Discover amazing wildlife photography with a difference… it's underwater!

Discover amazing wildlife photography with a difference… it's underwater!
(Image credit: Greg Locoeur)

Wildlife photography is one of the most difficult genres of photography. Imagine spending hours sat in painstaking silence waiting for a glimpse of your quarry. You'll face challenging weather, elusive subjects and the occasional disappointment. And now, imagine doing all of that, but underwater. 

That's what contributors to the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest had to fight through in order to throw their hats into the ring for this prestigious underwater photography competition. However, we're glad that they persevered, because the wildlife photography they've produced is nothing short of breath-taking.

• Read more: Best waterproof cameras

Organized by Underwater Photography Guide, the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition has announced its 2019 winners. The eighth annual competition attracted some of the best underwater wildlife photography from oceans all around the world. 

Over $85,000 in prizes will be awarded, making the Ocean Art prize value among the highest in the world. These include a luxury liveaboard trip on the Socorro Vortex, a 7 nights Palau liveaboard trip on the Solitude One, a 7 nights dive package at Villa Markisa Resort in Bali, Indonesia and much more. 

Bluewater Photo and Travel owner and Underwater Photography Guide publisher Scott Gietler commented, "I continue to be amazed by the wonderful images that today's underwater photographers are producing. The two new categories, Conservation and Blackwater, were true standout categories. Especially the Conservation category – the winning images produce powerful emotion, and will influence a new generation of ocean conservation."

If you're interested in submitting your own wildlife photography for the 2020 contest, you'll have to wait until the competition announcement in early September. However, you'll likely have 16 different categories to choose from for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography, including compact cameras, Novice shooters and DSLR cameras. Find out more information here.

See a complete list of the winners here.

(Image credit: Eduardo Acevedo Fernandez)

(Image credit: Jenny Stock)

(Image credit: Virginia Salzedo)

(Image credit: Paiula Vianna)

(Image credit: Stefano Cerbai)

(Image credit: Paolo Isgro)

(Image credit: Shane Gross)

(Image credit: Nicholas More)

Read more

Best action cameras: action cams you can take just about anywhere
Best GoPro accessories: including the latest Hero8 Mods!
Best GoPro cameras: from the latest Hero8 Black to the thrifty Hero 5

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.