Small sensor size and slow auto-focus were drawbacks. Most of these cameras only featured auto exposure control, with no RAW file capture, which is not ideal for shooting underwater. Today, there is now a number of advanced point-and-shoot cameras with specs that allow them to be used for serious underwater photography.

I hope that through my photography I am able to show people the beauty of Mother Nature and her creations. I want viewers of my photography to see the amazing critters we can see and find in the ocean. From pelagic to macro critters, we divers need to do our part in protecting them."

— Lilian Koh

X-RAY MAG: Tell us about yourself, your background and how you became a diver and underwater photographer.

Diopters or wet lenses are attached on the outside of the housing, giving the name “wet lens” to the diopter. A wet lens increases your magnification while decreasing the working distance of your camera lens. This makes longer camera lenses such as the 100mm or 105mm the best choice for several reasons. Getting greater than 1:1 can also be achieved using a 60mm lens, and both combinations of lens/diopters have their place in this area for different reasons.

Master your buoyancy, you must

Just as Yoda is a master of the Force, you must be a master of your buoyancy. The only visual references on this dive are the tether lines and dive buddies around you, and most of your attention will be focused in the opposite direction, looking straight into the black abyss. If your camera housing does not have a built-in depth gauge, I highly recommend rigging your dive computer or submersible pressure gauge (SPG) so that it can hook onto your housing for quick and easy reference.

Underwater portrait and fashion photography is a unique form of art, allowing infinite creativity, pulling the viewer into the surreal, liquid world in which it was created. Holloway’s images convey this sense of surrealism. It is what makes her photos so powerful.

An underwater photographer based in London, Holloway discovered her passion for underwater photography in Egypt, when she was only 18. She fell in love with diving, and shortly after, began taking photos underwater as well.

Often referred to as slugs due to their evolutionary path, the grand designs of nudibranchs are as fascinating and varied as there are slugs themselves. Each one of them has evolved in a special manner to survive and reproduce in the many different and challenging habitats in which they are found. Cold water to warm water, benthic or pelagic and at every depth, nudibranchs occur globally and have even been found in brackish rivers.

Some of our planet’s most interesting creatures live below the waves, with gaudy and interesting appearances that seem like they are straight out of a creative, fictional Hollywood movie. However, it is Mother Nature that seems to be the master of creating non-fictional subjects that survive in our planet’s most hostile environments—against all odds. Whether in open ocean, on sandy seabeds, soft corals or small coral heads, each species has evolved in some special way that enables them to eat, hunt and proliferate.

Here are the stories behind their winning shots.

Beth Watson

Safe House, Raja Ampat, Indonesia. My husband and I were diving the epic Birds Head Seascape region known as Raja Ampat, Indonesia. It was a blissful day and our next dive site was Citrus Ridge. This is a highly anticipated dive site known for its beauty and diversity.

Why use rebreathers?

It is a situation many underwater photographers have experienced, even though they don't talk about it. And the resulting photos certainly don't make it onto Flickr or Facebook.

A camera-toting diver sees an interesting and beautiful fish, maybe a large grouper or a gaudily-colored tropical sweetlip. The diver then swims closer to the animal, in an effort to capture it in a frame-filling image. The fish tolerates the approach at first, but then gets nervous and panics. It turns around in an instant, to initiate a rapid escape.