Scuba Diving Magazine has just dropped the list of winners of their annual Through Your Lens Underwater Photo Contest, and they’re pretty bloody amazing!
The competition, which is now in its 14th year, drew more than 2,100 incredible entries from around the globe. The 2018 winners were chosen from four categories – Wide-Angle, Macro, Compact Camera and Conceptual, showcasing a variety of underwater cameras and skills.

The overall Grand Prize Winner went to Rodney Bursie for his incredible image of a whale leaping across the ocean surface.
Bursie won $1,000 in cash and a liveaboard trip with Aggressor. Of his image, Bursie said:
“I hope the image shares with others my take on the mystical world I find myself in each time I dip below the surface.”
In the Compact Camera category, Jaime Hall took out first place for his super up-close-and-personal shot of a moray eel lurking in a dark lagoon.

The Conceptualprize went to photographer Conor Culver, who said of his work:
“I came across this coconut octopus while muck diving; the creature perfectly posed, turning deep red and wrapping its tentacles up symmetrically. Ultimately I would create a “home” for it with a small bottle I found diving the USS Baja California off Naples, Florida, to reference how these creatures are often seen: in our disregarded trash.”

First prize in the Compact Camera category went to Cai Songda with a beautiful image of a vibrant blanket octopus.

And finally, theWide Anglefirst prize was awarded to Alex Dawson for his image of a submerged M42 Duster anti-aircraft tank that sunk in 1999 close to shore just north of Tala Bay, Jordan.

You can check out more photos from the competition here. Entries for next year’s underwater photography contest can be submitted from November 1st, 2018 until May 31st, 2019. All skill levels are encouraged to enter, so why not grab your wetsuit and your camera and get snapping?
Via My Modern Met.