our world underwater 2015

PHOTOGRAPHER
Anthony Berberian

CATEGORY
Macro Unrestricted
1st Place

The Our World Underwater international underwater photography and video competition has become known as the "Superbowl" of underwater imaging events. The competition celebrates and highlights both art of underwater photography as well as the beauty of the ocean.

This year the panel of judges went through thousands of images and videos taken by novice to professional photographers and videographers from around the world.

$50,000 in prizes were awarded to the winners. Congratulations to Anthony Berberian, who won Best of Show for his 1st place image from the Macro Unrestricted category.

Winners were announced live on stage during the Our World Underwater film festival in Chicago (February 27–March 1, 2015), and will be published by supporting media partners worldwide. You can enjoy the winning images below.

Video Winners

Gold	Silver	Bronze

Lee Burghard	Shawn Heinrichs	Dustin Adamson
USA	USA	USA
"My Sanctuary"	"Tigress Shark"	"Black and White"

Rules & Guidelines

Winners

Macro Traditional

Gold

Joe Daniels
United Kingdom

"Tunicate Shrimp"

Location: Ambon, Indonesia

Silver

Qing Lin
China

"In the space"

Location: Tulamben,Bali,Indonesia

Bronze

Jeffrey de Guzman
Philippines

"Jail House Shrimp"

Location: Anilao Batangas Philippines

Macro Unrestricted

Gold

Anthony Berberian

"Clandestine passenger"

Location: Tahiti

Silver

Fabien Michenet

"Juvenile Pelagic Octopus"

Location: Tahiti

Bronze

Sacha Lobenstein
Spain

"Underwater lanterns"

Location: La Caleta, Tenerife, Canary Islands

Honorable Mention

Jeff Milisen

"Swimming X-ray"

Location: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Wide Angle Traditional

Gold

Francis Pérez
Spain

"SPOTTED DOLFINS"

Location: TENERIFE CANARY ISLANDS

Silver

Pedro Carrillo
Spain

"Voyager"

Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Bronze

Nuno Sá
Portugal

"Dome scratcher "

Location: azores

Wide Angle Unrestricted

Gold

Christian Miller
Australia

"Got it!"

Location: Fitzroy Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Silver

Eiko Jones

"Underworld"

Location: Telegraph Cove, BC, Canada

Bronze

Rodney Bursiel
United States

"The Killer"

Location: Roca Partida, Revillagigedo Islands

Honorable Mention

Davide Lopresti

"Animal in Cage"

Location: Isla Guadalupe - Messico

Compact Cameras

Gold

Marc Casanovas Felix

"Gravity"

Location: Vilassar de Mar (Spain)

Silver

Stephen Holinski
Canada

"Below the Chaos"

Location: Hornby Island, British Columbia

Bronze

Stephen Holinski
Canada

"Hairy "

Location: Padang Bai, Indonesia

Honorable Mention

ABIMAEL MARQUEZ
Puerto Rico

"Revelation"

Location: Crash Boat, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Commercial, Conceptual & Fashion

Gold

Steffen Binke

"Mother in Love"

Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Silver

Shawn Heinrichs
United States

"Clash of the Nomads"

Location: Kona, Hawaii

Bronze

Shawn Heinrichs
United States

"Cave Gypsy"

Location: Tonga

Honorable Mention

Steffen Binke

"Reflection"

Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Categories

PHOTO

Macro Traditional

Any close-up image captured with a macro lens, where the reproduction ratio is between 1:10 and 1:1, or greater. The "Traditional" divisions allow for the adjustment of brightness, contrast, color, and sharpness only. Cropping, cloning, and other digital manipulation is not allowed in this category. This restriction on digital manipulation enables people who are not as savvy at Photoshop to compete on more-or-less even ground as those with more experience. It also highlights composition and lighting skills by not allowing cropping and cloning. Before selecting winning entries, we reserve the right to audit your original RAW or JPG files. Please do not submit cropped or manipulated entries in this category.

Macro Unrestricted

Any close-up image captured with a macro lens, where the reproduction ratio is between 1:10 and 1:1, or greater. Unlike the "Traditional" divisions, the "Unrestricted" divisions have no specific rules regarding digital manipulation. However, as we are not running a digital manipulation contest, you should exercise care in the decisions that you make.

Wide Angle Traditional

Any image captured with a wide-angle lens (focal length 35mm or less in 35mm format). The "Traditional" divisions allow for the adjustment of brightness, contrast, color, and sharpness only. Cropping, cloning, and other digital manipulation is not allowed in this category. This restriction on digital manipulation enables people who are not as savvy at Photoshop to compete on more-or-less even ground as those with more experience. It also highlights composition and lighting skills by not allowing cropping and cloning. Before selecting winning entries, we reserve the right to audit your original RAW or JPG files. Please do not submit cropped or manipulated entries in this category.

Wide Angle Unrestricted

Any image captured with a wide-angle lens (focal length 35mm or less in 35mm format). Unlike the "Traditional" divisions, the "Unrestricted" divisions have no specific rules regarding digital manipulation. However, as we are not running a digital manipulation contest, you should exercise care in the decisions that you make.

Compact Cameras

Any image taken by a point-and-shoot, non-DSLR, non-interchangeable-lens camera.
Any camera with interchangeable lenses is not considered a compact, so images taken with such cameras must not be entered into this category.

