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  • BigPicture Photography Competition 2025 Winners Revealed

    BigPicture Photography Competition 2025 Winners Revealed


    Aquatic Life, Winner: “Octopus Mother” by Kat Zhou

     

    The California Academy of Sciences has unveiled the winners of its BigPicture photography competition, which celebrates stunning images from the natural world. Now in its 12th year, the competition is judged by a panel of nature and conservation photography experts, which is chaired by wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas. The Grand Prize Winner is “Lemur’s Tough Life” by Donglin Zhou, a Chinese wildlife photographer known for her nature documentaries.

    Meanwhile, in the “Aquatic Life” category, it was DPG Photographer of the Week Kat Zhou who clinched the top award with her mind-blowing shot of a Caribbean reef octopus guarding her eggs at Florida’s Blue Heron Bridge (which also featured in her POTW portfolio). Various DPGers were also finalists in the “Aquatic Life” category as well as other categories, including “Art of Nature” and “Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora.”

    Big congratulations to all the winners and runners-up in this year’s contest. Don’t forget that the 2nd Underwater Awards Australasia imaging competition is accepting submissions—so make sure you get your entries in soon and claim your share of the spectacular $70,000 prize pool!

     

    Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora, Finalist: “Acacia” by Talia Greis

     

    Art of Nature, Finalist: “Ghost of the Reef” by Simon Biddie

     

    Aquatic Life, Finalist: “Yin Yang” by Melanie Müller

     

    Aquatic Life, Finalist: “Dystopian Seas” by Angel Fitor

     

    Aquatic Life, Finalist: “Theatre of War” by Talia Greis

     

    Aquatic Life, Finalist: “Into the World of Dreams” by Hitomi Tsuchiya

     

    Aquatic Life, Finalist: “Mudskipping” by Georgina Steytler





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  • May 2025 Photo Contest Winners: Storytelling In A Single Frame

    May 2025 Photo Contest Winners: Storytelling In A Single Frame


    We’re happy to announce the winner of May’s competition “Storytelling In A Single Frame.”

    For those who don’t know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People’s Choice Award and a $100 Overall Winner Award. The People’s Choice Winner is selected by a vote of the community, whereas our guest judge selects the overall winner.

    The “Storytelling In A Single Frame” Photo Contest

    Storytelling is an important part of photography and it is a great way to portray emotions and communicate the story visually to the audience. Storytelling always does not require detailed planning, as there are many candid moments happening around that hold stories that can be captured, but it does require careful observation and composing the shot with elements that contribute to the story. The photographer needs to make decisions on when to press the shutter button, to capture the right moment.

    Capturing storytelling photos can be difficult, especially if you are photographing in a public environment, where you may have to stay discreet when capturing the shots. There are times when you can speak to the subject, get an understanding of them and then capture their story, which allows for intimate emotions to be captured.

    Storytelling visually through photographs can be either through a series of photos or just a single frame and May’s contest theme was to capture a storytelling shot in a single frame. With experience, and by choosing the right scenario, photographers will be able to capture storytelling shots in a single frame.

    May’s contest theme was, “Storytelling In A Single Frame” and participants submitted images there were varied from cheerful and fun to emotional moments, most of which portrayed very strong stories and emotions.

    When choosing the winning photos, we wanted to make sure that the decision process was based on a good interpretation of the theme followed by other factors like light, composition, story, details, creative vision / thought, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know. 

    Here are May’s winners:

    First Place: “Spare Change Please” by Frogdaily

    Spare Change Please – Copyright Frogdaily

    Frogdaily has beautifully captured the emotions of a child by a pathway. We can see the child’s innocence and him looking forward to something, but not very interested in his current situation. Frogdaily has also chosen to post-process the image in monochrome, which allows the viewers to focus on the subject and his story, without getting distracted by the elements around.

    The composition is also brilliant in the photo with space left towards the direction the child is looking and then all the lines in the frame leading towards the child. The multiple layers of texture and the light in the frame also add more interest to the photo.

    Congratulations on the win Frogdaily and for capturing a brilliant storytelling photo.

