Story Behind the Shot

Stories behind the shot, including viral underwater photos and videos, impressive contest winners and more.

Fun and Bubbly Pool Shoot
By Sarah Teveldal

Story Behind the Shot: A Happy Bunch

Sarah Teveldal
Fun and Bubbly Pool Shoot

The winning photo for the "Best Underwater Art" in the Ocean Art 2022 Competition was taken at a private pool in Miami. See all Ocean Art 2022 Winners Here

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Extra terestrial critter living inside a sea squirt
By Eun-hee Cho

Story Behind the Shot: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Eun-hee Cho
Extra terestrial critter living inside a sea squirt

The winning photo for the "Compact Camera Macro" in the Ocean Art 2022 Competition was taken at Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines. See all Ocean Art 2022 Winners Here

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Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

Bluewater Travel is your full-service scuba travel agency. Let our expert advisers plan and book your next dive vacation. Run by divers, for divers.

 


A mother octopus guards the next generation
By Kat Zhou

Story Behind the Shot: Octopus Mother

Kat Zhou
A mother octopus guards the next generation

The winning photo for the "Best Macro" and "Best of Show" in the Ocean Art 2022 Competition was taken at the Blue Heron Bridge, West Palm Beach, Florida.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kat Zhou is a photographer based in San Francisco, California who is passionate about underwater, landscape, and wildlife photography.  She especially loves the underwater world for its diversity and vibrance, and she loves exploring new scuba diving and freediving destinations around the world.  When she’s not out photographing, she works both as a software engineer and a private adventure trip planner.  She also loves hiking, cats, gastronomy, craft cocktails, meowing at every cat, dancing crazily to really fast music, aesthetically pleasing bathtubs, and also definitely cats.

See more of Kat’s photography on Instagram or on her website.

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Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


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Nicolas Barraqué shares his process for taking a breathtaking panoramic photo of the Ruby submarine.
By Nicolas Barraqué

An Underwater Panorama - "The Ruby" by Nicolas Barraqué

An Underwater Panorama - "The Ruby" by Nicolas Barraqué
Nicolas Barraqué
Nicolas Barraqué shares his process for taking a breathtaking panoramic photo of the Ruby submarine.

Photographing a panorama of a shipwreck is an idea I had as soon as I went digital and gained experience with post-production software. My first attempt in 2006, the wreck of the Ruby was a natural choice. 

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Top New Products from Marelux, Kraken, Sea & Sea, Nauticam, SeaLife, and Ultralight
By Nirupam Nigam

What's New at DEMA 2022

What's New at DEMA 2022
Nirupam Nigam
Top New Products from Marelux, Kraken, Sea & Sea, Nauticam, SeaLife, and Ultralight

The DEMA (Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) show is the world's large dive and underwater photo related industry show. Now that the world is moving on from the Covid pandemic, DEMA 2022's attendance was looking to be more promising than the last. We were excited to see what equipment announcement some of the top underwater photo & video equipment manufacturers had in store for us. 2023 is going to be an exciting year for underwater photo & video....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nirupam Nigam is the Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and the President of Bluewater Photo - the world's top underwater photo & video retailer. While growing up in Los Angeles he fell in love with the ocean and pursued underwater photography in the local Channel Islands. After receiving degrees in Aquatic and Fisheries Science and General Biology, as well as a minor in Arctic Studies, Nirupam worked as a fisheries observer on vessels in the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Since then, Nirupam has been a full time underwater photographer and photo gear head. Check out more of his photography at www.photosfromthesea.com!

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

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Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


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On a routine night dive in Okinawa, underwater photographer Brandon Hannan came across an extraordinary macro scene!
By Brandon Hannan

Nudibranch Encounters Pygmy Squid: Story Behind the Shot

Brandon Hannan
On a routine night dive in Okinawa, underwater photographer Brandon Hannan came across an extraordinary macro scene!

The Discovery

This was like any other night dive that I had been on before. We entered from shore at a spot called Maeda Point. It's a popular tourist destination during the day here in Okinawa, Japan, but at night it’s a whole new world with little to no divers.

Early in the dive, I spotted a small nudibranch, a Bornella anguilla, and started setting my camera rig up to get some shots. When I got closer I noticed that there was also an un-described pygmy squid, that we have been collecting and researching, sitting right under the nudibranch. This amazed me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brandon is new to photography but is very passionate about Cephalopods. He uses his free time to dive and to study the different species found off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. He would love to one day write a book and publish photos with the specific cephalopod species of Japan. Japan in general has the highest concentration of un-described/un-discovered species in the world. You can follow him on Instagram (@brandon_hannan_photography) for daily photos of cephalopods and more.

