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2013/14 Medal Winners

medal
Winners medal

Winning here (or even just being placed) is Underwater Photography's most coveted accolade because it says you succeeded in the most competitive environment there is, against the top talent of the moment.

Every year a panel of judges select the best images entered in our online photo contest from the previous year. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for the top three from each category in order of merit.

The judges comprise of industry professionals, previous year's World Champions, our site moderators - anyone we can rope in! They are unpaid, non-affiliated, and (of course) cannot vote for themselves.

You may not agree with the judges. You may think you have 'better shots' at home - prove it! Enter this year's contest.

World Champion 2013/14
The judges award the photographer who submits the most consistent and complete portfolio over the year World Champion. Other photographers of distinction are awarded Grand Master.

winnerThe overall 2013/14 World Champion is...

Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)

shots that cross the surface boundary (so under/overs like Snells Window too)

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Gold Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)

Two worlds in a single image.

Location: Mexico

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Silver Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)

Male Sockeye Salmon taking a breath.

Location: Canada

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Bronze Medal Winner
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)

Red Waratah Anemones. What I really love about over/under photographs is that it gives the underwater element a sense of place. For the viewer it marries the underwater environment with our own familiar world. It links the unknown with the known.

Location: Australia

Runner Ups
Over/Under (shots half topside, half U/W)

Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)

shots taken using ambient light i.e. unlit by flash or continuous lighting like HID but filters on the lens are allowed if declared

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Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)

Rays rays rays

Location: Indonesia

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Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
profile Ellen Cuylaerts Cayman islands

'The elements' Silversides at Devil's Grotto

Location: Cayman islands

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Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)

The last sperm whale of the expedition waving goodbye

Location: Sri Lanka

Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Natural Light (no strobe)
profile
Craig Dietrich
United States
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David Valencia
United States
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Wide Angle - Wrecks

anything man-made that is sunk including cars, tanks, planes etc. - oh and ships!

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Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
profile Ellen Cuylaerts Cayman islands

Fly Freediver at the bow of the EX-USS Kittiwake (Mark Tilley)

Location: Cayman islands

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Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks
profile Paul Colley United Kingdom

A motorbike on the wreck of SS Thistlegorm. Slow shutter to capture the blue light coming through the hold hatchway.

Location: Egypt

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Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Wrecks

Lightshow - winner: UW Images Ohio 2010 wreck cat. Scan from Ilfort 400 ISO B&W film, scanned by Nikon Coolscan

Location: Sudan

Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Wrecks

Wide Angle - Divers

Divers doing what divers do - underwater or on the surface

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Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers

The spindle

Location: Egypt

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Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers

Freediver - Domagoj Jakovac - world champ under Ice diving

Location: Croatia

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Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Divers
profile Ellen Cuylaerts Cayman islands

A freediver entering Devil's Grotto

Location: Cayman islands

Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Divers
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Ellen Cuylaerts
Cayman islands
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Ellen Cuylaerts
Cayman islands
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Wide Angle - Marine Life

wide angle shots with no divers in frame

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Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
profile Paul Colley United Kingdom

Barracuda school with one Great Barracuda interacting with the school of smaller ones; not sure what this behaviour was.

Location: Egypt

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Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life

Happy Moment - in the Red Sea with a Dugong south of Port Gahlib.

Location: Egypt

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Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Marine Life
profile Valda Fraser South Africa

I lay on sand quietly watching this chap. Loved it when he opened his mouth for the cleaners.

Location: South Africa

Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Marine Life

Wide Angle - Close Focus

shots taken with a WIDE ANGLE (or fisheye) lens having 1) a well defined close subject (usually strobe-lit) AND 2) a wide angle BACKGROUND with a second subject, usually a diver

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Gold Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus

Red Sea , Egypt

Location: Egypt

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Silver Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus

Smile

Location: Cuba

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Bronze Medal Winner
Wide Angle - Close Focus

Dream Dives In Papua

Location: Papua New Guinea

Runner Ups
Wide Angle - Close Focus

Macro - not swimming

Smaller subjects typically 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5cm) shot on macro settings or with macro equipment that are NOT MOVING usually on the bottom (i.e. between 1:1 and 1:3)

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Gold Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming

The Gem/ Luria lurida mediterranean cowry

Location: Italy

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Silver Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming
profile Ellen Cuylaerts Cayman islands

Gulf signal blenny in an tube wormhole, cosy!

