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2016 Photo Contest Entries: What Makes You Smile?

By Mary Frances Emmons | Published On November 15, 2016
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2016 Photo Contest Entries: What Makes You Smile?

A baby scuba diver takes their first steps into the underwater world
Giordano Cipriani

Approach
A future scuba diver takes their first steps into the underwater world.

Two chubby feet, making perhaps their first kicks in a pool, herald a scuba diver to come.

This delightful image by Giordano Cipriani stood out among more than 2,000 entries — along with all of the other images on these two pages — because it made us smile. That’s something diving and photography have in common: Each brings us joy, whether we’re participating in the sport or hobby, or admiring images of and by those who do.

For instance, who could possibly resist Enrico Pati’s inventive “Crazy Face,” a Papua-style mask made of sea creatures (extra credit if you can name all of the critters that make up this fanciful collage), or Conor Culver’s sweet circus clownfish?

Conceptual photo entry of clownfish at the circus

Clownfish Circus

Conor Culver

Clownfish Circus
This image is playing off of the name "clownfish."

Or a beefy tough-guy channel cling crab, defending his turf in a salty Bahamas pond, captured by Caine Delacy? Not to mention Chris Fallows’ mola mola, whispering sweet nothings to a couple of pilot fish?

Be sure to check out all of the underwater photo contest winners, but first we wanted to honor the shooters who followed that golden rule of showbiz: Make ’em laugh.

Photo captions provided by photographers

Crab holds out his claws in this underwater photo
Caine Delacy

Defense Is The Best Offense
The channel cling crab in a small salty pond in the Bahamas gave me a display of its best defensive strategy.

Orange spotted goby macro photography
Jonathan Lin

Fish Eye
It's always a challenge photographing fish, particularly shy gobies that retreat back quickly into the seabed as soon as they see anything approaching. This orange spotted goby, however, was a little more curious. Took me awhile to wait for it to come back out and I managed to get a good shot of it.

Bumphead parrotfish school together in a black and white underwater photo
Linda McKean

Invasion Of The Bumpheads
I quickly dropped in and enjoyed being in close proximity to this large school of bumpheads (50+) for several minutes by myself and they didn't seem to mind my presence. Before I had only seen a couple swimming by so to see their large bodies, unusual foreheads and huge teeth was an experience I will never forget. They look like something out of sci-fi movies!

Conceptual black and white underwater photograph
Brandi Mueller

The Wall Climber
Up or down, under or over... he climbs the wall.

sheep-like nudibranch underwater photo
Corine Bendejacq

Underwater Yellow
A sheep-like nudibranch in Bali, Indonesia.

Mola mola and pilot fish underwater photo
Chris Fallows

Old Man & The Young Leaders
The amazing human-like head of a massive mola mola dwarfs the two pilot fish that lead this open ocean traveller on his global travels.

Octopus walking across the sand, looking for a boxing match
Gaetano Gargiulo

Wanna Fight?
When approaching a large octopus surprised in the open during a night dive, always remember that they may think that the one they see in the dome is a competitor... and they may want to challenge it.

Conceptual abstract underwater photo with marine life
Enrico Pati

Faccia
Can you name all of the sea creatures and marine life that create this mask?

Shark underwater split-level photograph
John Nussbaum

Emerald Montage
This shark was photographed while diving at Emerald Charters in Jupiter, FL.

Browse some of our other photo-contest favorites below.

2016 Photo Contest Winners
Sea Turtle Photos - 2016 Photo Contest
Shark Photos - 2016 Photo Contest
2015 Photo Contest Winners

Photo submissions for next year will open in January 2017, so make sure to check scubadiving.com/photocontest for details and updates on the 2017 Through Your Lens Photo Contest!