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Underwater Photography Guide, Kuta (2026)

23/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Nudibranchs

🌿 “Phyllodesmium friend“ by William Luckock

📍Blairgowrie Pier, Mornington peninsula, Victoria, Australia

✍️ The story behind the shot:
On a snorkelling trip with my father I was lucky enough to find one of the smaller, more elusive species of nudibranch in the area. With a preference for crevices and corals, it was exciting to find one starkly contrasted against the deep green plant it had chosen to explore.

📸 Camera: Olympus TG-7

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/80s
ISO: 200

21/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Nudibranchs

🐑 “Meet the Costasiellas!“ by Paul Eijkemans

📍Indonesia, Bali, Tulamben, Melasti divesite

✍️ The story behind the shot:
A group of Costasiella sp. seaslugs, roaming a leaf, as if they were one family. This small animal is also popularly known as the “Shaun the Sheep” nudibranch, named after the famous character in a British TV series which it resembles. Technically speaking, they are not nudibranchs but belong to the order of Sacoglossa seaslugs. Contrary to nudibranchs, which are carnivores, Costasiellas feeds on algae and even practice kleptoplasty - they steal chloroplasts from algae and keep them functional inside their own cells. So, just as sheep they also only eat greens. The shot was made in Tulamben, Bali, where it is pretty common to find these seaslugs. One needs good eyes though: adults are usually 5-10mm large and can only be properly photographed with a diopter that allows for super macro shots. This shot required a lot of patience, as I had to patiently wait for about 45 minutes before all three nudibranchs looked pretty much into the same direction, towards me. The shot was done using a snoot, to eliminate the background and to reduce backscatter in the picture.

📸 Camera: Nikon Z7
🔎 Lens: Nikon 105mm with Nauticam SMC-1 diopter
🏠 Housing: Nauticam
💡 Strobe/light: 1x Inon Z330 with Snooty snoot

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/40
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
ISO: 200

19/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Cold Water

🦭 “Sea Lion Mayhem” by Allison Vitsky Sallmon

📍Santa Barbara Island, California, USA

✍️ The story behind the shot:
California sea lion rookeries during pupping season are similar to an unchaperoned party of preschoolers. On this very early morning dive, I did my best to steady myself next to a shallow, kelp-covered rock while a mass of sea lion pups bombarded me enthusiastically from all angles. One pup in particular was quite a showoff, demonstrating his advanced sea lion skills such as blowing bubbles, inspecting my port, and biting on kelp strands.

📸 Camera: Canon 5DMkIV
🔎 Lens: Canon 8-15mm fisheye @ 15mm
🏠 Housing: Sea and Sea
💡 Strobe/light: 2x Sea and Sea YSD3 strobes

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
ISO: 640

17/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Cold Water

🦭 “Grey Seal Contact” by Simon Temple

📍UK, Isles of Scilly, Eastern Isles

✍️ The story behind the shot:
I’ve scuba dived around the Isles of Scilly for many years and taken countless seal photographs, but for me none compare to images made while snorkelling. The temperate waters are often clear, yet it’s the light near the surface that transforms the scene. In the top couple of metres, colour and contrast are stronger, giving the images far more impact.
Seal snorkelling here is done from a small RIB launched from the beach on St Martin’s. It’s an ideal platform for locating seals and gently dropping you into the water among them, often close to the granite outcrops of the Eastern Isles. These rocks are key to the experience, forming the seals’ favoured haul-out spots as the tide falls.
Over time, I’ve found the best encounters happen once the seals have returned from feeding and are waiting for those rocks to emerge. Even then, everything must align: contented seals, sunshine, good visibility and minimal swell. Most days one element is missing, but on the rare occasions when they come together, the experience feels magical.
Seals often approach from behind, your first warning a playful tug on your fins as they test you with their mouths. It’s great fun, but it makes photography difficult, with much of your time spent spinning in the water trying to keep them in view.
Eventually, I noticed I could get closest as a seal surfaced to breathe and paused briefly before diving again. This image was taken in that fleeting moment, the instant the seal began its descent, when I was close enough to fill the frame and capture a truly special encounter.

