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The Underwater Tour Awards 2022 Winners

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The Underwater Tour Awards 2022 Winners
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The winners of the third annual Underwater Tour Awards have been announced.

The prestigious annual international competition encourages and inspires passion for photography, exploration and discovery from behind the lens and helps raise awareness of the world’s incredible, fragile marine and aquatic inhabitants and their environments.  For the first time the Underwater Tour Awards partnered with environmental education and action organisation, Take 3, and introduced a new novice category, The take 3 for the Sea Contest.  Proceeds from registration fees and additional donations were given to Take 3.

Led by Convenor Darren Jew, Canon Master and six-time winner of the AIPP’s Professional Nature Photographer of the Year, the international judging panel: Amanda Blanksby, William Tan, Dr Richard Smith, Russell Ord and Brett Lobwein judged hundreds of images submitted by photographers from all over the world. 

“Each year the competition grows, and we are delighted with the high calibre of submissions,” said Darren Jew.  “The finalists’ gallery takes us on a remarkable underwater tour, showcasing the fine work of competing underwater wildlife photographers and celebrating the natural wonders of the underwater world”.

The Guru Awards – Photographic Competition

The only international photography competition of its kind to incorporate a systematic Ethical Review for images submitted, the Underwater Tour Awards Team is committed to ensuring the natural world is depicted both creatively and honestly, with due regard shown to the welfare of all marine life and habitats.   All shortlisted images entered were subject to the competition’s Ethics Review process, conducted by renowned Marine biologist and author, Dr Richard Smith, before moving to the first round of judging. 

And the winners are …

The Guru Grand Prize 

The Guru Grand Prize celebrates a great photographer, not just one great photo and is awarded to the photographer who attains the highest level of achievement from six entries across three or more of the six competition categories.

Finalists:

Gabriel Guzman, Australia

Joergen Rasmussen, Singapore

Jake Wilton, Australia

The Guru Grand Prize Winner:  Jake Wilton, Australia

Underwater 1
Underwater 2
Underwater 3
Underwater 4
Underwater 5
Underwater 6

Individual Guru Image Categories:

Underwater Scenes

Winner:  Cameron McFarlane

The Underwater Tour Awards 2022 Winners

Finalists:

Helen Walne, South Africa

Gabriel Guzman, Australia

Wayne Osborn, Australia

Talia Greis, Australia

Underwater Characters

Winner:  Jake Wilton

Underwater 7

Finalists:

Gabriel Guzman, Australia

Dave Levasseur, Canada

Josh Blank, Australia

Nicolas Remy, Australia

Aquatic Abstract

Winner:  Wade Hughes, Australia

Underwater 8

Finalists:

Derek Firman, Australia

Richard Condlyffe, USA

Karen Ho, Papua New Guinea

Walter Drechsler, Germany

Topside Scenes

Winner:  Anthony Brown

Underwater 9

Finalists:

Joergen Rasmussen, Singapore

Reed Plummer, Australia

Pam Osborn, Australia

Cameron McFarlane, Australia

Underwater Black and White

Winner:  Pavlos Evangelidis

Underwater 10
A gorgonian fan coral's intricate patterns as a silhouette in the bright South Pacific water. A natural mini-maze. Shot underwater in Russell Islands, Solomon Islands.

Finalists:

Gabriel Guzman, Australia

Katie Clewett, Australia

Ellen Cuylaerts, United Kingdom

Karen Ho, Papua New Guinea

Reportage

Winner:  Joergen Rasmussen, Singapore

2022 Guru Awards Finalists Gallery

Finalists:

Sam Glenn-Smith, Australia

Jodi Frediani, USA

The People’s Choice Award 

Winner:  Anthony Brown, Australia

Runner Up: Mel Wu, Australia

Two new awards wereintroduced in 2022: 

The Packer’s Prize (chosen by the Underwater Tour Team) goes to Helen Walne, Cape Town, South Africa

The Take3 Contest

Winner 1:  Emma Turner, NSW

Runner Up: Jean-Louis Lebreux, QLD

Winner 2: Jules Casey, VIC  

Runner Up: Cathy Finch, QLD

“Congratulations to all winners and well done to all entrants” Darren Jew encouraged. 

“We’d like to thank all our valued Partners – Take 3 and their fabulous prize partners,  and our generous friends at CameraPro,  Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, Momento Pro, Heron Island, Walindi Plantation Resort, Lady Elliot Island, Lady Musgrave Experience.  QySEA FIFISH Henderson Greenpreene, Inon and SeaLife.  Co-founder Tim Hochgrebe added “Thank you to everyone who has taken part and supported the Awards this year.  Planning for the Underwater Tour Awards 2023 is already in full swing and we are looking forward to seeing you next year”.

About the Underwater Tour and Underwater Tour Awards:  Promoting inspiration, discovery and adventure and celebrating the best of our oceans, The Underwater Tour is an annual collaboration between Juliette Myers of IlluminOcean and Tim Hochgrebe of underwater.com.au, joined in 2020 by creative partners Darren Jew and Jasmine Carey and Greg Crow from Finslap and Photo-competitions.

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Adrian Stacey
Adrian Stacey
Scuba Diver ANZ Editor, Adrian Stacey, first learned to dive on the Great Barrier Reef over 24 years ago. Since then he has worked as a dive instructor and underwater photographer in various locations around the world including, Egypt, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico and Saba. He has now settled in Australia, back to where his love of diving first began.
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