n Art Underwater Photo Competition Winners Announced

From Underwater Times: Art Underwater Photo Competition Winners Announced

SANTA MONICA, California -- The Second Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced its winners for 2011. This year's Ocean Art Photo Competition represents entrants from over fifty countries.

Over $82,000 worth of prizes were awarded to 52 underwater photographers, including a 10-night all-inclusive package for 2 people at KBR Lembeh, 18 nights in Papua New Guinea at Walindi/ Febrina and Loloata, 11 days on the SMY Ondina, 1.5 spots to the Socorro Islands aboard the Rocio Del Mar, an 11 day trip on the vessel KLM Aurora, a 7 day charter in Fiji aboard the Nai'a, 5 nights' accommodations and diving at Wananavu, a one week package for 2 people at Maluku Divers Resort, and a trip to either Socorro or Guadalupe aboard Nautilus Explorer.

Judges this year included prestigious professional photographers Marty Snyderman, Bonnie Pelnar, Martin Edge, and Tony Wu.

There are at least 4 winners in each of 12 categories, including Wide-Angle, Macro, Portrait, Behavior, Novice, Nudibranchs, SuperMacro, Fashion, Coldwater, and 3 Compact Camera categories.

The Best of Show was a stunning wide-angle photograph of several manta rays, taken by Tobias Friedrich of Germany. Other stunning images include a hunting leopard seal, a pair of eels, and a beautiful squid composition. Thousands of entries were viewed by the judges before the final set of amazing images were selected, and deemed some of the best underwater photos in the world.

Judging was quite difficult due to the high quality of images. World famous underwater photographer and contest judge Martin Edge commented, "This year the judging was very tight due to so many superb images. After much discussion, agreements, and disagreements, we felt the winners really stood out. For myself, the best in show was the most awesome shot in the entire collection."

Winning photos can be seen here: http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2011

About the Underwater Photography Guide
The Underwater Photography Guide, founded by Scott Gietler, is a comprehensive website and community for learning about underwater photography technique, marine life, and scuba diving destinations, and contains over 600 pages of organized tutorials, forums, reviews, and articles. Community members of the Underwater Photography Guide and its equipment sponsor, Bluewater Photo, participate in several international workshops each year, and the site receives over 300,000 unique visitors annually