Best Underwater Images from Monterey, California
Phil LemleyBest in Show, Chuck Tribolet Award
There’s no other feeling like staring into the celestial eye of a harbor seal.
The Monterey Shootout is an underwater photo and video competition hosted each year by Backscatter and the Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS) in Monterey, California. Monterey diving is world-renowned for its colorful rocky reefs and towering kelp forests that support an impressive diversity of life. Most sites are accessed from shore and divable year-round. Water temperatures range from the high 40s to high 50s.
Each August, the 36-hour competition challenges divers to plunge into the chilly and productive water and get their best shot before time runs out. Divers can go anywhere along the Monterey Peninsula to get a winning shot. They then must edit and submit their best work to a panel of professional judges.
When the competition started in 1994, contestants shot on film and the judges would develop the rolls—sometimes over 200 of them! In 2011, the shootout switched to digital.
This year, 156 contestants participated in the weekend-long event to vie for $30,000 in prizes.
Over 520 photos and 60 videos were submitted to various categories and scrutinized for technique, lighting, focus and creativity. In the end, these images conquered the rest.
For full event coverage and all winning images, visit the Backscatter website.
Joe PlatkoAdvanced Wide Angle Unrestricted First Place
Crisp colors, captivating light rays and a charismatic harbor seal subject made this a first-place shot.
Marco MazzaAdvanced Wide Angle Traditional First Place
Sometimes the best scenes exist in the shallowest zones.
Linda ReisingerAdvanced Macro Traditional First Place
Even with its impressive camouflage, this sculpin couldn’t hide from the camera.
Martina SteurerIntermediate Wide Angle Unrestricted First Place
A diver’s torch illuminates two white-spotted rose anemones clinging to the rocky reef.
Effie BenjaminIntermediate Wide Angle Traditional First Place
A playful harbor seal comes in for a closer look in the shallows of the kelp canopy.
Megan PitcavageIntermediate Macro Traditional First Place
Of the many nudibranchs found in Central California, this shag-rug nudibranch is one of the least colorful and most beautiful.
Megan PitcavageIntermediate Macro Unrestricted First Place
In a beautiful juxtaposition of colors, this black-eye goby rests atop the fuzzy-looking skin of a bat star.
Christina ChapmanBeginner Wide Angle Unrestricted First Place
Sea lions buzz around a mussel bed covered in purple sea urchins and sea stars.
Christina ChapmanBeginner Wide Angle Traditional First Place
Captured mid-dive, a cormorant searches the water column for its next meal.
Sara VassarBeginner Macro Unrestricted First Place
Only a macro lens could properly capture the intricate textures of this yellowfin fringehead inside a red-rust bryozoan.
Philip BouffardBeginner Macro Traditional First Place
A yellowfin fringehead pokes its recognizable face out of a hole in the reef.