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Conservation Photographer, Duncan Murrell, tells the story behind a photo seen around the world....
By Duncan Murrell

A Memorable Courting Ray Ballet

Duncan Murrell
Conservation Photographer, Duncan Murrell, tells the story behind a photo seen around the world....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Duncan Murrell is a 65 year old British conservation, nature and travel photographer, artist, writer and environmental educator whose work has revolved around sea kayaking in some of the world’s wildest places for many years. It all began in Southeast Alaska 35 years ago where he discovered kayaking as a non-intrusive means of getting close to humpback whales to photograph them, and it was a love affair that lasted for nearly two decades. His whale photos were published extensively worldwide and used by all of the big conservation organisations for their Save the Whale campaigns. His passion for photographing humpback whales culminated with him winning the mammal behaviour category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition in 2002 with another photo being highly commended. Consequently he was commissioned to write about his experiences for the BBC Wildlife Magazine and a photo of him kayaking with the whales was featured on the cover. In 2010 the photos and story of “the Whaleman”, as he became known in the many schools where he taught for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, were featured in eight UK national newspapers. Other kayaking journeys followed on from Alaska, including the Gulf of California, Madagascar, where he was the first person to kayak up the exposed east coast, Palawan, New Caledonia and very recently Raja Ampat. He has adopted Palawan as the main base for his photography adventures in Asia and the Pacific, and has been photographing whale sharks and mobulids there for more than ten years. As a dedicated conservation photographer he has also been involved with elephant conservation in Sri Lanka, rainforest conservation in Palawan and most recently Kalimantan where he works with the Borneo Nature Foundation. See more of his work at his website: https://www.duncanmurrell.com/. You can also check out his blog here: http://www.whale-of-a-time-blog.com

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

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The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

Bluewater Travel is your full-service scuba travel agency. Let our expert advisers plan and book your next dive vacation. Run by divers, for divers.

 


Underwater photos and tips in shooting wide angle and macro photos using Nikon D850 and D500 in the Sea of Cortez

Wide Angle and Macro with the Nikon D850 and D500 in the Sea of Cortez

Underwater photos and tips in shooting wide angle and macro photos using Nikon D850 and D500 in the Sea of Cortez

The Nikon D850 and the Nikon D500 are two fo the most capable cameras on market currently for use in underwater photography. Let's take a look at the results when both of them are used on a recent dive trip - The D850 for wide-angle, and the D500 for macro.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen is an award winning underwater photographer and avid sailor. She is also the chair of the ReefCheck.org board of directors. She resides in sunny Pacific Palisades, California.

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

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Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

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Josh Musselwhite describes how he shot an Octopus on the hunt that won him the best in show in the SoCal Shootout 2018
By Josh Musselwhite

Story Behind the Shot: Octopus Sunball

Josh Musselwhite
Josh Musselwhite describes how he shot an Octopus on the hunt that won him the best in show in the SoCal Shootout 2018

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Musselwhite is an Android software engineer who has been delivering app-for-that solutions for a decade and an enthusiast photographer. When not working, you’ll either find him scuba diving or at a jazz club listening and bobbing along.

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

The Best Service & Prices on u/w Photo Gear

 

Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

Bluewater Travel is your full-service scuba travel agency. Let our expert advisers plan and book your next dive vacation. Run by divers, for divers.

 


Story behind Helen Brierley's uncropped underwater photo that won "Best of Show"
By Helen Brierley

Story behind the shot - Yawning Goby

Story behind the shot - Yawning Goby
Helen Brierley
Story behind Helen Brierley's uncropped underwater photo that won "Best of Show"

Finding the Right Goby

I was diving in the Catalina Dive Park for the SoCal Shootout. There were hundreds of blue-banded gobies, and most don’t want you to get close. I was lucky to find one that wasn’t shy, he held his ground and did not instantly flee like the others. I had already seen it dart out and eat something, so maybe it thought it had a good feeding spot. When it ate something, that motion had caught my eye and made me decide to come in for a closer look.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen is an award winning underwater photographer and avid sailor. She is also the chair of the ReefCheck.org board of directors. She resides in sunny Pacific Palisades, California.

SUPPORT THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE:

The Best Service & Prices on u/w Photo Gear

 

Visit Bluewater Photo & Video for all your underwater photography and video gear. Click, or call the team at (310) 633-5052 for expert advice!

 


The Best Pricing, Service & Expert Advice to Book your Dive Trips

 

Bluewater Travel is your full-service scuba travel agency. Let our expert advisers plan and book your next dive vacation. Run by divers, for divers.

 


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