    Second Place: “BuStop” by Jean T

    BuStop – Copyright Jean T

    The photo “BuStop” by Jean T looks like a fun image that can be interpreted in many ways. It depends on the viewer’s creative thoughts and interpretation of the scene. Jean managed to capture this moment of a person standing by this place at the right time.

    The writings seem to be written by someone for fun by a railway track (I think). The light is just right and the horizontal and vertical lines in the photo add a touch of creativity to the photo. The varied textures are also interesting in the frame and again, Jean’s decision to convert the image to monochrome has made the photo more effective.

    Congratulations Jean for this beautifully captured image.

    Third Place: “Jean Waiting” by Jerre P

    Jean Waiting – Copyright Jerre P

    This image captured by Jerre is very emotive and clearly tells a story of a subject who is dressed up for the weather and eagerly/anxiously waiting for someone. Jerre has provided us a short description below that explains the situation and the story.

    “My wife’s mother, in her late 80s, was not able to renew her driver’s license. She was quietly depressed about it and entirely uncertain about how she could retain her active life. The moment described in this photo as she waited for a neighbour to pick her up and take her to church enabled all of us to better understand the impact of her loss of her license and her independence.”

    When framing the shot, it was a great decision to include the car in the frame as it adds to the story. Congratulations Jerre on this emotional storytelling photo.

    People’s Choice Award Winner

    Our monthly photo contests also come with a People’s Choice Award. The winner of this part of the contest receives $100 worth of store credit on Lightstalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.

    Contentment – Copyright Kaleem S

    The most popular photo for May, voted by the contestants was “Contentment” by Kaleem S, which has won the people’s choice award. Kaleem has made use of soft light and a simple composition to capture this gentle photo. The soft side light illuminates the subjects by just the right amount and both portray a feeling of content through their expressions, which was beautifully captured by Kaleem. This photo also looks like a great example of juxtaposition.

    The monochrome treatment makes the image simple and lets the viewer focus on the story, eliminating anything colourful that may have been in the frame. The black background makes the subjects stand out and also outlines the subjects, revealing the soft textures in the frame. Congratulations Kaleem S on the win and a beautifully captured image.

    We are about three weeks into this month’s photo contest and still have a few days left to submit photos to our June’s monthly contest. It has already seen some entries with interesting submissions. This month, our theme is “Minimalism And Simplicity.”

    If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.





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  • Winners of DIVE Magazine’s Big Shot Portraits Photo Competition

    Winners of DIVE Magazine’s Big Shot Portraits Photo Competition


    Winner – ‘Blenny With Attitude’ by Ralph Paprzycki: A sarcastic fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi) on a night dive at Veterans Park, Redondo Beach, California (Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 14-35mm f/4 lens at 35mm, Ikelite housing, Sea&Sea YS-D3 strobe with snoot; f/8, 1/125s, ISO 500)

     

    DIVE magazine has unveiled the winners of its latest Big Shot underwater photography competition, which had “portraits” as its theme. Ralph Paprzycki was crowned the overall winner for a fierce-looking sarcastic fringehead captured off Redondo Beach, California. Ralph beat 200 or so other entries to claim the top spot.

    The runners-up were equally compelling: Marcia Riederer’s eye of a dwarf minke whale came in second, Rowan Dear’s arresting leafy seadragon was third, and JillAnne McCarty’s charismatic American saltwater crocodile scored fourth. Moreover, the impressive collection of Highly Commended images demonstrated the high quality of the contest’s entries overall.

    Check out all the winners below and head over to DIVE’s website for more on their Big Shot competition.

