In Photos: The Underwater Photographer of the Year

Behaviour category third

On the summit by Fu Liang (China)in Lembeh, Indonesia

The photo was taken in Lembeh Indonesia. The snake eel with a magnificent cleaning shrimp hanging around on it. My goal is to use strong shadow to empower the interactive behavior between snake eel and cleaning shrimp. So I shot vertically to let the subject fill the frame. I used one snoot to lighting up the eye, and another snoot with a side-back light on the shrimp to sketch the shape of the sneak eel.

Photograph: Liang Fu/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019

Portrait category winner

Fly high and smile by Nicholas Samaras ( Greece) in Stratoni, Chalkidiki peninsula, northern Greece

Abandoned by swimmers and divers for many years because of the gold mine just on the edge of the gulf, I visited Stratoni three times in August 2018 for a seahorse project. On my last visit I was planning to create a group photo of seahorses, when a small ray appeared on the scene. I managed to swim with him and place my camera underneath to capture a portrait of his belly with the mouth and nose looking like a smiling happy angel’s face.

Photograph: Nicholas Samaras/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019

Portrait category runner-up

Oh no, Godzilla by Bruce Sudweeks (US) in Cabo Douglas, Galapagos, Ecuador

The Galapagos islands are the only place on the planet that you can see marine iguanas in their natural habitat. This photo looks like the fictional character Godzilla smiling before starting some mischief.

Photograph: Bruce Sudweeks/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019