DIVE's Big Shot Creative - the winners

We asked entrants to our Big Shot Creative underwater photography competition to do anything with their images as long as the original was shot with a camera – and boy, do some people out there have some very unusual ideas!

We had a mixture of different techniques, which are reflected in the winners, from those clearly processed in Photoshop to others that have used camera settings or physical tools.

Michal Štros’ winning image made us laugh at first, but every time we looked at it something new appeared – there is so much in that one image that you need to spend some time perusing it to see it all. He wins an Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip to Grand Cayman worth $3,495.

Catherine Holmes’ second-place image of schooling snapper in Moofushi was an excellent use of motion blur, and in third place, Jo Cudmore’s balancing act with snoots, filters and a slate creates the impression that her ghost pipefish is posing in an artist’s studio.

Both win a year’s print and digital subscription to DIVE. Highly commended images from Martyn Guess, Michael Gallagher, and Big Shot newcomers Sheryl Wright and Jiwon Choi round out the best from this issue’s competition. Each win a year’s digital subscription.

For our next competition we’re going to take a look at some of the things that weren’t put there by Mother Nature. That could be wrecks of ships, planes or cars, discarded bottles, plastic pollution or something deliberately sunk as an artificial reef or artwork – anything that could be classed as ‘man-made’.

Enter on our website before 3 September 2026 for the chance to win an Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip to Komodo worth up to $3,675.

DIVE’s Big Shot Manmade – enter here

Winner, DIVE’s Big Shot Creative

REEF by Michal Štros

I am a Czech biologist, scientist and underwater photographer. I have been diving for over 25 years. Like any diver, I initially wanted to see and photograph the ocean’s biggest predators, such as whales, sharks and seals.

However, I eventually realised that the most interesting things we see underwater aren’t necessarily the biggest. This is why I started doing close-up or macro underwater photography, which is now my main interest.

I also enjoy creating imaginary underwater worlds using fractal images and collages. Many of my underwater photographs have won awards at prestigious international competitions, such as the Ocean Art Contest.

The collage ‘Reef’ is based on a single photograph of a coral reef with a thorny oyster on it. This was taken near the USAT Liberty wreck in Tulamben, Bali. Due to the intense light from the strobes, I knew I would only have two chances to photograph the oyster before it closed completely.

Using a graphics editor, I moved and modified a red sponge on the reef slightly to make it look like a nose with a yawning frogfish on its tip. I then added photos of other small sea creatures from various muck diving sites to complete the collage.

Shot with: Canon 90D with Canon 60mm macro lens with an attached ultra-wide conversion Weefine WFL09S lens, Ikelite housing, 2 x Sea and Sea YS-D3 strobes; f16, 1/80sec, ISO 250

Website: www.michalstros.cz

Second place

SCHOOLING SNAPPER MOOFUSHI KANDU by Cathy Holmes

At the deeper end of the Moofushi cleaning station, large numbers of blue-lined snapper congregated, forming tightly packed undulating schools, facing towards the current.

I decided that a zoom blur image would create the feeling of the constant movement felt being beside them, as they jostled for position in the current. It also blurs any unwanted background elements on a site with many divers in close proximity.

Motion blur images can be unpredictable in their result, but often result in an unexpectedly pleasing image that really evokes the
sense of movement felt. Freezing the moment at the start of the image with high strobe power and using front curtain flash enabled me to create an image with focus and detail anchoring the viewer to the subject despite the blur.

Originally from Australia, now living in England, I am an underwater photographer, and a dental surgeon with my own family practice. Creativity is important to me and I regularly paint in watercolours alongside my photography.

The underwater world gives me an escape, and peace, away from busy surgery and family life. It is for me a place of beauty and
calm.

I have had considerable success in competitions and global awards, which has enabled me to share my imagery and show a wider audience the amazing world beneath the surface and discuss conservation alongside the need to protect this environment that is so rapidly being destroyed.

Shot with: Nikon D500, Nauticam housing with two retra strobes, 8-15 fisheye zoom lens, 1/10s, f/9, ISO 80.

Instagram @catherineholmes.photography

Third place

STUDIO PIPEFISH by Jo Cudmore

This image was taken in July 2025 in Dauin, Philippines, where I live and have plenty of time underwater to experiment. I had recently bought coloured filters for both my Retra LSD and Backscatter Mini Flash and wanted to see how the colours would work together.

The ornate ghost pipefish was an ideal subject because it stayed relatively still, allowing me to place a large white dive slate some distance behind it. I then adjusted the snoot angles, camera settings, and filter colours to explore different effects.

For this shot, I used a yellow filter on the LSD and a red filter on the Backscatter, which created a green shadow behind the ghost pipefish. It was challenging positioning the snoots whilst holding the camera as I didn’t have any help.

This image was actually taken as an entry to the creative lighting category for Dive Dauin (an underwater shoot out) but I had been practising the technique on previous dives so I had a fair idea of what I could produce.

Shot with: Olympus E-M1 Mark II in a Nauticam housing, 60mm macro lens. I photographed this with HSS, which allowed me to use a very high shutter speed. 1/1000s, f/10, ISO 200.

