Check out the winning, highly commended and best of the other featured images from our Big Shot Caves, Caverns & Overhangs underwater photography competition!
Some of the most stunning environments we find underwater are when we go that step further and venture into caves and caverns – even overhangs can have a lot to offer.
These submerged other worlds are magical, strange places where either shafts of light from above or those we provide with the use of artificial light, illuminate rarely-seen, glorious vistas.
The entries in this issue’s Big Shot take us beyond the looking glass. The winning image by Martin Broen captures the grandeur and stunning beauty of the Yucatán cenotes. He wins a seven-night trip aboard the Thailand Aggressor, courtesy of Aggressor Adventures, worth US$3,490.
Highly commended are Catherine Holme’s tarpons hunting in a Grand Cayman overhang and Tom St George’s lone diver descending in a shaft of sunlight. They both receive a year’s print and digital subscription to DIVE. The other entries published in DIVE win a year’s digital subscription. And many thanks to everyone who entered.
Up next is all that is bright and beautiful. Stun us with colourful, joyous shots of life underwater. Anything from jewel-like nudibranchs to walls of vibrant soft corals. Let your imagination rip and the colours explode. Enter on our website before 5 August, 2024 to win an Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip.
Stay tuned for details – subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on announcements.
WINNER – DIVE’s Big Shot Caves, Caverns & Overhans
‘Water Flow’, by Martin Broen
The pristine speleothems and massive central column enhanced by the crystal clear water, in a Yucatán cenote.
Shot with: Sony A7RIII, Canon 8-15mm lens with Sigma MC11 adapter, Nauticam Housing, Big Blue video lights; f4.5, 1/6, ISO 6400
HIGHLY COMMENDED
‘Solitary Hunter’, by Catherine Holmes
A huge hunting tarpon appears at the centre of a school of silversides, Eden Rock, Grand Cayman.
Shot with: Olympus EM1 Mk11, 8mm LUMIX G Fisheye 8/3.5, Nauticam housing, x2 Inon Z330 strobes; f8, 1/125, ISO 500
HIGHLY COMMENDED
‘The Descent’, by Tom St George
A diver descends through a magnificent column of sunlight and crystal clear waters at Cenote Maravilla, Yucatán.
Shot with: Sony A7RII, Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, Nauticam housing and ports, 1x Scubalamp PV32T focus torch; f10, 1/200, ISO 200
Hatzun Aktun, by Martin Broen
The pristine stalactites and stalagmites enhanced by the green tannic acid tones of the Hatzun Aktun cave in Yucatán.
Shot with: Sony A7RIII, Canon 8-15mm lens with Sigma MC11 adapter, Nauticam Housing, Bigblue video lights; f2.8, 1/15, ISO 8000
‘Underwater Garden’, by Christian Horras
Not all cenotes are caves or caverns, some have a big opening that is much more like a small lake, with fish, sea-roses and even turtles! Cenote Aktun-
Ha, Yucatán.
Shot with: Nikon D810, Isotta Housing, Nikon 8-15mm fisheye; f9, 1/125, IS0 200
‘Entering Another World’ by Ralph Paprzycki
The entrance to the Taak Bi Ha cenote in the Yucatán is popular with swimmers and snorkellers.
Shot with: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Sigma 15mm EX DG fisheye lens, Ikelite housing; f4.5, 1/30, ISO 12800
‘Parallel Worlds’ by Martin Broen
A view of a vertical jump between tunnels gives the appearance of parallel worlds. Cenote Xa’Ay Ha, Yucatán.
Shot with: Sony a7RII, Nauticam housing, Bigblue video lights; f6.3, 1/10, ISO 6400
‘Quiet Corner’ by Paul Colley
The St John’s cave system in the Southern Red Sea.
Shot with: Nikon D850, 28mm lens, Nauticam housing, Wide-Angle-Convertor-Port); f11, 1/50, ISO 400,
‘Synchronicity’ by Chris Forbes
The El Pit cenote in the Yucatán peninsula is very popular with free divers.
Shot with: Nikon D 850, Nikkor 8-15mm fisheye at 15mm, Nauticam housing, x2 Retra strobes; f6.3, 1/200 sec, ISO 500
‘Sun Shower’ by JillAnne W McCarty
Sunbeams pour around a narrow cut in the reef, bathing a curious diver in light, Solomon Islands.
Shot with: Nikon D850, Nikon fisheye 8-15 mm (15 mm), Nauticam housing, Retra flash pro strobe; f11, 1/60, ISO 640
‘Fish Soup’ by Diana Fernie
South West Rocks, NSW, Australia is a sanctuary teaming with marine life but is most famous for the grey nurse sharks that glide around the rocks and sometimes enter the cave that runs through the centre.
Shot with: Nikon D850, Nikon 8-15mm lens, 2 x Inon Z330 strobes; f8.0, 1/40, ISO 200
‘Beam me Down, Cenote’, by Diana Fernie
A classic image of a diver in the intense sunlight of Chac Mool, cenote, Yucatán.
Shot with: Nikon D800, Nikon 16-35mm; f/5, 1/160, ISO 2000
‘The Beauty of the Cave’ by Tom St George
Swimming through the incredible underwater caves of the Yucatán Peninsula it is hard not to be mesmerised by these unique environments.
Shot with: Sony A7RII, Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, Nauticam housing and ports, Inon Z-330 strobes, Bigblue 33K video light; f8, 1/40, ISO 1600
Previous competition winners:
- DIVE’s Big Shot Cephalopods winners
- DIVE’s Big Shot Kaleidoscope winners
- DIVE’s Big Shot Megafauna winners