     

    Second Place – ‘Eye to Eye’ by Marcia Riederer: This encounter happened during a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia. This curious dwarf minke whale came so close that I could only see her eye, even through my wide-angle lens (Sony A7RV, 16-35mm, Isotta housing; f/6.3, 1/250s, ISO 1000)

     

    Third Place – ‘Portrait of a Dragon’ by Rowan Dear: Having spent several days shooting the leafy sea dragons and their habitat, I decided to switch to the Sony 90mm macro lens for a night dive. While shy at first, this male leafy – who was also carrying eggs – eventually became more comfortable in my presence (Sony A7IV; 90mm macro lens, Red Video Focus Light, INON Z330 strobes; f/18, 1/80s, ISO 320)

     

    Fourth Place – ‘Toothy Grin’ by JillAnne McCarty: This large American saltwater crocodile, in Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina, swam over to see our boat. I slipped into the water and waited with my eye in the viewfinder. As the crocodile came towards me, he suddenly jerked his head and snapped his jaw. I captured the image with his teeth nearly on my camera’s dome port (Nikon D850, Nikon 16-35 mm lens, 240 mm dome port, Nauticam housing, ambient light; f/20, 1/200s, ISO 800)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Playtime’ by Rowan Dear: Taken at Montague Island, Narooma, Australia. This playful sea lion was zipping through the seagrass. It made for a perfect image of contrasting colours showing these playful animals in their environment (Sony A7IV 16-35mm 2.8 lens, INON Z330 strobes; f/8, 1/200s, ISO 320)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘‘Seacow’ by Romeo Bodolai: This dugong was feeding on seagrass at Marsa Shagra in the Egyptian Red Sea (Sony a7R4, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, Nauticam housing, Ikelite strobes; f/10, 1/250s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Trigger Happy’ by Michael Gallagher: Titan triggerfish are notoriously aggressive around their nests during breeding season, and this one was no exception! I snapped this photograph while hurriedly retreating, and it was not until after the dive that I realised that I had captured the potent beauty of this special fish and its formidable teeth (Canon 5D3, Canon 50mm macro lens, Hugyfot housing, dual Inon Z240 strobes; f/11, 1/125s, ISO 400)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Spotted’ by Michael Gallagher: I encountered this magnificent male parrotfish dozing on the reef during a night dive in Lhaviyani Atoll in the Maldives (Canon 20D; Canon 60mm macro lens, Ikelite housing, Ikelite DS-125 strobe x1; f/16, 1/100s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘‘Hair Ball’ by Michael Gallagher: Frogfish must be one of my favourite fish of all time, and this hairy frogfish must be one of my personal favourite underwater sightings (Canon 50D, Tokina 35mm macro lens, Hugyfot housing, Inon Z240 strobe with snoot; f/22, 1/200, ISO 200)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Nobility’ by Imogen Manins: I regularly visited this individual during freediving sessions at Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, Port Philipps Bay, Australia. The rocky reef was covered in a lush carpet of green seaweeds of the Caulerpa genus, providing rich feeding rounds for the bigbelly seahorse (Olympus TG6, Backscatter Air Lens, Olympus housing, video light MW4300; f/3.2, 1/160s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Prince of the Waterfall’ by Romeo Bodelai: Traunfall is a breathtaking waterfall in Austria with excellent visibility (10-15 m) and underwater rock formations, along with plenty of large pike (Sony a7R4, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, Nauticam housing, Ikelite strobes; f/22, 1/2s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Embedded’ by Christian Horras: At the end of a dive around Anilao, I saw this little blenny and decided to try a different take for a picture. I used a slow shutter speed, a snoot and a little camera movement to create the effect in the picture (Nikon Z8, Nikon 60mm macro lens, Seacam housing, Seacam Seaflash 150D strobes; f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘Playful Calf’ by Vanessa Mignon: Every year, humpback whales travel to Tonga, to mate and give birth. During that time it is possible to swim with them. That day we saw a small fin break the surface, and start swimming in circles, a sign that it was a calf coming up for air while its mother was resting below (Canon 5D Mark IV; Canon 16-35 mm lens, Nauticam housing; f/6.3, 1/160s, ISO 320)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘‘The Pinch’ by Fabi Fregonesi: An anemonefish with a shrimp delicately perched on its head with the anemone as a frame, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia (Canon 5D Mark IV; 100mm Canon lens, Nauticam housing, 2 Inon Z330 strobes; f/18, 1/250s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘‘Orange Beauty’ by Miguel Ramirez: While diving in Wakatobi, Indonesia, I was lucky enough to see this beautiful and rarely spotted spinecheek anemonefish (Premnas biaculeatus) (Nikon D500; Nikon 85mm lens, Hugyfot housing, Inon Z330 x2; f/25, 1/200s, ISO 100)

