2024 Through Your Lens

Technological advances have changed so much about underwater imagery in the two decades since Scuba Diving magazine’s annual photo contest first began. But at least one thing remains as relevant as ever: Truly great underwater photography tells the stories of our marine world in ways that words could do no justice. This year’s winners—chosen with the help of a panel of guest judges from 3,133 submissions entered by photographers all over the world—represent the most compelling examples of the beauty, immensity and fragility of the ocean and the magnificent creatures that inhabit it.

A very special thanks to our judges and prize donors: Aggressor Adventures, All Star Liveaboards, Scubapro and SeaLife Underwater Cameras. Without your remarkable contributions, we could not continue our support of this contest and the photographers who inspire us.

• Grand Prize
• Freshwater
• Behavior
• Big Animals
• Wrecks
• Conservation

Grand Prize — Marcia Riederer

Behind the Shot This breathtaking moment occurred during an eye-to-eye encounter with a curious dwarf minke whale on my trip to Ribbon Reef. The behavior of minke whales seeking out human interaction is still a subject of ongoing scientific study and research. While the exact reasons for this behavior are not fully understood, it’s essential that humans always follow responsible and respectful guidelines during interactions.

Camera Gear Canon EOS 5D Mark IV; 16-35mm lens; Nauticam housing

Settings f/7.1; 1/200; ISO 500

Prize Trip aboard Thailand Aggressor

Learn more about Riederer here.

Freshwater

Freshwater First Place — Anton Sorokin

Behind the Shot I began by scouting a river running through the rainforest for deep pools containing caimans, which is best done by looking for the shine of their eyes with a headlamp at night. Once I found a suitable pool, I returned at night with my camera gear, got in the water and slowly approached the caiman, which remained submerged near the edge of the pool. The tangles of vegetation made for moody dappled light from my strobes, and I was able to compose the image in a way that the light fell across the caiman’s eye.

Camera Gear Nikon D850 in a Nauticam housing; Nikkor 8-15mm fisheye lens; Seacam strobes

Settings f/18; 1/60; ISO 400

Prize Trip aboard Belize Aggressor III liveaboard

Learn more about Sorokin here.

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Freshwater Second Place — Luc Rooman

Behind the Shot Every year, this lake near Antwerp is rich in alpine newts hiding among the growing water lilies. It’s essential to dive with caution and patience to let them get used to my presence before photographing them. This salamander sat quietly watching on a lily pad, giving me the opportunity to take several photos. I placed a snoot quite high in order to get the silhouette of the body shining through the leaf.

Camera Gear Nikon Z7II; Isotta housing; Nikon 60mm macro lens; Backscatter mini flash and snoot

Settings f/22; 1/125; ISO 100

Prize SCUBAPRO MK25 EVO/ S620TI Regulator System

Freshwater Third Place — Przemyslaw Zyber

Behind the Shot This photo was taken in a Slovak opal mine, or rather, in an extinct volcano. The igneous rock contains a large amount of sulfur, which turned the water acidic. The yellow color of the walls shows how much sulfur is in the mine. The place is absolutely fabulous and magical. The colors of the walls and ceiling take you straight to the colorful world of Walt Disney.

Camera Gear Canon EOS R6 with a Canon 8-15mm F4 fisheye lens; Marelux housing; four Hi-Max V18 15,000-lumen lights

Settings f/5.6; 1/100; ISO 8000

Prize SeaLife SportDiver Ultra Smartphone Housing

Related Reading: Announcing the 2024 Photo Contest

Behavior

Behavior First Place — Pier Nirandara

Behind the Shot Back home in Thailand, I took a quick dip off the coast of Phuket, not expecting much marine life. Floating in the blue, I found a peculiar scene I almost missed: fish hiding beneath the bell of a jellyfish. While these abundant stinging cnidaria are often overlooked—especially during the rainy season—paying closer attention revealed a weirdly unique and wonderful scene. This dive was a reminder that sometimes awe and wonder exist in even the smallest and unexpected of places.

