Underwater Photography Competitions

Overview

Underwater photography competitions have been a defining force in shaping the community, driving technique innovation, and establishing reputations since the earliest days of the hobby. Wetpixel covered dozens of competitions from 2001 to 2023, from global prestige events like Wildlife Photographer of the Year to grassroots community contests. The competitive landscape expanded dramatically during the digital era, with new events launching regularly through the 2000s and 2010s.

Major Competitions

Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY)

The Natural History Museum’s WPY competition, established in 1965, is the most prestigious wildlife photography award. Its underwater category regularly features on Wetpixel. Doug Perrine became the first digital winner at WPY in 2004. Alex Mustard noted that underwater images “dominate” the competition in some years (^[1]). Wetpixel covered WPY results annually, with marine-related winners highlighted in dedicated articles through 2021 and 2022 (^[2]).

Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY)

The world’s oldest dedicated underwater photography competition, UPY has been running since 1965. Peter Rowlands served as chair. Wetpixel covered UPY results extensively, with dedicated Wetpixel Live episodes reviewing winning images — including UPY 2021 British Winners and UPY 2023 (^[3], ^[4]). Renee Capozzola won UPY 2021 Overall with “Shark Skylight.”

Ocean Art

Organized by Bluewater Photo and Scott Gietler, the Ocean Art competition launched in 2010 and grew into one of the largest underwater photography competitions. Wetpixel ran annual call-for-entries articles and results coverage. Keri Wilk won Ocean Art 2010 Best of Show. A Wetpixel Live episode reviewed Ocean Art 2020 results (^[5], ^[6]).

DPG/Wetpixel Masters

The DPG/Wetpixel Masters competition, co-founded by Eric Cheng and Jason Heller of DivePhotoGuide, ran in conjunction with Our World Underwater. It was described as the “World Championship” of underwater imaging (^[7]). The competition ran annually from 2006, with Wetpixel running three editions by 2008 (^[8]). A 2020 edition was announced as the “DPG/Wetpixel Masters Underwater Imaging Competition” (^[9]).

Digital Shootout

The Digital Shootout, created by Berkley White of Backscatter, was both a competition and educational workshop event. It began with a Kona webcast in 2001, moved to Fiji in 2004 (with Cheng providing daily webcasts), then became an annual Bonaire fixture from 2005 onward. Instructors included Jim Watt, Berkley White, Eric Cheng, and Dan Baldocchi (^[10], ^[11]). Jason Bradley presented seminars on winning photo and video contests (source).

World Shootout

An international online competition covered by Wetpixel from 2015 onward, with regular call-for-entries articles. Mike Bartick won the 2018 edition. A Junior category was added to encourage young photographers (^[12], ^[13]).

Antibes Festival

The Antibes Festival (World Festival of Underwater Images), running from 1974 to 2017, was the premier European underwater film and photography competition. Tony Wu won the Grand Prize. Wetpixel covered final calls for entries through the festival’s last years (source).

Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout

The Lembeh-Gulen Shootout, launched in 2016, was a novel format: simultaneous cold-water (Gulen, Norway) versus warm-water (Lembeh, Indonesia) macro photography competition. Tobias Friedrich served as Lembeh captain for the 2016 edition.

Beneath the Sea

The Beneath the Sea competition, associated with the largest US consumer dive show, ran an international imaging competition with annual winners covered by Wetpixel from 2004 onward. The 2007 winners thread accumulated 33 replies on the forum (^[14]).

Regional and specialized competitions

Wetpixel also covered: LAUPS International (Los Angeles, running since the 1960s), DEEP Indonesia, University of Miami RSMAS contest, Celebrate the Sea, Scuba Diving Magazine competition, California Beach Dive Photo Competition, Sharks in Focus, SoCal Shootout (organized by Scott Gietler), and various national competitions.

Impact on the Community

Competition as education

Competitions drove technique innovation by rewarding creative approaches. The Wetpixel Live episode “Top Tips for Competition Success” explicitly addressed how to improve through competitive participation (^[15]). The Digital Shootout was designed from the start as an educational event with competition as motivation.

Controversies

Competition integrity was a recurring topic:

• Photo contest reform: A 53-reply forum thread titled “Competition Reform Proposal” debated judging standards and ethics
• Non-receipt of prizes: An 82-reply thread documented a photographer’s struggle to receive prizes from a photo contest — the most-replied competition thread on the forum
• Sharpening and processing limits: A 40-reply thread debated acceptable levels of post-processing sharpening in contest entries
• “Photo Contest Fix”: Eric Cheng addressed concerns about competition fairness (^[16])
• Image reuse: Reef Keeper Supply was called out for using images from the Miami RSMAS competition without authorization (34-reply thread)

Career building

Competition wins became career-defining credentials. Doug Perrine’s 2004 WPY win (first digital) legitimized digital underwater photography. Greg Lecoeur’s National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2016 launched an international career. Renee Capozzola’s UPY 2021 win and brand ambassadorship with Marelux demonstrated the commercial value of competition success.

References

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