2008/09 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.

Winners are announced to the Press at the end of May

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 2008/09
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 2008/09 World Champion is...


The UnderwaterPhotography.com photo course collection
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See the best images from the last 10 years of the contest in all their glory in...
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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
click to zoomclick images to zoom
An Antarctic view before a dive under the ice. One of the things that is amazing about the Antarctic is that there is no  distance 'haze' effect through lack of dust. This mountain is over 1,000 m high and the ice cliffs hundreds of m high.
Andrew Macleod

Australia
Gold Medal Gold Medal
One of my most memorable marine life encounters. A baby seal basking in the morning sun

Olympus sp-350
Cal Mero

Australia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Surfing "Jaws"
Jozef Butala

Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Market Day aboard Bilikiki at the Florida Island Group, Solomon Islands.
Allan Vandeford

United States
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Jet ski.loop the loop.
John Naylor

United Kingdom
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Baby turtle on the beach trying to crawl out of its egg.
Erika Antoniazzo

Switzerland
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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

shots that cross the surface boundary (so under/overs like Snells Window too)
click to zoomclick images to zoom
US Navy Divers going to the office.
Andrew Mckaskle

United States
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Under the surface: Xmas tree
Giuseppe Piccioli

Italy
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Stepson fishing in Martin's Haven, West Wales
David Stephens

United Kingdom
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
My wife flashed under the "Devil Brigde" in the Verzasca River in Tessin Switzerland :O)
Michel Lonfat

Switzerland
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Indigo Bay, Bazaruto Island, Mozambique
Geoff Spiby

South Africa
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
My eldest daughter at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. Nikonos V on aperture priority, 12mm Sea & Sea lens, Kodak 3200 B&W film. Scratches removed in PS. Just enough water to cover the lens.
Michael Grebler

Canada
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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)
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Rhinopias eschmeyeri (Rhino-fish), Lembeh strait
Aleksandr Marinicev

Latvia
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Nose to nose.
Miguel Cortés

Spain
Silver Medal Silver Medal
"Two Bargibanti Buddies"    ... Ok ... if you spot three of them, I won't negotiate ;-). Taken at the Raja Ampat, West Papua. Touched up background, but left animals untouched in PS.
Henry Jager

Switzerland
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
I *am* smiling.  

Stargazer on night dive in Lembeh Strait.
Dave Hunt

United States
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Is this the national flag of Malaysia or a Feather Star?....¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>·.¸¸Canon G9
Brian Mayes

United Kingdom
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Peacock mantis with eggs
Jeff Chua De GuzmanRunner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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)
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Cleaning time.... :O)
Michel Lonfat

Switzerland
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Colors of Nature....
Tunc Yavuzdogan

Turkey
Silver Medal Silver Medal
I was very fortunate to see these two Black-Saddled Tobies spiraling upward in a mating ritual. I got a sequence of about a dozen shots before the action ended. Dauin, Philippines.
Jim Chambers

United States
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Prey-killer
Giuseppe Piccioli

Italy
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Moray close portrait.
Miguel Cortés

Spain
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
We drove 14 hours straight to find the leafy sea dragon. It was worth every minute of the drive. They really are the most incredible fish.  Watching them move so peacefully throughout their habitat is something I'll always remember.
Cal Mero

Australia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

Wide Angle - Wrecks

anything man-made that is sunk including cars, tanks, planes etc. - oh and ships!
click to zoomclick images to zoom
The Giannis D, Sha’ab Abu Nuhas Reef, Red Sea, Egypt.
Jim Garland

Ireland
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Un-named wreck in Lake Ontario, Canada, near Picton. Depth 170'.
Tom Wilson

Canada
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Motorcycle in Hold of the SS Thistlegorm.  Canon 10-22mm wide angle.  Balanced natural light through hold doors with strobes with a 1/50 shutter.
Gareth Millson

United Kingdom
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Japanese Zero, for me the most photogenic plane-wreck of the world. Perfect size, almost intact, and nothing arround it disturbing. More pics on my web www.artefotosub.com.
Arthur Telle Thiemann

Spain
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
The "R. Peñon" wreck.
Miguel Cortés

Spain
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
All Stop - Prop of the Um El Farud Zurrieq Malta, covered with colourful sponges.
Simon Theuma

Australia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) cleaned by bannerfish, Crystal Bay, Bali (Canon G9)
Marco Waagmeester

Netherlands
Gold Medal Gold Medal
St.Johns caves. Couldn't find the rockband anywhere.
Dray Van Beeck

Netherlands
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Taken in Nuweiba with Emperor Divers in Egypt, this was taken with a Fuji Finepix F31D compact camera and an Inon Wide Angle lens on the Underwater Setting whilst doing a headstand to fit it all in!
Maria Munn

United Kingdom
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
St. Jhons Caves. Amazing light efects
Cipriano (ripli) Gonzalez

Spain
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Lego blocks
Victor Amor

Spain
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Southern hemisphere humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Mother and calf - synchronizing
Jovin Lim

Singapore
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Golden dress
Zena Holloway

United Kingdom
Gold Medal Gold Medal
nudi delivery :)
Heru Suryoko

Indonesia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Pterois mutans II
Bea & Stef Primatesta

Switzerland
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Careful on the rocks - is what the sign says. Surreal underwater scene created from photos I took in Bahamas, Australia, Cozumel, Jamaica & the Seychelles.
Margo Cavis

United States
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
retro nudi
Heru Suryoko

Indonesia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
"Conductor" ....underwater image turned ;-) , without correction by photoshop!
Libor Spacek

Czech Republic
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

Wide Angle - Divers

Divers doing what divers do - underwater or on the surface
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Pollution - camera Nikonos UW 15 mm.
Sergio Loppel