     

    Highly Commended – ‘‘Shining Seahorse’ by Stefano Colombo: I had my buddy backlighting while I used a snoot for filling in the front of the seahorse during a muck dive in Tulamen, Bali (Canon EF 5DMKIV; Canon 100mm macro lens, Isotta housing. Inon Z330 strobes, Snooty Snoot; f/13, 1/200s, ISO 320)





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  • Announcing the Winners of the 12th United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Contest

    Announcing the Winners of the 12th United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Contest



    The winners of the twelfth annual Photo Competition for United Nations World Oceans Day were announced today surrounding the United Nations World Oceans Day celebration in Nice, France. A panel of world-renowned judges selected winners from thousands of global entries made by both amateur and professional photographers. This year’s competition featured the recurring categories “Big and Small Underwater Faces,” “Underwater Seascapes,” and “Above Water Seascapes.” The category “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us” was newly added in celebration of the 2025 UN World Oceans Day theme sharing the same name. The 2025 winning photographers hail from eight different countries: Rachel Moore, Luis Arpa, Steven Lopez (“Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us”); Andrey Nosik, Giacomo Marchione, Lars von Ritter Zahony (“Big and Small Underwater Faces”); Dani Escayola, Gerald Rambert, Pedro Carrillo (“Underwater Seascapes”); Leander Nardin, Nur Tucker, Andrey Nosik (“Above Water Seascapes”).

    Historically hosted at the UN Headquarters in New York, this year’s United Nations World Oceans Day moved overseas, taking place ahead of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which will also be hosted in Nice, France from June 9–13. The winning photographs will be presented live during the United Nations Ocean Conference, during a panel event on 11 June at the Agora in the La Baleine (Green Zone). The winning images will also be displayed in gallery exhibitions at NEO VogelART LAB (Nice) and at The Explorer’s Club (New York) throughout the week.

    The 2025 photo competition was coordinated in collaboration between the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DPG, Oceanic Global, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Since its inception in 2014, the competition has been curated by underwater and wildlife photographer Ellen Cuylaerts, and judged by a world-renowned panel of judges. Judges for 2025 included: underwater photographer Ipah Uid Lynn (Malaysia), underwater photographer William Tan (Singapore), wildlife photographer Vanessa Mignon (France), and underwater photographer Marcello Di Francesco (Italy).

    The Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day is a free-and-open public competition that calls on photographers and artists from around the world to communicate the beauty of the ocean and the importance of the respective United Nations World Oceans Day theme each year. All winners and participants in the competition signed a charter of 14 commitments regarding ethics in photography. Winning photos from 2025 as well as from previous years can be viewed via the virtual gallery on www.unworldoceansday.org and on DPG’s World Oceans Day Photo Competition mini-site. (On DPG’s mini-site, you can find extended captions for this year’s winners, which tell the stories behind the images.)

     

    Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us

     

    Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — Winner by Rachel Moore (USA)

     

    Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — 2nd Place by Luis Arpa (Spain)

     

    Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — 3rd Place by Steven Lopez (USA)

     

    Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us — Honorable Mention by Ollie Clarke (UK)

     

    Big and Small Underwater Faces

     

    Big and Small Underwater Faces – Winner by Andrey Nosik (Russia)

     

    Big and Small Underwater Faces — 2nd Place by Giacomo Marchione (Italy)

     

    Big and Small Underwater Faces — 3rd Place by Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany)

     

    Underwater Seascapes

     

    Underwater Seascapes — Winner by Dani Escayola (Spain)

     

    Underwater Seascapes — 2nd Place by Gerald Rambert (Mauritius)

     

    Underwater Seascapes — 3rd Place by Pedro Carrillo (Spain)

     

    Underwater Seascapes — Honorable Mention by Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany)

     

    Above Water Seascapes

     

    Above Water Seascapes – Winner by Leander Nardin (Austria)

     

    Above Water Seascapes — 2nd Place by Nur Tucker (UK/Turkey)

     

    Above Water Seascapes — 3rd Place by Andrey Nosik (Russia)

     

    Above Water Seascapes — Honorable Mention by Ken Findlay (South Africa)





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  • April 2025 Photo Contest Winners: The Essence Of Movement

    April 2025 Photo Contest Winners: The Essence Of Movement


    We’re happy to announce the winner of April’s competition “The Essence Of Movement.”