Instagram: @jocudmoreuwp

Highly commended

THE MACABRE GRAVEYARD by Jiwon Choi

I’m Jiwon Choi, an underwater macro photographer from South Korea. Captivated by the ocean’s tiniest wonders, I have spent the past three years exploring and photographing world-renowned macro havens such as Anilao, Tulamben, and Romblon.

For me, diving is a time of pure immersion. My ultimate joy comes from losing all track of time underwater, first admiring these minuscule creatures with my own eyes, then framing them through my lens, and finally reliving those moments as I review my shots back on land.

My endless curiosity about this hidden universe, and my dedication to capturing its fleeting beauty in a single, perfect image, will always continue. I hope my photographs deeply move people and inspire them to discover this wondrous, entirely new world.

I captured this shot of a frogfish in Tulamben in May 2026. Whenever I encounter oversized frogfish, I am always struck by their strangely macabre appearance.

Inspired by this eerie vibe, I decided to shoot with a ‘graveyard’ concept. For the setup, I 3D-printed a custom skull model designed specifically to house a torch inside.

I spent a great deal of time pondering where to direct the skull’s gaze to evoke the most chilling atmosphere. After numerous attempts, I finally achieved the perfect framing: the skull peeking from hiding, stealthily watching the frogfish.

Shot with: Canon R5, Marelux housing, RF100mm F2.8 lens, minigear-03 *3; 1/200s, f/7.1, ISO 100

Instagram @spellalice

Highly commended

WARHOL BOXFISH by Michael Gallagher

I am originally from Australia but have lived in London for the past 25 years where I work as a banking and finance lawyer. I’ve been diving all my adult life, and taking underwater photographs since 1995, which all helps to keep me calm and grounded.

I took this picture of a juvenile spotted boxfish whilst scuba diving in Raja Ampat in Indonesia towards the end of 2025. They are irresistible little fish, but I’ve always found them really tricky to photograph as they are so small and move so quickly.

The original image is the yellow one at the centre of the montage, and the surrounding eight images are all identical except for the colours, Andy Warhol style!

Shot with: Canon 5DS with Canon 50mm macro lens in Hugyfot underwater housing with 2x Inon Z240 strobes. 1/200s, f14, ISO 400

Instagram: @scubamichael99

Highly commended

BALI SEAHORSE by Martyn Guess

I run a modest size construction company in the UK — a long way from my underwater photography passion, but being my own boss means I can get away on regular dive trips. I have been taking underwater images for over 30 years, and have featured several times as a winner in Underwater Photographer of the Year, national and international competitions and magazines.

My underwater photography allows me to record what I see underwater and bring images back to the surface to share with those who are not able to witness them first-hand. The tranquillity of the underwater world is a million miles from my daily life, and my trips rejuvenate and relax me sufficiently to go back to work again and start planning the next trip.

The image of the Seahorse was taken in my second home, Bali, near Alam Batu, and is created entirely in camera – there are no post-processing tricks.

On previous trips I had played around a bit with a vortex filter which fits on the front of the housing port or lens. I was not particularly keen on most of the images that this produced – a kind of swirl of colours over the frame.

However, I thought it might be interesting to combine the effects of the filter shot with low strobe power — enough to illuminate the subject but not too brightly, so that a coloured backlight would not be blown out.

I was amazed at the effect when I saw the image underwater as it really stood out. I love the swirls of colours from the backlit blue light and the strobe-lit subject front, combining to create a mix of the blue and the natural colours of the Seahorse in the vortex
created swirls.

Shot with: Nikon Z8, Z 105mm macro lens with Nauticam MFO1 lens, Vortex Filter, two Retra Pro Max strobes, Inon narrow-beam torch with blue filter, 1/40s, f/7.1, ISO 64

Instagram @martynguess_photography

Highly commended

HALL OF CLOWN MIRRORS by Sheryl Wright

I grew up on the Sunshine Coast in Australia surrounded by the ocean and opportunities to dive our own local off-shore reefs and the Mooloolah River. I completed my PADI Open Water course in my early 20s, since when I have been lucky enough to dive all over the world.

My passion for underwater photography has evolved over the years from taking shots of nearly everything I saw on a dive that swam by to a focus on the macro world. My day job is a high school teacher, but I’d be happy to give that up to go diving every day!

The original image was taken on the first dive of a liveaboard trip on the outer Great Barrier Reef. As I floated around the coral garden at the end of the dive, I noticed a vibrant red anemone and almost comical behaviour of some very active clownfish.

I took the image as the anemone started closing, revealing the velvety contours and tubular tentacles that the clownfish use for shelter. I was inspired to enter by Jenny Stock and her ‘Mandarin Mandala’ (Big Shot Kaleidoscope, Winter ‘23), and chose to do a mirror image in Photoshop.

This was a fast learning curve for me, but I’m now totally hooked on experimenting with different creative techniques with my images in the future. If you have a good imagination, you can see three ‘clowns’ in this scene.

Shot with: Olympus TG-6 and housing with an Ano Video light. Macro mode, 1/100s, f4.5, ISO 200.

Instagram @sherylsaway