Camera Gear Sony a9; 16-35mm f2.8 lens; Nauticam housing

Settings f/4; 1/3200; ISO 320

Prize Trip aboard Raja Ampat Aggressor

Learn more about Nirandara here.

Behavior Second Place — Marcia Riederer

Behind the Shot Every winter, a huge number of giant spider crabs comes together in the shallow waters of Port Phillip Bay to molt their shells. The aggregation provides safety in numbers while they’re soft, wobbly and vulnerable. This event also attracts many predators, such as rays, octopuses and sharks. This image shows the exact moment when the ray and the crab lock eyes—one is fighting for food, and one is fighting for life.

Camera Gear Canon EOS 5D Mark IV; 16-35mm lens; Nauticam housing; two Inon strobes

Settings f/8; 1/200; ISO 400

Prize SCUBAPRO MK25 EVO/ S620TI Regulator System

Behavior Third Place — Mark Green

Behind the Shot Heading back to shore after over an hour in the water at Blue Heron Bridge, I noticed some movement in the corner of my eye. I planted a muck stick and turned to my left, and two fighting bluethroat pike blennies came into view. This was an awesome display, filled with action. I managed a series of shots until the winner prevailed. Fortunately, I can share this with others and always remember this amazing experience.

Camera Gear Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III; Nauticam housing; Leica Elmarit 45mm lens; dual Retra Pro X strobes

Settings f/10; 1/125; ISO 100

Prize SeaLife SportDiver Ultra Smartphone Housing

Big Animals

Big Animals First Place — Andrey Shpatak

Behind the Shot I was swimming with a friend among ropes left over from an old salmon fishing net in Rudnaya Bay when I found this small specimen of giant Pacific octopus (its weight would hardly exceed 10 or 11 pounds on the surface) sitting on a wide leaf of Costaria costata seaweed. Without my powerful search light, I likely would not have noticed it—at a depth of 20 meters, the red color of the octopus is almost indistinguishable from the brown algae.

Camera Gear Nikon D800; Nikkor 8-15mm lens; Sea&Sea housing; dual Sea&Sea YS-350 strobes

Settings f/13; 1/100; ISO 500

Prize Trip aboard Roatan Aggressor

Learn more about Shpatak here.

Big Animals Second Place — David Levasseur

Behind the Shot We were at the Alimatha dive site in Vaavu Atoll for this unique night dive. As I am not a big fan of commercial shark dives, my guide and I decided to stay a little farther from the other groups. At the end of the dive, just after the safety stop, when we were about to resurface, this curious nurse shark came right next to my dome. I took the shot, and here is the result: a perfect nurse shark with its reflection at the surface!

Camera Gear Canon EOS 5D Mark IV; 8-15mm lens; Nauticam housing; Zen dome port; two Inon Z-330 strobes

Settings f/5.6; 1/200; ISO 320

Prize SCUBAPRO MK25 EVO/ S620TI Regulator System

Big Animals Third Place — Remuna Beca

Behind the Shot Atlantic spotted dolphins swim wild and free in the Bahamas. Interacting with these highly intelligent cetaceans in their natural environment is an unforgettable experience. They are incredibly fast and acrobatic, making encounters thrilling but unpredictable and challenging to photograph. While freediving with them, I aimed to capture their playful spirit and beauty in the wild—a stark contrast to the unfortunate reality of dolphins in captivity. As I positioned myself near the seafloor, a group separated from the larger pod and swam toward me in graceful symmetry, allowing me to capture our moment of connection and nature in perfect balance.

Camera Gear Nikon D850; Nauticam housing; Sigma 15mm fisheye lens

Settings f/9; 1/500; ISO 500

Prize SeaLife SportDiver Ultra Smartphone Housing

Related Reading: Meet Scuba Diving Magazine's 2023 Photo Contest Winners

Wrecks

Wrecks First Place — Luc Rooman

Behind the Shot This photo was taken in June 2023 at the first international Aqaba shootout, to which I was invited. Unfortunately, to my great surprise, it did not score there. I did win the special jury mention with another photo. The TriStar airliner was specially sunk as a dive site. It starts at a depth of 40 feet and ends with the tail at 100 feet, where this photo was taken.