    For those who don’t know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People’s Choice Award and a $250 Overall Winner Award. The People’s Choice Winner is selected by a vote of the community, whereas our guest judge selects the overall winner.

    The “Essence Of Movement” Photo Contest

    Capturing movement in photography is a great way to show dynamism in an otherwise static scene. Most action scenes would benefit from either freezing movements or capturing the movements in the form of motion blur in order to tell the story effectively and photographers will need to study and understand the scene and use the right settings, especially the camera’s shutter speed to get the results they desire.

    Besides the above, for a moving subject, tracking focus will be a great feature to use when capturing movements. The photographer can track the subject’s movement while allowing the background to blur and show movement or can allow the subject to blur and keep the background static. All these depend on the photographer’s creative vision and what they intend to capture.

    Movements in photography can be captured in various ways – one can freeze a moment if desired, using a very fast shutter speed, or use techniques like motion blur, panning, long exposures, etc. This can be done with elements in nature or scenes from day to day life.

    April’s contest theme was “The Essence Of Movement” and the images submitted to the contest were varied, with images from nature, setups, events like dance, sports and the participants used different techniques like panning, long exposure, zoom effect, motion blur, intentional camera movement and even freezing the moment to capture their shots.

    When choosing the winning photos, we wanted to make sure that the decision process was based on a good interpretation of the theme followed by other factors like light, composition, story, details, creative vision / thought, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know. 

    Here are April’s winners:

    First Place: “Happiness in Action” by Jean T

    Happiness in Action – Copyright Jean T

    Jean T has used motion blur to capture the story and he has chosen the right shutter speed to capture enough details, while still showing movement in the photo. The image of the two subjects enjoying the ice skating moment tells the story beautifully though their pose and Jean made sure to capture the right moment.

    Jean has also made sure to not include any more subjects from the scene and to focus on just the two subjects and their interaction. The muted colours in the frame contribute to the cold atmosphere and the exposure is just right to capture some details of the ice and not have any clippings in the bright areas.

    Congratulations on the win Jean and the painterly look of the photo is just beautiful!

    Second Place: “Rush” by Patrick

    Speed and Dynamism – Copyright Patrick

    The photo “Rush” by Patrick shows speed and dynamism as the description provided by Patrick. Patrick has chosen the right shutter speed and used the panning technique to capture movement in the scene. The movement in the frame is evident on the subject, the bicycle and the background, but Patrick has made sure to keep the subject’s face in focus.

    The lines in the frame work together as great compositional elements pointing towards the subject and then the direction of movement of the subject. Patrick’s choice to convert the image to black and white has worked really well allowing the viewer to just focus on the subject and not get distracted by anything else in the frame.

    Congratulations Patrick for this well thought and executed shot!

    Third Place: “Fast Flyer” by Pat Garrett

    Fast Flyer – Copyright Pat Garrett

    The photo “Fast Flyer” by Pat stands true to the title. Hummingbirds are generally difficult to photograph because of their rapid movements and their smaller size. Pat has used the right shutter speed to capture great details on the bird, especially the eyes.

    Without very fast shutter speeds, it can be difficult to capture wing details of the humming bird, but Pat has again made use of the right choice for shutter speed to show wing movement, but also managed to preserve details on both the wings which makes the resulting image look perfect. Also the negative space around the hummingbird, especially more in the direction that it is looking, helps to keep the composition in balance. The slight blur on the birds legs also contribute to the movements captured in the image.

    Congratulations on this amazing shot Pat!

    People’s Choice Award Winner

    Our monthly photo contests also come with a People’s Choice Award. The winner of this part of the contest receives $100 worth of store credit on Lightstalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.

