The Winning Shots from Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019

Michael Zhang

Underwater Photographer of the Year has just announced the winners of its 2019 photo contest. Photographer Richard Barnden of the UK won both Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019 and British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019 for his photo titled “The Gauntlet” (shown above).

Here’s the description of Barnden’s winning shot:

As the sun sets on Fakarava South Pass, the estimated 700 sharks that are patrolling the mouth of the channel by day, begins to hunt at night. The gauntlet is about to unfold. Descending into the darkness I can feel my heart beating a little faster than normal as hundreds of sharks are now covering the bottom. This unlucky parrotfish dodged in and out of the patch coral heads looking for somewhere to hide as swarms of sharks followed in hot pursuit. One grey reef shark suddenly grabbed the parrotfish by its head as the another twisted underneath it to get a better grip. In desperation it hurtled straight towards me as I snapped a few passing shots and curled up into a ball as the frenzy of sharks shot past, leaving only but a few falling parrotfish scales behind.

Here are the other winning (and a couple of runner-up) photos from the major categories:

Up and Coming Winner: ‘Paradise’ by Taeyup Kim (Korea). Courtesy UPY2019.
Marine Conservation Winner: ‘Caretta caretta turtle’ by Eduardo Acevedo (Spain). Courtesy UPY2019.
Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2019 Winner: ‘Marine Compass’ by Malcolm Nimmo (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.
Wide Angle Winner: ‘Gentle Giants’ by François Baelen (Reunion Island). Courtesy UPY2019.
Macro Winner: ‘Fast cuttlefish’ by Fabio Iardino (Italy). Courtesy UPY2019.
Wrecks Winner: ‘Big Guns’ by René B. Andersen (Denmark). Courtesy UPY2019.
Portrait Winner: ‘Fly high and smile’ by Nicholas Samaras (Greece). Courtesy UPY2019.
Black and White Winner: ‘Between Two Worlds’ by Henley Spiers (Philippines). Courtesy UPY2019.
Black and White Runner Up: ‘Mercury Tunnel’ by Ken Kiefer (United States). Courtesy UPY2019.
Compact Winner: ‘Hairy in the Sunrise’ by Enrico Somogyi (Germany). Courtesy UPY2019.
British Waters Wide Angle Winner: ‘Off the wall’ by Robert Bailey (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.
British Waters Macro Winner: ‘Beauty in the Mud’ by Arthur Kingdon (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.
British Waters Living Together Winner: ‘Morning Tide Mackerel’ by Victoria Walker (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.
British Waters Compact Winner: ‘Playtime?’ by Martin Edser (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.
British Waters Compact Runner Up: ‘Split Level Frog Spawning’ by Ian Michael Wade (United Kingdom). Courtesy UPY2019.

You can find a larger gallery of 125 winning photos over on the contest’s website.

Image credits: Header photo © Richard Barnden/UPY2019

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