Camera Gear Nikon Z 7II; Nikon 8-15mm fisheye lens; Isotta housing; Subtronic flashes

Settings f/16; 1/125; ISO 100

Prize Trip aboard Turks & Caicos Aggressor II

Learn more about Rooman here.

Wrecks Second Place — Jack Israel

Behind the Shot As we were coming out of the pandemic, I thought it was relatively safe to dive. My friends and I made many night trips to the Coast Guard ship Captain Dan. Using numerous 15,000-lumen lights, we lit up the wheelhouse, which is covered with orange cup coral. With a wide-open lens and high ISO, I was able to capture the polyps, which were swaying in the current.

Camera Gear Nikon D850 in a Nauticam housing; Nikkor 8-15mm fisheye lens; four Bigblue 15K flood lights

Settings f/4.5; 1/80; ISO 2000

Prize SCUBAPRO MK25 EVO/ S620TI Regulator System

Wrecks Third Place — Christian Horras

Behind the Shot I decided to shoot a panoramic image of the purpose-sunk Lockheed TriStar—merged together from nine single shots—as the conditions on that day were not the best, and I wanted to get as much of the wreck into the picture as possible without having to back off too much. For lighting up the cockpit of the plane I used a powerful video light.

Camera Gear Nikon D850; Nikon AF-S 8-15mm fisheye lens; Seacam housing; Keldan light

Settings f/10; 1/100; ISO 200

Prize SeaLife SportDiver Ultra Smartphone Housing

Conservation

Conservation First Place — Jenny Stock

Behind the Shot Port Hughes Jetty is a beautiful and bountiful dive site in South Australia. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most popular fishing spots on Yorke Peninsula. I was submerged below when I witnessed this ornate cowfish entangle itself with dead bait hanging at the end of a fisherman’s line. The cowfish was distressed and swam around with the deceased fish attached to its dorsal spine. Watching this vibrant cowfish swimming with the carcass of an eerie skeleton pinned to its face felt morbid and unnerving. The cowfish was too fast for me to help it, but luckily it eventually managed to break itself free. I felt the image I captured on camera was poignant—is the cowfish swimming toward a deathly future? Symbolically, I see a depiction of the potential demise of our ocean’s inhabitants if we do not treat it with more respect.

Camera Gear Canon 5D Mark IV; 100mm lens; Nauticam housing; Inon Z-240 strobes

Settings f/32; 1/250; ISO 320

Prize Trip aboard the Scuba Scene liveaboard in the Red Sea

Learn more about Stock here.

Conservation Second Place — Francesca Page

Behind the Shot Here is a photo of hope, a moment of fishers working together toward a brighter future for critically endangered sharks and rays. The Kebersamaan Untuk Lautan (KUL) NGO project in Sumatra compensates fishers with an amount equivalent to their market earnings to safely release critically endangered sharks and rays, which are victims of bycatch. The local fishers tagged this wedgefish and released it back into the ocean alive as part of a vital research program aimed at saving this critically endangered species. The ray’s large dorsal fin is one of the most valuable fins in the international fin trade. A 7-inch wedgefish fin can fetch as much as 10 million rupiah ($600 USD) in local markets, primarily for a soup flavored with chicken that holds significant economic status. I do not wish to see a world without this incredible creature. The public’s indifference toward this ray stems from its lack of awareness. I hope that through my photography and art, we can shed light on this marvelous creature and inspire people to care. If you love something, you will protect it.

Camera Gear Sony a7IV; Sony 12-24mm f/4 lens; SeaFrogs housing; Sea&Sea YS-O1 strobe

Settings f/18; 1/200; ISO 320

Prize Trip aboard Blackbeard’s Cruises liveaboard

CHECK OUT THE 2023 WINNERS HERE