Winning photos of 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year are out of this world

The Underwater Photographer of the Year contest has announced the winners of 2018 competition. The best of the best have been chosen in eleven categories, among over 5000 entries from all around the world. We bring you the winning images in all categories, and they are all absolutely fantastic.

Underwater Photographer of the Year is an annual competition based in the UK. The first underwater Photographer of the Year was named in 1965, and it was British photographer Phil Smith. Today, the competition has eleven categories and receives thousands of entries from all over the globe. These are the categories:

1. Wide Angle
2. Macro
3. Wrecks
4. Behaviour
5. Portrait
6. Black & White
7. Compact
8. Up & Coming
9. British Waters Wide Angle
10. British Waters Macro
11. British Waters Compact

The international award for the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 goes to German photographer Tobias Friedrich. He captured a panorama of British World War II military vehicles deep inside a shipwreck in the Red Sea. The photo titled “Cycle War” and it’s also a winner in the “Wrecks” category. The photo was taken in Egypt and shows Norton 16H motorbikes loaded in Fordson WOT 3 trucks, with soldierfish schooling above. the photographer explains: “I had had this image in mind for a few years, but it is impossible to capture in one photo, because there is not space inside the wreck to photograph this scene in a single frame. My solution was take a series pictures and stitch them together as a panorama.”

As for the British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018, the title goes to Grant Thomas. He is a photographer from Glasgow now living in New Zealand. His photo of swans titled “Love Birds” was taken in Loch Lomond, Scotland, and it’s also a winner in the “British Waters Wide Angle” category. Thomas explains that he has always been “fascinated by over-under photography, connecting the everyday terrestrial world that we all know with the less familiar underwater secrets.” When he took the winning image, the swans were searching for food beneath the surface and he “just had to wait for that perfect moment of synchronicity.”

The competition also recognizes the most promising photographers and promotes new photographic talents. Thus, Malaysian Man BD was named Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 for his image “Roar.” The photo shows a pair of sea slugs with a gaping moray eel as a background, and it was captured in Indonesia. The Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2018 is Tony Stephenson from the East Midlands in England. His photo “How Many Pike?” reveals pike courtship in Stoney Cove, Leicestershire.

Take a look at the remaining winning photos from 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year.

 

If you’d like to learn more, check out UPY’s website and the entire gallery of winning images here. They have shared a fantastic yearbook you can download for free on this link, with top 110 photos from the 2018 competition, back-stories and much more.