    Water Drops Colliding – Copyright Frogdaily

    The most popular photo for April, voted by the contestants was “Water Drops Colliding” by Frogdaily which has won the people’s choice award. Frogdaily has made use of the right setup that includes light, background and shutter speed to execute this shot. The lighting used and the moment captured is so perfect with the rule of odds in play and the three layers work well together by sharing an interesting connection, while the top layer makes the image even more interesting by breaking repetition.

    The monochrome treatment makes the image stand out and lets the viewer focus on the shapes/forms of the water drops. The black background really makes the water drops stand out by detailing the lines and textures created by light and water drops splashing. Congratulations Frogdaily on the win and a beautifully made image.

    We are two weeks into this month’s photo contest and still have two weeks left to submit photos to our May’s monthly contest. It has already seen some entries with interesting submissions. This month our theme is “Storytelling In A Single Frame.”

    If you would like to join and enter some images into our monthly contest then take a look at your options here.





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  • Environmental Photography Award 2025 Winners Announced

    Environmental Photography Award 2025 Winners Announced


    Overall winner – “Unseen Unsung Heroes”: Winner, Ocean Worlds by Angel Fitor

     

    The 2025 Environmental Photography Award winners have been announced—and the Grand Prize Winner is an intriguing underwater image. Shot by Angel Fitor, the winning photo in the Ocean Worlds category, called “Unseen Unsung Heroes,” is a fascinating capture of polychaete worms flushing sand out of their burrows on a seagrass bed in the Spanish Mediterranean. The worms maintain oxygen circulation in the upper layers of sediment, a crucial role that allows a whole ecosystem to thrive under the substrate. At a global scale, the unsung activity of these perpetually hidden worms has significant consequences. Fitor says his winning shot “portrays the silent actions of humble creatures that nonetheless have a pivotal influence on the entire Mediterranean marine ecosystem—an ecosystem upon which we, in turn, depend.”

    Honoring photographers who raise awareness about environmental issues and spotlight environmental challenges, the annual Environmental Photography Award was founded in 2021 to celebrate the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s 15th anniversary. This year, a prestigious jury of environmentalists, conservation photojournalists and filmmakers—including well-known names Ami Vitale, Aaron Gekoski and Ralph Pace—selected winners in five categories: Polar Wonders, Into the Forest, Ocean Worlds, Humanity versus Nature, and Change Makers: Reasons for Hope. Impressively, Fitor also won the Change Makers: Reasons for Hope category with an image showcasing a baby loggerhead sea turtle in a Spanish recovery center. Two more of his images were shortlisted in the Ocean Worlds category. In the Polar Wonders category, the winning image was also shot underwater: Galice Hoarau’s capture of a lion’s mane jellyfish in the frigid waters of Greenland.

    To see the full gallery of winners, head over to the Environmental Photography Award website.

     

    “Training Day”: Winner, Change Makers: Reasons for Hope by Angel Fitor

     

    “Jellyfish and Iceberg”: Winner, Polar Wonders by Galice Hoarau

     

    “The Passenger”: Runner-up, Ocean Worlds by Pietro Formis

     

    “Coho Salmon in a Log Structure”: Runner-up, Into the Forest by David Herasimtschuk

     





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  • The Nature Photography Contest Announces 2024 Winners

    The Nature Photography Contest Announces 2024 Winners


    Underwater Winner: “Moby Dick” by James Ferrara

     

    The winners of the second annual edition of The Nature Photography Contest have been revealed, with Christopher Paetkau crowned overall winner for a wonderful shot of a polar bear resting in a field of vibrant fireweed flowers. Alongside Paetkau’s “Photography of the Year,” Thomas Vijayan was named “Photographer of the Year” for demonstrating “his keen eye for composition, storytelling, and the delicate balance that governs the natural world” across various categories.

    Among those different categories, of course, it was “Underwater” that we were most excited to see. DPGer James Ferrara’s perfectly framed shot of a sperm whale cruising through clumps of sargassum weed—featured in his DPG Photographer of the Week article—was the category winner among a wonderful selection of finalists by Simon Biddie, Ilaria Mariagiulia Rizzuto, Kwon Chan, Lorincz Ferenc, Wan Yong Chong, Remuna Beca, Andy Lambert, Jun He, and Theo Maynier.