📸 Camera: Nikon D500
🔎 Lens: Sigma 15mm f2.8 EX DG Fisheye Lens
🏠 Housing: Aquatica
💡 Strobe/light: Twin Inon Z240 Strobes

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/160s
ISO: 400

15/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Portrait

🦭 “Loco Lobos” by James Ferrara

📍Magdalena Bay, Mexico - Isla Santa Margarita

✍️ The story behind the shot:
After a long day oﬀshore photographing striped marlin as they hunted bait balls in Magdalena Bay, we made our way to the sea lion colony on Isla Santa Margarita. In the shallow waters along the coast, the colony was alive with movement, and the juvenile sea lions, in particular, were endlessly curious and playful. They darted around us with eﬀortless agility, weaving through the water as if inviting interaction. As one young sea lion descended toward me from the surface, I used a slow shutter with flash to embrace the fluidity of the moment, while freezing its facial demeanor. The resulting image captures not just the subject, but the feeling— flowing motion, swirling water, and the expressive personality that makes these animals so captivating. Another member of the colony drifts quietly in the background, adding depth and a sense of community to the frame.

📸 Camera: Sony a7r v
🔎 Lens: Sony 28-70mm, Wacp-c
🏠 Housing: Nauticam
💡 Strobe/light: 2 OneUW strobes

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/22
Shutter Speed: 1/10s
ISO: 400

🏆 James Ferrara won a 7 night dive trip for two to Papua New Guinea with Walindi Plantation Resort!

13/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Macro

🐟 “Responsible dad” by Lena Remy

📍Chowder Bay, Sydney, NSW, Australia

✍️ The story behind the shot:
The eastern gobbleguts (Vincentia novaehollandiae) is a species of cardinalfish endemic to Australia’s southern coast. Like other cardinalfish, it is the male’s responsibility to care for the eggs, which he stores in his mouth until they are ready to hatch. What makes this otherwise drab-coloured fish stand out is the vivid colour of its egg clutch - bright orange when the eggs have just been transferred.
Southern summer is their mating season, and the best time to spot these usually discreet fish. At night, they venture out from the shelter of kelp and rock ledges to find a mate, with a chance to see a male carrying its brood, if you go slow and spend time looking.
This is one of my favourite subjects to photograph during night dives in Sydney Harbour. I used a single, directional strobe to help the subject pop against the murky background.

📸 Camera: Nikon D810
🔎 Lens: Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR
🏠 Housing: Nauticam
💡 Strobe/light: 1x Backscatter Mini Flash 2 and Optical Snoot 1

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/22
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
ISO: 250

🏆 Lena Remy received an Honorable Mention in the Ocean Art 2025 Macro category!

11/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Compact Macro

🦐 “Zoom ( Peackock Mantis Shrimp)“ by Enrico Somogyi

📍Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

✍️ The story behind the shot:
When I was in one of the Top Spots for Muck Diving in Tulamben, Bali i was lucky to find this Peackock Mantis Shrimp with eggs. The Peacock Mantis Shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) is a vibrant and striking marine creature known for its incredible speed and strength. With a body length of about 7 inches, it features bright colors, including shades of blue, green, and orange. This shrimp has powerful, club-like appendages used for hunting, capable of striking with the force of a bullet, often breaking the shells of its prey. It has a highly specialized vision, with 16 color receptors compared to humans’ 3. Found in tropical and subtropical waters, it is both admired for its beauty and feared for its ferocity.

📸 Camera: Sony RX100 M7
🏠 Housing: Marelux
💡 Strobe/light: 2x Backscatter Miniflash MF2, Zoom Filter

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/2000s
ISO: 64

09/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Underwater Digital Art

👁️ “Look” by Julio Martínez

📍Portman, Murcia, Spain

✍️ The story behind the shot:
This is a seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) that I was able to follow for months and plan the photograph. I used a red light to illuminate the scene from the side and with the use of the snoot I illuminated softly only the seahorse’s eye to obtain its natural yellow colour. I completed the composition with a double exposure in camera to frame the protagonist using a special effects prismatic lens Halo filter.
In the image processing I replaced and adjusted the colour of the scene until I achieved that purple-violet colour while maintaining the original lighting of the snoot on the eye.

