Even the most photographed of subjects can deliver a striking, unusual image, as the winner of the 2021 Featured Photographer poll confirms. Catherine Hoelzer’s great shot of a clownfish nestling in an anemone was voted our readers’ choice from a selection of the best images submitted last year. Catherine’s portfolio was mainly taken in Aqaba in the Northern Red Sea, where she works at Deep Blue Dive Center as an underwater photographer. We selected 17 of the DIVE team’s favourite images from the hundreds we had showcased in 2021 in our ever-popular Featured Photographer section on the DIVE website. Readers voted over Christmas and the New Year and Catherine, originally from Southern California, gained more than 30 per cent of the votes.
Gulf signal blenny by JillAnne McCarty Brooding octopus by Andreas Modinger
Close on her heels was a remarkable image of an octopus keeping a beady eye on her eggs taken in Southern Australia by Andreas Modinger. Coming in third was JillAnne McCarty’s flamboyant Gulf signal blenny, taken in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Check out the winning trio’s very impressive portfolios in the Featured Photographer section of our website. If you would like to be considered as a DIVE Featured photographer please email info@divemagazine.com with a brief biography and a selection of images.