Italy
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Camera's point of view at the end of a dive. ©Amanda Cotton
Amanda Cotton

United States
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Diver checking out the soldierfish before going back up to the boat.
Barbara Schilling

Switzerland
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Tremiti's Islands - Cave
Vito Lorusso

Italy
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
River Mzha
Sergiy Glushchenko

Ukraine
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Ring of friends.
Dray Van Beeck

Netherlands
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Underwater forest in lake Lygnstøylsvatnet, Norway.
Christian Skauge

Norway
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
   

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Underwater Photo course

Wide Angle - Marine Life

wide angle shots with no divers in frame
click to zoomclick images to zoom
All aboard the Manta Train!!   Olympus SP350, Inon fisheye lens, natural light. Baa Atoll, Maldives.
Christian Loader

United Kingdom
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Kissing fish? Two blued striped grunts trying to establish dominance over each other.  Cozumel Mexico.  Canon 20D and Sigma 17-70.
Ross Gudgeon

Australia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Diving with the m/v Dolphin Dream at Tiger Wreck in the Bahamas.
Lemon sharks by the dozen
Mike Ellis

United States
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
cebu nikon d2x 12-24mm
Puddu Massimo

Italy
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
I was observing this spectacle for about 5 minutes, and for the feint of hearted, I can say that he got away in the end.
Kjeld Friis

Denmark
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
This Oceanic white tip seemed exited about the charging of my flash (electro magnetic field ??) shot of Deadelus reef on a not so known divesite a few miles from the actual reef. I am always greatfull when allowed diving with Sharks
Henrik Gram Rasmussen

Denmark
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

Freshwater

shots taken bodies of water with no salt e.g. in lakes, streams, pools, rivers i.e NOT the Sea!
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Apnea World Championship in Maribor, 2007
Dejan Sarman

Slovenia
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Skydiver. A diver suspended in the clear waters of an Australian Sinkhole.
Richard Harris

Australia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
The Napoleon Bridge near Kobarid. The Picture is made on 2m depth Soca River (max depth on this place is cca.8m). It's nice place with lot of fish...also well known for its unique trout species Salmo trutta marmoratus (known as the marble trout).
Melita Bubek

Slovenia
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
The cross.
Dejan Sarman

Slovenia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
These picture of the frog I made in my own garden. It tooks some time to come close enough with my 50mm macro lens.
John De Jong

Netherlands
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Using cave techniques, divers at the start of their dive under the ice at Morrison's Quarry, Quebec, Canada. Nikonos V, Sea & Sea 12mm lens, Fuji 400 film, manual exposure and colour corrected.
Michael Grebler

Canada
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

Temperate Waters

Seas with green water well north or south of tropical zones typically cold enough for drysuits!
click to zoomclick images to zoom
in the kelp forest
Geoff Spiby

South Africa
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Giant cuttle, Kurnell
Doug Anderson

Australia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
"Dont mess with me!"............................ A snarling Mosaic Moray (Gymnothorax prionodon)<><><><>Canon G9
Brian Mayes

United Kingdom
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
     

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Underwater Photo course

Macro - Nudibranchia

Sea slugs. A subject popular with macro guys! (means naked gills) Flatworms allowed
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Hypselodoris Kanga nudibranch, Tukad Abu, Bali (Canon G9, WP-DC21,Inon D2000w)
Marco Waagmeester

Netherlands
Gold Medal Gold Medal
jumping nudi
Volker Katzung

East Timor
Silver Medal Silver Medal
Another Nudi Shot from Anilao taken with Canon 400D + 100mm macro lens
Patrick Neumann

Germany
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Nudibranchia ( Hypselodoris apolegma )
Xiao Liu Qiu,TAIWAN.2008/1/19 15:00
CASIO EX-Z1000  8mm F/5.6 1/60sec.
Harry Yang

Taiwan
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Charging Nudi. Taken in Tenggol with Canon G9, Inon Z240 & lenses. Full frame.
Edvin Eng

Malaysia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Nudibranch, Bunaken
Doug Anderson

Australia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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)
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Nudi close-up D200/105 VR
Yves Antoniazzo

Switzerland
Gold Medal Gold Medal
EYE Love You! Full Frame Close Up Filter - X Magnifier - new powerful Inon Z240 Strobes. Same crappy Canon Xti. But what a difference good Quality Strobe make.
Jeff Chua De GuzmanSilver Medal Silver Medal
Pygmy Seahorse
Beverly Speed

United States
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
Stella marina Astropecten aranciacus photographed in the Ionian Sea Near the marine park of the Islands of the Ciclopi.
Fabrizio Frixa

Italy
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
My best xeno crab picture so far,from Lembeh 350d/70mm
Yves Antoniazzo

Switzerland
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
Boxer crab with her eggs...
Teguh Tirtaputra

Indonesia
Runner Up - worthy of note but not a medal winner - an equal 4th place if you like! Runner Up
     

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Underwater Photo course

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
click to zoomclick images to zoom
Big fun gorgonias in Moal Boal
Nikon D200 , !0,5 wide angle, two strobo and amd one very good model
Marchione Giacomo

Italy
Gold Medal Gold Medal
Leopard
Andrey Tazba

Russia
Silver Medal Silver Medal
sharm el seik,ras mohamed,nikond2x 10,5mm 2 strobes
Puddu Massimo

Italy
Bronze Medal Bronze Medal
     

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Underwater Photo course

The UnderwaterPhotography.com photo course collection
click here to buy the book
See the best images from the last 10 years of the contest in all their glory in...
The UnderwaterPhotography.com photo course collection
120 full color pages

Previous year's winners


Remember, if you don't enter you won't win!
Annual Medal Winners slide showSlide Show
how to win!
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