Announcing the Winner of Scubaverse.com’s Photo of the Year 2018

Published 7 years agoon January 21, 2019

Winner chosen by our experts:

Nick Robertson-Brown, Scubaverse.com’s Underwater Photography Editor

Mario Vitalini, underwater photo pro and resident photo-pro for Scuba Travel

This year, Scubaverse.com’s underwater photography editor Nick Robertson-Brown is joined by UK-based tour operator Scuba Travel’s resident underwater photo pro Mario Vitalini to choose a winner of our Photo of the Year award. Nick and Mario had a tough job on their hands to pick an overall champion for 2018; the winners of the monthly contest provided 12 fantastic images to select from, including marine life big and small, wrecks, images using advanced photo techniques, and examples of animal behaviour. But after much deliberation, and in reverse order….

3^rd Place

April’s winner: On the Throne by Natalie Bondarenko

PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/on-the-throne/

Judges Comments

This is a super shot, there is so much going on! The glass fish surrounding the coral with the grouper on “his throne” makes for a dynamic scene. Well Done.

2^nd Place

October’s winner: Tunicate Shrimp by Jack Pokoj

PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/tunicate-shrimp/

Judges Comments

This picture jumped out straight away. The focus is pin sharp and the composition is great. I do like the way the black inside of the sponge frames the shrimp. The lighting is near perfect and when you see the shot you just think “wow”!

1^st Place

November’s winner: Behind a Humpback Whale by François Baelen

PHOTOLINK: http://www.scubaverse.com/contestants/behind-a-humpback-whale/

Judges Comments

I absolutely love the angle of the shot, the fluke takes center stage leading the viewer to the rest of the whale. The free diver and the second whale in the background balance the image and give an idea of scale. The ambient light exposure is beautifully controlled. This is a highly deserved winner of our 2018 competition.

Congratulations from all of the Scubaverse team to our winner and runners-up. Thank you to everyone that entered in 2018. We hope to see plenty more of your images in 2019!

François will receive a wonderful prize of Mares diving equipment, as well as a voucher from Scuba Travel (full details of the prize can be found here).

For your chance to win the 2019 title, you simple need to enter your images each month here:

www.scubaverse.com/current-contest-photo

Good Luck!

Scubaverse.com would like to say a big thank you to Photo of the Year’s sponsors, Mares and Scuba Travel.

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com