    Check out the “Underwater” category finalists below, and head over to the competition website to see the rest of the recognized images. The Nature Photography Contest 2025 is expected to launch in May.

     

    Underwater Finalist: “A Sunrise Glide” by Simon Biddie

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Bad Boy” by Ilaria Mariagiulia Rizzuto

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Big Dreams” by Kwon Chan

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Carp Love” by Lorincz Ferenc

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Circle of Life” by Wan Yong Chong

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Connection” by Remuna Beca

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Jellyfish” by Andy Lambert

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Pike Hunting” by Ferenc Lorincz

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Place of Residence” by Jun He

     

    Underwater Finalist: “Sous Ecorte” by Theo Maynier





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  • British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 Winners Announced

    British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 Winners Announced


    Winner, Black & White: “Guillemot Kingdom” by Mark Kirkland

     

    The winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 have been announced, and Simon Withyman took the overall win with a delightful capture of a fox patrolling the city center of the southern English city of Bristol. The shot, which was one of more than 13,000 other entries, also won the Urban Wildlife category.

    But, of course, there were winning images in other categories that underwater shooters will find particularly interesting. Two underwater images stood out in the Black & White category, for instance: category winner by DPG Photographer of the Week Mark Kirkland and a Highly Commended shot by regular DPG contributor Henley Spiers. In the Coast & Marine category, it was another DPG Photographer of the Week, Nick More, who took the category win. It was great to see underwater shots being recognized in other categories, too, including Habitat and Urban Wildlife.

    To see all the winning images, head over to the British Wildlife Photography Awards website.

     

    Highly Commended, Black & White, “Underwater Flight” by Henley Spiers

     

    Winner, Coast & Marine, “Blue Shark” by Nicholas More

     

    Highly Commended, Coast & Marine, “Crab Ride” by Kirsty Andrews

     

    Runner-up, Habitat, “Hunter, Hunted” by Sandra Stalker

     

    Highly Commended, Habitat, “Catshark” by Henley Spiers

     

    Highly Commended, Urban Wildlife, “Urban Rainbow” by Paul Colley

     





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  • ADEX 2025 Voice of the Ocean Photo+Video+Art Competition Winners Announced

    ADEX 2025 Voice of the Ocean Photo+Video+Art Competition Winners Announced


    “Tentacles of Doom”: Best of Show, Cephalopods, PJ Aristorenas (Philippines) (Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro, Nauticam housing, 2x Inon Z-330 strobes, f/16, 1/200s, ISO 250)

     

    Underwater360 Group, the organizers of the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) have announced the winners of the show’s signature photo/video/art competition, ADEX Voice of the Ocean. The big winner was Filipino shooter PJ Aristorenas, whose stunning image “Tentacles of Doom” was crowned “Best of Show” during the live judging session held on the final day of the three-day show. PJ’s prizes included a Seacam camera housing worth $10,000, a 10-day dive package with Lembeh Resort and Murex Bangka, Sulawesi, Indonesia (worth $3,600), a Backscatter Hybrid Flash package (worth $1,260), a Shearwater Peregrine TX dive computer (worth $750), and an XDEEP NX ZEN 28 Ultralight Deluxe BCD (worth $825).

    This year’s ADEX Voice of the Ocean live judging event was emceed by DPG Manager Editor Ian Bongso-Seldrup and featured another illustrious panel of judges, who viewed 41 short-listed entries in five categories. This year’s panel comprised Tobias Friedrich, Franco Banfi, Berkley White, Erin Quigley, Kate Jonker, Nicolas Remy, Kay Burn Lim, and William Tan, with the ADEX Ocean Festival 2025 guests-of-honor David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes serving as guest judges. Congratulations to the winners: PJ Aristorenas (Best of Show), Janssen Tan (Cephalopods), Yazid Shaari (Animal Behavior), Emmanuel Vaillant (Waterscapes), Laura Parker (Artwork), and Alfred Schaschl (Short Film).

    For more information, head over to the Voice of the Ocean page on the ADEX website or check out the contest page on UnderwaterCompetition.com.

