The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced the 2014 winners. This year’s Ocean Art Competition attracted a very high caliber of photos, representing entrants from over 50 countries.
Over $70,000 of prizes will be awarded to 60 underwater photographers, highlighted by an 11-day Indonesia liveaboard trip on the SMY Ondina, a 7-night dive package at Paradise Taveuni Resort in Fiji, a 7-night Maldives liveaboard trip on the Manthiri, a 7-night Solomon Islands liveaboard trip on the Bilikiki, a 10-night dive package at Lissenung Dive Resort in Papua New Guinea and a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo.
Premium prizes are provided by Villa Markisa (Bali), the Discovery Fleet (Tubbataha), Emperor Divers (Maldives), VoliVoli (Fiji), Atmosphere (Philippines), Kosrae Nautilus Resort (Micronesia), Atlantis Philippines, Wananavu (Fiji), Palau Dive Adventures, Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (Australia), Alor Divers (Indonesia), Manta Ray Bay (Yap), El Galleon (Philippines), Maluku Divers (Indonesia), Juliana’s Hotel & Sea Saba Dive Center (Caribbean), Eco Divers Resort Lembeh, Blackbeard’s Cruises (Bahamas), Scuba Seraya (Bali) and Bluewater Travel.
Ocean Art 2014 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Martin Edge, Marty Snyderman and Scott Gietler.
There are at least 4 winners in each of the 12 categories, including Wide-Angle, Macro, Portrait, Behavior, Novice, Nudibranchs, Super Macro, Divers & Fashion, Cold Water and 3 compact camera categories.
Best of Show – Ray Collins. “Underwater – Kirra Point” Shot at Kirra Point, Australia with Nikon D4
The Best of Show was a stunning wide-angle photo shot from behind a breaking wave by Ray Collins at Kirra Beach, Australia. Other outstanding images include some out-of-this-world fish and marine life shots, rarely seen underwater behavior, iridescent shrimp, models in pools, smiling turtles, vibrantly colored squid and some dramatic black and white moments. Thousands of entries were viewed by the judges before the final set of amazing images were selected and deemed some of the best underwater photos in the world.
The quality of image submissions was incredible, making judging very difficult but ensuring the prestige of the Ocean Art Competition. Bluewater Photo and Travel owner and Underwater Photography Guide publisher, Scott Gietler said, “The caliber of photos in Ocean Art this year was amazing, and the judges had to make some very difficult decisions when evaluating photos in the contest. The winning photos were submitted from oceans and freshwater around the world by many talented underwater photographers. Congratulations to all the winners.”
Complete list of winners:
Best of Show
Ray Collins
Wide-Angle
1st Place: Ray Collins
2nd Place: Gang Song
3rd Place: Shane Gross
4th Place: Montse Grillo
5th Place: Davide Lopresti
Honorable Mention: Alejandro Prieto
Honorable Mention: Eiko Jones
Honorable Mention: David Salvatori
1st Place – Ron Watkins
“Tiny Refuge in the Dark” Shot in Kona, Hawaii with Nikon D800
Macro
1st Place: Ron Watkins
2nd Place: Uwe Schmolke
3rd Place: Marchione Giacomo
4th Place: Anthony Berberian
5th Place: Digant Desai
Honorable Mention: Annika Persson
Honorable Mention: Filip Staes
1st Place – Lill Haugen. “Bigmouth” Shot in Ørsta, Norway with Nikon D300
Coldwater
1st Place: Lill Haugen
2nd Place: David Salvatori
3rd Place: Nirupam Nigam
4th Place: Kaido Haagen
Honorable Mention: Michael Weberberger
Honorable Mention: Gang Song
1st Place – Nonna Pokras. “Electric Spider Crab” Shot in Tulamben, Bali with Canon 5D Mark II
Portrait
1st Place: Nonna Pokras
2nd Place: Mario Odorisio
3rd Place: Steven Kovacs
4th Place: Christine Shepard
5th Place: Lill Haugen
Honorable Mention: Uwe Schmolke
Honorable Mention: David Salvatori
Honorable Mention: Luc Rooman
1st Place – Borut Furlan. “Egg Transfer” Shot in the Adriatic Sea, Croatia with a Nikon D2X
Marine Life Behavior
1st Place: Borut Furlan
2nd Place: Ilian Ben Tov
3rd Place: Steven Kovacs
4th Place: Jerry Tang
Honorable Mention: Roland Bach
Honorable Mention: Steven Kovacs
1st Place – So Yat Wai. “Laomenes Rests on Crinoid” Shot in Tulamben, Bali with Canon 5D Mark III
Novice dSLR
1st Place: Yatwai So
2nd Place: Carolyn Wang
3rd Place: Collin Wu
4th Place: Renee Capozzola
Honorable Mention: Yatwai So
Honorable Mention: Renee Capozzola
1st Place – Giacomo Giovannini
“Angry Sepiola” Shot in Trieste, Italy with Canon G12
Compact Macro
1st Place: Giacomo Giovannini
2nd Place: Kiyoung Jang
3rd Place: Fabio Galbiati
4th Place: Elisabeth Lauwerys
Honorable Mention: Dusan Zencak
Honorable Mention: Chandy de Wit
1st Place – Jack Berthomier
“Eyes Bigger than the Stomach” Shot in Noumea, New Caledonia with Sony RX100
Compact Marine Life Behavior
1st Place: Jack Berthomier
2nd Place: Jack Berthomier
3rd Place: Alexander Bublitz
4th Place: Igor Pereverzev
Honorable Mention: Michal Ross
1st Place – Arek Mszyca
“Attention Seeker” Shot on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia with Canon G16.
Compact Wide-Angle
1st Place: Arek Mszyca
2nd Place: Marc Casanovas
3rd Place: Stephen Holinski
4th Place: Stephen Holinski
Honorable Mention: Marc Casanovas
1st Place – Eduardo Acevedo Fernandez
“Glaucus Atlanticus” Shot in the Canary Islands, Spain with Canon 5D Mark II
Nudibranchs
1st Place: Eduardo Acevedo Fernandez
2nd Place: Jackie Hildering
3rd Place: Diana Paboojian
4th Place: Luc Rooman
Honorable Mention: Yatwai So
Honorable Mention: Yury Ivanov
1st Place – Filippo Borghi
“Fat Pygmy” Shot in Raja Ampat, Indonesia with Nikon D800E
Super Macro
1st Place: Filippo Borghi
2nd Place: Raffaele Livornese
3rd Place: Qing Lin
4th Place: Robert Roy
Honorable Mention: Jeffrey de Guzman
1st Place – Lucie Drlikova
“Underwater Circus” Shot at a pool in Prague, Czech Republic with Nikon D700
Divers/ Fashion
1st Place: Lucie Drlikova
2nd Place: Steffen Binke
3rd Place: Nina Baxa
4th Place: Jim Catlin
Honorable Mention: Massimo Giorgetta
Honorable Mention: Rui Guerra
All of the winning photos can be seen on the Underwater Photography Guide by clicking here.
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 work achieve their photographic and video goals. For more information, please visit http://www.uwphotographyguide.com