Location: Mexico

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Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - not swimming

Two guys at work

Location: Indonesia

Runner Ups
Macro - not swimming

Macro - swimming

Smaller subjects typically 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5cm) shot on macro settings or with macro equipment that are in MID WATER not touching anything (i.e. between 1:1 and 1:3)

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Gold Medal Winner
Macro - swimming

Labyrinth Nikon D800E,105 macro, two strobo Lembeh strait

Location: Indonesia

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Silver Medal Winner
Macro - swimming

Posterity

Location: Indonesia

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Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - swimming

Next generation - Jawfishes with eggs. Have fun watching.

Location: Indonesia

Runner Ups
Macro - swimming

Macro - Nudibranchia

Sea slugs. A subject popular with macro guys! (means naked gills) Flatworms allowed

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Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia

Rider2 Nikon D800E , 105 micro, twin strobo Lembeh strait

Location: Indonesia

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Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia
profile Jeremy Axworthy United States

Dirona Albolineata

Location: United States

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Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Nudibranchia

Nembrotha Nudibranch Bunaken,Sulawesi,Indonesia, Nikon d300s in Kinetics no strobes, natural lighting

Location: Indonesia

Runner Ups
Macro - Nudibranchia

Macro - Super macro

Shots taken (at smaller than 1:1) with multiple extension rings, diopters, or teleconverters of extremely small subjects typically less than 1 inch (2.5 cm)

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Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro

"MARINE CANADIAN FLAG" supermacro about spanish dancer gills

Location: Egypt

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Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro

Blenny

Location: United Arab Emirates

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Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Super macro

B.Lenny

Location: Guam

Runner Ups
Macro - Super macro

Macro - Close-Up

Shots taken of a subject between 3 inches and 1 foot (7.5 to 30cm) in size (e.g. large fish or diver head) that dominates the frame - any background is incidental and occupies LESS THAN 50% of frame

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Gold Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up

Thorny Seahorse in the bay of Ambon,Indonesia

Location: Indonesia

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Silver Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up

almost dead

Location: Indonesia

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Bronze Medal Winner
Macro - Close-Up

Tiger

Location: Indonesia

Runner Ups
Macro - Close-Up

Sharks

Shots where sharks are the predominant subject. Sponsored by Stuart Cove's

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Gold Medal Winner
Sharks

Whale shark incoming! Canon 7D. Tokina 10-17.

Location: Mexico

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Silver Medal Winner
Sharks

Face to face with a wobbegong - the flounder of the sharks :-)

Location: Indonesia

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Bronze Medal Winner
Sharks

Great Hammerhead - stiring up the sand

Location: Bahamas

Runner Ups
Sharks

Temperate Waters

Seas with green water well north or south of tropical zones typically cold enough for drysuits!

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Gold Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
profile Jeremy Axworthy United States

Bell Jelly

Location: United States

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Silver Medal Winner
Temperate Waters
profile Tom Radio United States

Plumose Anemone Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

Location: United States

Freshwater

shots taken bodies of water with no salt e.g. in lakes, streams, pools, rivers i.e NOT the Sea!

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Gold Medal Winner
Freshwater
profile Ellen Cuylaerts Cayman islands

Portrait of a manatee

Location: United States

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Silver Medal Winner
Freshwater
profile Viktor Vrbovský Czech Republic

Pike in the mirror

Location: Czech Republic

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Bronze Medal Winner
Freshwater
profile Raoul Caprez Switzerland

Water lily (Grand Cenote)

Location: Mexico

Runner Ups
Freshwater

Fashion

Underwater Fashion Photography, Trash the Dress, Wedding and Couple shots and any other shot with models underwater

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Gold Medal Winner
Fashion

Russian Field

Location: Russia

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Silver Medal Winner
Fashion

Weightless...

Location: Kazakhstan

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Bronze Medal Winner
Fashion

In a gadda da vida

Location: Mexico

Runner Ups
Fashion

Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)

Shots that have been digitally edited outside of the camera for creative reasons (not brightness/contrast etc.) in a program like PhotoShop

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Gold Medal Winner
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
profile Lucie Drlikova Czech Republic

Resigned ...

Location: Czech Republic

Runner Ups
Creative - Manipulated (Photoshopped)
profile
Paul Colley
United Kingdom
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Topside (above water but marine related)

shots above the surface. Can be on land but with relevance to the marine environment

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Gold Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)

Playing with the sea.

Location: Italy

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Silver Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)

Japanese Sea Plane Wreck, Rock Islands, Palau

Location: Palau

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Bronze Medal Winner
Topside (above water but marine related)
profile Raoul Caprez Switzerland

The Wave !

Location: South Africa

Runner Ups
Topside (above water but marine related)


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Take me to the Contest!
Previous year's winners


Remember, if you don't enter you won't win!