     

    “Peekaboo!”: Winner, Cephalopods, Janssen Tan (Singapore) (OM System OM-5, Olympus 30mm f/3.5 Macro, AOI housing, 2x AOI UCS-Q1 strobes, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 200)   

     

    “Entwined in Blue”: Winner, Animal Behavior, Yazid Shaari (Libya) (Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 24–50mm f/4–6.3, Nauticam housing, Nauticam WWL-C, 2x Retra Flash Pro Max strobes, f/14, 1/100s, ISO 125)

     

    “The Last Rays Before the Rain”: Winner, Waterscapes, Emmanuel Vaillant (France) (Nikon D750, Tamron 24–70mm f/2.8, polarising filter, neutral density filter, graduated filter, f/11, 30s, ISO 400)   

     

    “Soft Magic Descending”: Winner, Artwork, Laura Parker (UK) (Acrylic and pencil on wood panel, 46x46cm)

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgTtUbZGHoA

    “Magic of the Macroverse”: Winner, Short Film, Alfred Schaschl (Austria) (Panasonic Lumix GH5S, Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro, Isotta housing, 2x Backscatter Macro Wide 4300, 2x Backscatter Optical Snoots, Nauticam SMC-1, Nauticam SMC-2)

     





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  • 2024 Path Talent Hunt Winners

    2024 Path Talent Hunt Winners


    Path would be nothing without our people. To recognize our team’s unrelenting dedication to honing their craft and providing quality service to customers like you, we decided to host our first Talent Hunt at the end of 2023. After much success, we did it again in 2024!

    The contest

    The Talent Hunt was created with a few goals in mind: 

    • to identify exemplary photo editing techniques an
    • to recognize the editors behind the edits—we do everything by hand here, no sloppy AI shortcuts
    • to foster innovation and future leaders in the industry

    We let everyone get in on the fun—our in-house folks, temp workers, and even our subcontracting team—to see who can make the best, the fastest, and the most accurate photo edits. And not only that, but how the rest of our organization can learn from them. It’s just another way we’ve found to continuously innovate and push ourselves to always do better.

    We had three categories for winners:

    1. Speedstar Editor: the person who can edit images in the least amount of time while maintaining quality standards
    2. Quality Wizard: the editor who can edit images with extraordinary quality by using different techniques outside of their traditional quality within the defined timeframe
    3. Technique Mastermind: for the most creative editing techniques that still deliver quality and speed

    We also had a judging panel, made of:

    Creative review

    • Md. Ataur Rahman, Senior Manager, Production
    • MD. Shahadat Hossain, Senior Manager, Customer Support
    • Md Shaharia Kabir, Assistant Manager, Audit
    • Rayhanul Islam, Senior Executive, R&D
    • Abdullah Al Jasim, Executive, R&D

    Overall organization and coordination

    • Rifat Rahmatullah, Manager, Human Resources
    • Shams Al Mujahid, Senior Executive, HR and Admin

    Final decision

    • Md. Atiqur Rahman Molla, CEO
    • Rokaiya Yesmin, COO

    The winners

    Seven participants competed in the Talent Hunt, with two emerging as the top contestants. These editors displayed exceptional proficiency in all types of edits. Their techniques not only streamlined editing processes but also elevated the overall quality.

    Get to know the winners—some of the very people who edit your photos:

    Bishojit Sarker, 1st place

    • Category: Quality Wizard
    • Technique: image masking and photo retouching
    • Prize: mobile phone

    Mohammad Ripon, 2nd place

    What’s next?

    Sure, the Talent Hunt was a lot of fun! But there’s also a business goal behind it. Our top editors have innovated to bring new editing techniques and workflows to their work.

    By having this Talent Hunt, we can bring our larger team of editors together, identify top talent, and learn from them. The Talent Hunt winners can share their expertise, learnings, and techniques with the rest of the Path editing team to help continue to propel the quality of our services higher and higher.

    Thanks for being a part of our family

    We wouldn’t be able to edit images, innovate, and give back to our people without our customers. To us, Path is more than just a photo editing studio. It’s a family. And we’re happy to have you a part of that big, extended Path family. 

    Ready to send your photo edits our way? Get started now—and get your edits back in as little as 6 hours.



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