📸 Camera: Olympus OMD em1 mkii
🔎 Lens: Olympus 60mm
🏠 Housing: Isotta
💡 Strobe/light: Backscatter MF2 with snoot

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/14
Shutter Speed: 1/320s
ISO: 640

08/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Underwater Conservation

🔬 “Tamataroa” by Thomas Pavy

📍Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa Atoll, French Polynesia

✍️ The story behind the shot:
This photography was shot at a depth of 55m in Tiputa Pass (Rangiroa Atoll, French Polynesia) during a Sphyrna mokarran (Great Hammer Head Shark) population survey.
Antonin Guilbert and Nicolas Mollon, the two scientists working on the photos, are utilising a video photogrammetry system that consists of a plate-mounted video camera that has been laser-calibrated. By identifying individuals (photo identification), describing the s*x ratio, and quantifying their size (laser calibration), this method enables the scientists to characterise Sphyrna mokarran populations.
Scientists must employ sophisticated diving techniques like trimix gaz and close circuit rebreather in order to carry out the program.
Because currents and divers’ navigation can be challenging and dangerous in a pass where currents can reach 6 or 7 knots, such dives demand a great deal of experience. Furthermore, only video frames with two lasers aimed at the shark’s side and a perfect perpendicular profile of the animal can provide pertinent information for shark identification.
Over the last 6 years, the methodology has been applied by different teams (Mokarran Protection Society and Andromède Océanologie) and revealed over 180 individuals.
The Great Hammer Head Shark is widely revered in the local culture, and sharks have been protected in French Polynesia for over a decade. The Great Hammer Head shark is locally called Tamataroa.

📸 Camera: Sony A7II camera
🔎 Lens: 20mm Tokina lens
🏠 Housing: Seacam
💡 Strobe/light: Seacam Strobes

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/10
Shutter Speed: 1/100s
ISO: 800

07/05/2026

🏆 Ocean Art 2025: Honorable Mention Underwater Conservation

🦈 “The Price of Bycatch” by Theresa Guise

📍Egypt, Southern Red Sea, Elphinstone Reef

✍️ The story behind the shot:
In the southern Red Sea, an Oceanic Whitetip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) stares into the lens, a painful testament to human impact: a large fishing hook is visibly embedded in its mouth. It approached me with curiosity and intent, as if to show the fishing hook. It passed directly overhead, within less than a meter. The image was processed in Lightroom to enhance exposure and converted to black and white to be more impactful.
This image highlights the primary threat facing this majestic pelagic predator: accidental capture (bycatch) in commercial longline and purse-seine fisheries targeting tuna and other fish. Once one of the most abundant sharks in tropical oceans, the species has suffered catastrophic population declines of over 98% globally and is now classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
The presence of this hook underscores an ongoing conservation crisis, as these slow-growing, late-maturing sharks cannot withstand high fishing mortality rates, despite international bans on retention and trade mandated by CITES Appendix II listings.

📸 Camera: Nikon Z8
🔎 Lens: Nauticam Wide Angle Conversion Port
🏠 Housing: Nauticam
💡 Strobe/light: Retra Promax strobes

📷 Camera Settings:
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/125s
ISO: 400

04/05/2026

The Sony 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is Sony's update to the popular 90mm macro lens. This new release has been extremely exciting for underwater macro photographers as the Sony 100mm is capable of 1.4:1 supermacro images (instead of 1:1 macro) and much faster autofocus speeds. The staff at Bluewater Photo took this lens diving in the cold water of the Pacific Northwest to put it to the test....check out our incredible photos and videos. It's definitely worth the upgrade.

Underwater Photography Guide

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