The Underwater Photography Guide has announced that it is now accepting entries for the 2022 edition of its annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.
Now in its eleventh year, the 2022 competition features its highest-ever prize value of more than $100,000, with a new mobile phone category set to lower the barrier for entry into the competition. Advances in smartphone technology and the availability of inexpensive smartphone housings mean that the competition is open to everybody from professional photographers with high-end equipment to interested amateurs with compact digital cameras and holiday divers with a keen eye for imaging.
A total of 14 categories feature in the 2022 Ocean Art competition, including Wide Angle, Macro, Marine Life Behaviour and three corresponding compact camera categories, giving underwater photographers of all levels a chance to win a great prize. Other categories include the Mobile Phone category, Black & White, Marine Life Portrait, Cold/Temperate Water, Blackwater, Underwater Conservation, and Nudibranchs, plus an Underwater Art category which encourages creativity in post-processing.
Ocean Art prizes are provided by some of the world’s top scuba diving resorts, liveaboard dive yachts, and underwater photo gear manufacturers. Grand prizes include:
- a liveaboard dive cruise on the MY Oceanic in Komodo, Flores, Alor, or the Banda Sea
- a liveaboard dive cruise on the SMY Ondina in Raja Ampat, North Banda Sea, Triton Bay, Halmahera, or Cenderawasih Bay
- a choice of 7 or 8 nights for two aboard the Coralia in Raja Ampat or Komodo
- a 14-night dive package at the new White Sands Beach Resort in Lembeh with Eco Divers
- a trip on any Indonesian Damai liveaboard with Dive Damai
- a trip to Malpelo aboard the Ferox liveaboard with Colombia Dive Adventures
- a 7 night stay for two in Papua New Guinea with Wilindi Plantation Resort
- a 7-day, 16-dive adventure in Raja Ampat with Meridian Adventure
- a week-long liveaboard trip to Cuba with Avalon Outdoor; a dive trip for two on the Carpe Novo in the Maldives with Carpe Diem Cruises
- an 8-night all-inclusive dive package in Bohol, the Philippines with Magic Oceans Dive Resort
- a 14-night dive package in Raja Ampat, Indonesia at Kri Eco resort with Papua Diving Resorts
- a 9 day trip to the Socorro Islands aboard Pelagic Fleet’s Solmar V Liveaboard
- a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel.
A host of other, premium travel prizes are available to boutique resorts around the globe, plus gear prizes from Ikelite (DS160 II strobe), Marelux (SOFT Snoot), SeaLife (SportDiver smartphone housing), Kraken (underwater video lighting), and Think Tank (Freeway Longhaul 75 Carryall duffel bag).
Winners from each category will be able to rank the prizes they would like to receive, making it more likely that each winner will receive a prize they desire.
Judges for 2022 include world-renowned underwater photographers Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman, Mark Strickland, and Scott Gietler. Marty Snyderman is an Emmy winner with work appearing in top publications such as National Geographic. Tony Wu is a renowned underwater photographer and author of Silent Symphony. Mark Strickland is a published author, award winning underwater photographer, and photo specialist at Bluewater Photo. Scott Gietler is the owner of Bluewater Photo, Bluewater Travel, and the Underwater Photography Guide.
Photos must be submitted before the deadline of 23:59PM PST on 30 November, 2022.
For more information about the competition and how to submit photographs, visit the Ocean Art Photo Competition page.
