice Wide Angle Category - "Welcome To Mikura-Jima"
Honorable Mention - Jeongin Kim - Novice Wide Angle Category - "Couple Dating"
Honorable Mention - Chun Ho Tam - Nudibranchs Category - "Sheep In Dreamland"
1st Place - Nicholas More - Wide-Angle Category - "Blur Of Sweetlips"
5th Place - Taeyup Kim - Wide-Angle Category - "Paradise"
Honorable Mention - Steven Kovacs - Blackwater Category - "Flounder"
1st Place - Stan Chen - Compact Macro Category - "Lemon Goby"
2nd Place - Michael Loh - Novice Macro Category - "Hairy Shrimp"
5th Place - Jeongin Kim - Novice Wide Angle Category - "Humphead Parrotfish And Diver""
5th Place - Mok Wai Hoe - Portrait Category - "Silky Portrait And Sunset"
Honorable Mention - Yen Yi Lee - Reefscapes Category - "Rose Garden"
Honorable Mention - Nicholas More - Reefscapes Category - "Glass Fish Reef"
4th Place - Nicole Helgason - Conservation Category - "Acropora Robusta Coral Fragments At The Ocean Gardener Coral Nursery In Candidasa Bali"
2nd Place - Minsik Roh - Compact Wide Angle Category - "Red And Blue"
5th Place - Hakan Basar - Macro Category - "Flamboyant In Space"
3rd Place - Paolo Isgro - Supermacro Category - "Tiny Hairy Shrimp"
Honorable Mention - Kimber Greenwood - Underwater Art Category - "Untitled"
Honorable Mention - Pasquale Vassallo - Conservation Category - "The Dawn Of A Not, New Day"
Honorable Mention - Rafael Fernandez Caballero - Conservation Category - "Both Worlds Of Fishing"
3rd Place - Willy Irawan - Compact Behavior Category - "Mating Hairy Frogfish"
4th Place - Tae Wook Kang - Underwater Art Category - "Narcissism"
I don't know if the conservation ones make me more happy or sad: I'm glad that we are raising awareness of the damage we are causing, but it makes me sad that there even needs to be a category for it. These photos are very beautiful and give me a new look on the ocean. I am very scared of the ocean but we need to respect it none the less.
Honestly I’m just glad that there is a category to raise awareness, even if that was not the intention
Load More Replies...Wow! These are really beautiful. Some of these photos are amazing. Nature is a precious wonder. We need to do all we can to preserve it.
All are spectacular, great photographers, incredible beauty !!!
5th Place - Tianhong W**g - Blackwater Category - "Bride" is my favorite!!
These pictures are just stunning! The colors of everything under the water are super cool. It’s amazing on how people are able to get these shots, they are really hard to shoot
Spectacular beauty, we cant get enough, thanks for the post !!!
I don't know if the conservation ones make me more happy or sad: I'm glad that we are raising awareness of the damage we are causing, but it makes me sad that there even needs to be a category for it. These photos are very beautiful and give me a new look on the ocean. I am very scared of the ocean but we need to respect it none the less.
Honestly I’m just glad that there is a category to raise awareness, even if that was not the intention
Load More Replies...Wow! These are really beautiful. Some of these photos are amazing. Nature is a precious wonder. We need to do all we can to preserve it.
All are spectacular, great photographers, incredible beauty !!!
5th Place - Tianhong W**g - Blackwater Category - "Bride" is my favorite!!
These pictures are just stunning! The colors of everything under the water are super cool. It’s amazing on how people are able to get these shots, they are really hard to shoot
Spectacular beauty, we cant get enough, thanks for the post !!!