Most Promising British Underwater Photographer
2018’s Most Promising British Underwater Photographer is Leicester-based Tony Stephenson. The photographer’s image titled “How Many Pike” depicts a pack of pike lurking in the clear depths of a disused quarry at Stoney Cove. You read that correctly… a “pack of pike”. We’re not sure if “pack” is the correct collective noun in this case but we sure hope it is!
Wide Angle
When photographing whales, wide angle photography is pretty much a given. You’d keep your distance too if an enormous humpback whale decided to do some spyhopping in your vicinity. If you’re not familiar with the term, “spyhopping” is when a whale rises up from the water vertically, pauses, and seems to spy out the surface of the surrounding sea. In Greg Lecoeur’s award-winning Wide Angle photo “Humpback Whale Spyhopping”, the photographer breathtakingly captures a full-grown humpback in a “wave” as it moved its pectoral fin in his direction.
Macro
Photographer Shane Gross scored a photo finish, as it were, with “Seahorse Density”. Gross’s photo won the Macro category and features a trio of seahorses backlit by the setting sun surrounded by plankton. Definitely a case of win, place and show… you’d “bettor” believe it!
Behavior
The Behavior category in the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year contest was won by Filippo Borghi, who entered this amazing image he calls “The Fisherman”. Borghi states he stood for three hours a day for two days in order to snap this dynamic shot of a cormorant diving for fish in shallow water off Japan’s Izu Peninsula.
