8th Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest Winners Announced

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8th Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest Winners Announced

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Culver City, CA – January 13, 2020 – The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced its 2019 winners. The 8th annual competition attracted an extremely high caliber of photos from oceans around the world. These photos showcase the best underwater photographs of the year.

2019 was one of the most competitive years to date. Our two new categories, conservation and blackwater diving, had incredible photos and were two of the highlights of the competition.

Winning photos can be seen at the Underwater Photography Guide at http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/2019-ocean-art-contest-winners

The Best of Show is a heart-stopping photo of a crab-eater seal maneuvering quickly through freezing waters under Antarctic ice by Greg Lecoeur. The winner of the Rising Star Photographer Award, and a close runner-up for best of show, was Julie Casey with a jaw-dropping photo of 6 juvenile seahorses. Other extraordinary winders include dramatic animal behavior, stunning marine life portraits, heart wrenching and uplifting conservation scenes, weird and wonderful blackwater creatures, ocean adventure, and many, many photos that showcase the powerful beauty that is found in our underwater planet. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from 78 countries before selecting the final set of images as Ocean Art winners.

Ocean Art 2019 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Martin Edge, and Marty Snyderman, accompanied by Underwater Photography Guide publisher Scott Gietler.

Over $85,000 in prizes will be awarded, making the Ocean Art prize value among the highest in the world.

The most lucrative prizes included a luxury liveaboard trip on the Socorro Vortex, Indonesia liveaboard trips (and 50% off a companion) on the S.M.Y. Ondina and M.Y. Oceanic, a 7 nights Palau liveaboard trip on the Solitude One, a 7 or 8 nights Indonesia liveaboard trip on the Coralia, a 7 nights Solomon Islands liveaboard trip with Bilikiki Cruises, a 7 night dive package at Villa Markisa Resort in Bali, Indonesia, a 9 night Passport to Paradise dive package at three Indonesian destinations with Critters@Lembeh and Murex Dive Resorts, multiple Paralenz Dive Cameras and accessories, and gift certificates from Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel. Premium travel prizes are provided by Siladen Resort & Spa (Indonesia), Solitude Liveaboards & Resorts (Indonesia), Atlantis Dive Resort (Philippines), Volivoli Beach Resort (Fiji), Crystal Blue Dive Resort (Philippines), El Galleon Dive Resort/Asia Divers (Philippines), Aquamarine Diving (Indonesia), Atmosphere Resorts (Philippines), Aiyanar Beach & Dive Resort (Philippines), Eco Dive Resort (Indonesia), Blackbeard’s Cruises – Allstar Liveaboards (Bahamas), and scuba travel agency Bluewater Travel. Premium gear prizes are provided by Sea & Sea, Think Tank Photo, and Ikelite. Sixteen different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography, including compact cameras, Novice shooters, and DSLR cameras.

The quality of images submitted this year was exceptional - making judging very difficult and demonstrating that the winning images are some of the best in the world. 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.”

Please visit the website for a complete list of winners: https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2019