Commercial, Conceptual & Fashion

Any non-wildlife focused underwater images of commercial, conceptual or fashion related subjects.
Images can be shot in a pool or in the wild, but the primary subject should not be wildlife.

VIDEO

Short Film

Any film five minutes or less in duration. At least 50% of the footage must be shot underwater.

Prizes

Christian Miller	9 day trips to the Revillagigedo Archipelago (Socorro), aboard Solmar V
Anthony Berberian	9 day trips to the Revillagigedo Archipelago (Socorro), aboard Solmar V
Francis Pérez	10 day Papua New Guinea live aboard trips aboard Febrina
Joe Daniels	10 day Papua New Guinea live aboard trips aboard Febrina
Eiko Jones	7 Night Dive Package in Palau with Sams Tours Palau
Fabien Michenet	7 Night Dive Package in Palau with Sams Tours Palau
Pedro Carrillo	7 nights package at Atlantis Puerto Galera or Atlantis Dumaguete
Qing Lin	7 nights package at Atlantis Puerto Galera or Atlantis Dumaguete
Stephen Holinski	7 day dive packages to Lembeh Strait with NAD-Lembeh Various Lighting Accessories from Inon
Marc Casanovas Felix	7 day packages to Norway at Gulen Dive Resort
Sacha Lobenstein	7 day packages to Norway at Gulen Dive Resort
Steffen Binke	7 day dive packages to Lembeh Strait with NAD-Lembeh Various Products from Fantasea
Jeffrey de Guzman	Various Lighting Accessories from Inon
Shawn Heinrichs	Various Lighting Accessories from Inon Various Products from Fantasea
Jeff Milisen	Various Lighting Accessories from Inon
Nuno Sá	Various Products from Fantasea
Davide Lopresti	Various Products from Fantasea
Rodney Bursiel	Various Products from Fantasea

Prize Details

12 Night Live Aboard Trip for 2 with Seven Seas

9 day trips to the Revillagigedo Archipelago (Socorro), aboard Solmar V

10 day Papua New Guinea live aboard trips aboard Febrina

Ikelite Strobes and Lights

7 Night Dive Package in Palau with Sams Tours Palau

7 nights package at Atlantis Puerto Galera or Atlantis Dumaguete

Various Lighting Accessories from Inon

7 day packages to Norway at Gulen Dive Resort

7 day dive packages to Lembeh Strait with NAD-Lembeh

Various Products from Fantasea

$1000 Cash

Judges

Berkley White

Berkley White is a leading expert in the field of underwater photography and digital image processing. As a professional photographer and instructor, he shares his in-field photographic techniques and digital methods through a series of select travel events each year. Berkley is the founder of Backscatter in Monterey, California, the largest specialty underwater photographic supplier in the US, and is the organizer of international photographic events such as the Digital Shootout.

Brian Skerry

Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine covering a wide range of subjects and stories.

An award-winning photographer, Brian is praised worldwide for his aesthetic sense as well as his journalistic drive for relevance. His uniquely-creative images tell stories that not only celebrate the mystery and beauty of the sea, but also help bring attention to the large number of issues that endanger our oceans and its inhabitants.

Dr. Alexander Mustard

Dr Alexander Mustard is both a marine biologist and also as part of a 'new wave' of up-and-coming young underwater photographers who have challenged our perceptions of what we see underwater, Alex has won many awards for his photography including being a multiple winner in both the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and World Festival of Underwater Photography in Antibes, France. His new book "The Art Of Diving," a collaboration with author Nick Hanna, is not just a photo collection but is an exploration of why we love to dive, and has been described by David Doubilet as "the best book about diving since Jacques Cousteau's The Silent World." He is founder of the Young Underwater Photographer's Group, the Digital Officer for the British Society of Underwater Photographers and a Co-Administrator of Wetpixel.com. Alex is also the brains behind Magic filters - filters designed specifically for available light underwater photography with digital cameras.

More about Alex at http://amustard.com

Eric Cheng Eric Cheng is an underwater photographer who has become known around the world for his expertise in underwater imaging. He has meticulously documented his travels around the world, and has been published in numerous publications, both in print and on the web. In 2003, Eric was awarded a prestigious Antibes Festival award for his work with Wetpixel.com, the Antibes underwater imaging web site of the year, and in 2005, he won a category in the prestigious Nature's Best Magazine photo competition, which has placed some of his work in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. Eric also leads trips and has given workshops and seminars in locations around the world.

Eric owns and runs Wetpixel.com, the premiere online resource for underwater photographers. Hosting over 6,150 registered underwater photographers internationally, Wetpixel's friendly community offers breaking news, reviews, features, community forums, image galleries, photo contests, photo expeditions, and more.

Eric's underwater images can be found on personal website: http://echeng.com/travel/

Keri Wilk

Even at the age of 27, Keri has accumulated 17 years of underwater photography experience. Being formally educated as a mechanical engineer, he currently co-owns and develops products for ReefNet, has been a regular contributor to DivePhotoGuide.com since 2009, and does freelance work for several popular dive magazines.

Keri's photography has evolved to a tremendous degree since he took his first underwater shots. He began his career by shooting images to be used primarily in ReefNet's electronic marine life field guides, but soon grew bored of the monotony of clinical side-profile identification shots. Wanting more from his time underwater, he expanded his photographic horizons, hoping to capture images of interesting and unusual behaviors in the underwater world. His success in this field was impressive, winning him several international underwater photo competitions ñ while still a teenager.