The UPY contest seeks to celebrate photography beneath the surface of the seas, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools around the globe. There 10 categories in the competition, testing photographers with themes such as Macro, Wide Angle, Behavior and Wreck photography, as well as three categories for photos taken specifically in British waters.
The UPY's four main awards, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017, British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017, Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 and Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2017, went to Gabriel Barathieu, Nick Blake, Horacio Martinez and Nicholai Georgiou this year.
Here are some of the 100 winning entries from the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
For this photograph called “Dancing Octopus,” French diver Gabriel Barathieu was named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017. It triumphed over 4500 underwater images entered by photographers from 67 different countries. The photo of the hunting octopus was taken in a lagoon of the tiny island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Barathieu explains “I had to wait for a low spring tide when the water was just 30cm deep (1 foot) so that the octopus would fill the water column. I got as close as possible with a wide angle lens to create this image, which makes the octopus look huge.”
The title of British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 went to Nick Blake from Dublin, Ireland, for his photo “Out Of The Blue” taken in a freshwater sinkhole in Mexico, known as Chac Mool Cenote. Blake commented “underwater photographers can move freely in three dimensions, so I adjusted my position in the water to capture the symmetrical framing of the light beams by the rocks.”
Argentinian Horacio Martinez was named as Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 for his image “Oceanic In The Sky” photographed in Egypt. “I noticed this oceanic whitetip shark patrolling in the distance and exposed for the sun beams, and was pleased by the dreamlike effect. Oceanics are great subjects for close ups as they are anything but shy. Yet, I wanted to capture their apparent loneliness in the big blue,” the photographer said.
“Face to Face” by Hungarian photographer Lorincz Ferenc took the first place in the “Portrait” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The photograph was made in Shark Rafeen, Rash Mohamed National Park, Egypt.
The title of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2017 went to Nicholai Georgiou for his image “Orca Pod” taken in the depths of winter in northern Norway. “The days are short and the water is barely above freezing, but with orca around the cold is quickly forgotten. The light was beautiful as the sun skimmed the horizon, but the water was dark and foreboding. Then this orca swam by, nice and close. It was a moment, which will be hard to top.”
“The Haunted Room” by Kazakh photographer Nadya Kulagina, one of the winners in the “Wrecks” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The photograph was made at the Umbria wreck, Sudan.
“Prey?” by Hong Kong photographer So Yat Wai took the first place in the “Macro” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The winning entry was captured during a blackwater dive in Anilao, Philippines.
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© Photo : Tanya Houppermans/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“Capturing History” by American photographer Tanya Houppermans, one of the winners in the “Wrecks” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The picture shows the wreck of a U-352 off the coast of North Carolina, US.
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© Photo : Greg Lecoeur/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“Green Turtles in the Rays” by French photographer Greg Lecoeur, one of the winners in the “Portrait” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. Lecoeur commented “During a diving trip to Tenerife, I came across these green turtles. It was early morning and the sunbeams pierced the surface. After a little while, the turtles were circling around us and it was a great opportunity to photograph them.”
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© Photo : Pasquale Vassallo/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“Views at dawn” by Italian photographer Pasquale Vassallo, one of the winners in the “Behavior” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The photo was taken at Miseno, in the Gulf of Naples, Italy.
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© Photo : Damien Mauric/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“Imp of darkness” by British photographer Damien Mauric, one of the winners in the “Portrait” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
“Under My Umbrella” by Romanian photographer Catalin Craciun took third place in the “Up & Coming” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. Craciun explained “The idea for this photo came from the need to show people that freediving is not ONLY about going down and up on a line but rather exploring, dreaming and applying it for having fun and to explore . This photo was taken at Freediving Coron in the Philippines where we teach freediving courses all year round in the famous Barracuda Lake.”
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© Photo : Csaba Tokolyi/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“The wreck of the Louilla at sunset” by Bulgarian photographer Csaba Tokolyi took first place in the “Wrecks” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The photo was captured at Gordon Reef, Straits of Tiran, Egypt.
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© Photo : Trevor Rees/ Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
“The eyes have it” by British photographer Trevor Rees, one of the winners in the “British Waters Macro” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The author commented on his entry “I've tried many times to photograph these long clawed squat lobsters (Munida rugosa). For this individual I was diving in the Sound of Mull on Scotland's west coast.”
“Dolphins hunting” by French photographer Greg Lecoeur, one of the winners in the “Behavior” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The picture was taken at Port Saint Johns, South Africa.
“Walking” by Finnish photographer Eero Hällfors, one of the winners in the “Wide Angle” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The photo was taken while ice diving at Lake Päijänne.
“Graceful ballet” by Mozambique photographer Jenny Stromvoll took second place in the “Macro” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The picture was taken in Stables, Mozambique.
“Sealion playing with starfish” by Spanish photographer Francis Pérez, one of the winners in the “Portrait” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
“Cleaner” by Chinese photographer Liang Fu took the third place in the “Behavior” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
“Sun shine after the storm” by British photographer Mario Vitalini, one of the winners in the “Wide Angle” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
“One in a Million” by American photographer Ron Watkins took first place in the “Wide Angle” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. “Last summer I headed to Alaska in search of salmon sharks. I came across this Lion's Mane Jellyfish rising from the bloom towards the surface and positioned myself directly over it to capture this image,” Watkins noted.
“Big Red” by Italian photographer Guglielmo Cicerchia took second place in the “Portrait” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The picture was captured not far from Giannutri Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.
“Silversides at Twilight” by Canadian photographer Tony Myshlyaev, one of the winners in the “Wide Angle” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
“Humpback whale feeding on krill” by South African photographer Jean Tresfon took second place in the “Behavior” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The image was shot a few miles offshore from Hout Bay, Cape Town.
“Morning Elegance” by British photographer Damien Mauric, one of the winners in the “Wide Angle” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest. The image was taken in Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico.
“I’ve got my eye on you!” by Mozambique photographer Jenny Stromvoll took the first place in the “Compact Cameras” category of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 contest.
