DIVE’s Big Shot Portraits – THE WINNERS! - SUALTI Gazetesi

‘Blenny With Attitude’ by Ralph Paprzkycki

Check out the winning and highly commended images from our Big Shot Portraits underwater photography competition – as featured in our Spring ’25 print magazine

The secret of a great portrait is the instant connection it creates with the viewer. You feel you know the subject.

Some, such as this issue’s Big Shots winner – Ralph Paprzkycki’s striking blenny, stop you in your tracks. They impose upon you. Others, such as Marcia Riederer’s, highly commended dwarf minke whale beguile and seduce.

The vast majority of the 200 or so stunning entries to this Big Shots competition all shared one common element – the eye is clearly the window to the soul. Looking into the subject’s eye (or eyes) is what draws you in.

Ralph wins a an Aggressor Adventures’ liveboard trip in Thailand. The highly commended receive a print and digital subscription for a year and the other entries published receive a year’s digital subscription. Thank you all for entering!

For our summer issue, the theme is Living Together. Life underwater is often in complex interdependent communities – some relationships are mutually beneficial, others strictly predatory.

We want to see images which reveal the connection between marine species. The winner, selected by DIVE’s editorial staff
will receive a trip on an Aggressor Adventures liveaboard in Raja Ampat worth $3,745. The other entries published in DIVE win a year’s digital subscription.

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WINNER – DIVE’s Big Shot Portraits

‘Blenny With Attitude’ by Ralph Paprzkycki

A sarcastic fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi) on a night dive at Veterans Park, Redondo Beach, California.

Shot with: Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 14-35mm f/4 lens at 35mm, Ikelite housing, Sea&Sea YS-D3 strobe with snoot; f8, 1/125, ISO 500

SECOND PLACE

‘Eye to Eye’ by Marcia Riederer

This encounter happened during a trip to the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia. This curious dwarf minke whale came so close that I could only see her eye, even through my wide-angle lens.

Shot with: Sony A7RV, 16-35mm, Isotta housing; f/6.3, 1/250, ISO 1000

THIRD

‘Portrait of a Dragon’ by Rowan Dear

Having spent several days shooting the leafy sea dragons and their habitat, I decided to switch to the Sony 90mm macro lens for a night dive. While shy at first, this male leafy – who was also carrying eggs – eventually became more comfortable in my presence.

Shot with: Sony A7IV; 90mm macro lens, Red Video Focus Light, INON Z330 strobes; 1/80 ,f18, ISO 320

FOURTH

‘Toothy Grin’ by JillAnne McCarty

This large American saltwater crocodile, in Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina, swam over to see our boat. I slipped into the water and waited with my eye in the viewfinder. As the crocodile came towards me, he suddenly jerked his head and snapped his jaw. I captured the image with his teeth nearly on my camera’s dome port.

Shot with: Nikon D850, Nikon 16-35 mm lens, 240 mm dome port, Nauticam housing, ambient light; f20, 1/200, ISO 800

HIGHLY COMMENDED

‘Playtime’ by Rowan Dear

Taken at Montague Island, Narooma, Australia. This playful sea lion was zipping through the seagrass. It made for a perfect
image of contrasting colours showing these playful animals in their environment.

Shot with: Sony A7IV 16-35mm 2.8 lens, INON Z330 strobes; f8, 1/200, ISO 320

‘Seacow’ by Romeo Bodolai

This dugong was feeding on seagrass at Marsa Shagra in the Egyptian Red Sea.

Shot with: Sony a7R4, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, Nauticam housing, Ikelite strobes; f10. 1/250, ISO 100

‘Trigger Happy’ by Michael Gallagher

Titan triggerfish are notoriously aggressive around their nests during breeding season, and this one was no exception! I snapped this photograph while hurriedly retreating, and it was not until after the dive that I realised that I had captured the
potent beauty of this special fish and its formidable teeth.

Shot with: Canon 5D3, Canon 50mm macro lens, Hugyfot housing, dual Inon Z240 strobes; f11 1/125, ISO 400

‘Spotted’ by Michael Gallagher

I encountered this magnificent male parrotfish dozing on the reef during a night dive in Lhaviyani Atoll in the Maldives.

Shot with: Canon 20D; Canon 60mm macro lens, Ikelite housing, Ikelite DS-125 strobe x1; f16, 1/100, ISO 100

‘Hair Ball’ by Michael Gallagher

Frogfish must be one of my favourite fish of all time, and this hairy frogfish must be one of my personal favourite underwater sightings.

Shot with: Canon 50D, Tokina 35mm macro lens, Hugyfot housing, Inon Z240 strobe with snoot; f22, 1/200, ISO 200

‘Nobility’ by Imogen Manins

I regularly visited this individual during freediving sessions at Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, Port Philipps Bay, Australia. The rocky reef was covered in a lush carpet of green seaweeds of the Caulerpa genus, providing rich feeding rounds for the bigbelly seahorse.

Shot with: Olympus TG6, Backscatter Air Lens, Olympus housing, video light MW4300; f3.2, 1/160, ISO 100

‘Prince of the Waterfall’ by Romeo Bodelai

Traunfall is a breathtaking waterfall in Austria with excellent visibility (10-15 m) and underwater rock formations, along with plenty of large pike.

Shot with: Sony a7R4, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, Nauticam housing, Ikelite strobes; f22, 1/2, ISO 100

‘Embedded’ by Christian Horras

At the end of a dive around Anilao, I saw this little blenny and decided to try a different take for a picture. I used a slow shutter speed, a snoot and a little camera movement to create the effect in the picture.

Shot with: Nikon Z8, Nikon 60mm macro lens, Seacam housing, Seacam Seaflash 150D strobes; f16, 1/10, ISO 64

‘Playful Calf’ by Vanessa Mignon

Every year, humpback whales travel to Tonga, to mate and give birth. During that time it is possible to swim with them. That day we saw a small fin break the surface, and start swimming in circles, a sign that it was a calf coming up for air while its mother was resting below.

Shot with: Canon 5D Mark IV; Canon 16-35 mm lens, Nauticam housing; f6.3, 1/160, ISO 320