© Luc Rooman/Ocean Art 2021
Ocean Art is one of those photo contests that shows us the underwater world that we can’t see all that often, if at all. The contest has just announced its winners, and as always – they didn’t disappoint.
This year’s overall winner, or The Best of Show, is Luc Rooman from Belgium with his photo titled Snoeken. It was captured during a night dive in October 2021 near Antwerp, Belgium. “To my surprise, I came across these fighting pike,” Luc tells about his image. “I was lucky enough to photograph a whole series of pictures of these two pikes.” He took the photo with a Nikon D810 and a Nikon 60 mm lens protected by Hugyfot underwater housing and used Subtonic strobes to light his subjects. Luc also shares the settings he used: f/14, 1/125s, ISO 200.
In addition to the overall winner, Ocean Art recognizes winners and honorary mentions in thirteen different categories. The Black &White category is brand new, introduced this year, and three of the categories are dedicated to the best photos taken with compact cameras. Luc’s winning image was also selected as the best in the Marine Life Behavior category.
© Luc Rooman/Ocean Art 2021
Take a look at the category winners and runner-ups below. And if you’re up for some more underwater photography, you can look at the 2019 and 2021 winners, too.
Wide Angle
© Eduardo Acevedo/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Nicolas Remy/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Hannah Le Leu/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Macro
© Nigel Motyer/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Sarah Vasend/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Magnus Lundgren/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Marine Life Behavior
© Julian Hsu/Ocean Art, 2nd place
© Louise Nott/Ocean Art, 3rd place
Portrait
© Paolo Bausani/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Andrey Savin/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Marco Gargiulo/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Coldwater
© Matthew Sullivan/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Celia Kujala/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Nigel Motyer/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Nudibranch
© Salvatore Ianniello/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Virginia Salzedo/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Cedric Peneau/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Blackwater
© Steven Kovacs/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Steven Kovacs/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Rajiv Bhambri/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Underwater Conservation
© Catherine Holmes/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Steven Kovacs/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Michael Vogelsang/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Underwater Art
© Jenny Stock/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Julian Nedev/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Julian Nedev/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Black & White
© Tom St George/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Kyle Lucy/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Plamena Mileva/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Compact Wide Angle
© Kate Rister/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Jack Berthomier/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Enrico Somogyi/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Compact Macro
© Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Salvatore Gambacurta/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© Nicole Helgason/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place
Compact Behavior
© PT Hirschfield/Ocean Art 2021, 1st place
© Ilaria Mariaguilia/Ocean Art 2021, 2nd place
© PT Hirschfield/Ocean Art 2021, 3rd place