Photography awards
FINALIST: Out and About. Two yellownose prawn-gobies venturing far above their sandy burrow during a midday dive in Lembeh, Indonesia.
On a daytime dive in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, I came across two yellownose prawn-gobies floating higher in the water than I’d ever expect. Normally, these little fish keep close to their burrows, darting back to safety at the first sign of trouble. Seeing them out in the open like this felt unusual—and special.
The pair moved in perfect sync, clearly bonded. Gobies often form long-term partnerships, and watching these two hover together in the open water made me think of a couple keeping lookout for one another. Their elevated position gave them a better view for spotting predators, and maybe even a chance to snag drifting plankton.
What struck me most was how calm they remained. For more than ten minutes, they held their place—alert, but unbothered—giving me a rare chance to watch their hidden world unfold.
This moment was captured with an OM System OM-1 in a Nauticam housing, using an Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro lens and a Backscatter Mini Flash 2 with an Optical Snoot.
FINALIST. Nothing to See Here. A painted frogfish perfectly blending into the yellow corals, using its camouflage to remain unseen in Lembeh, Indonesia.
Perfectly still, this painted frogfish was almost invisible. Its skin matched the coral so closely I would have missed it entirely, if not for our guide’s trained eye.
Frogfish are masters of disguise. They become part of the reef, not just to hide from predators, but to lure unsuspecting prey close enough to strike. It’s the kind of stillness that makes you look twice—and then not look away.
This moment was captured with an OM System OM-1 in a Nauticam housing, using an Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro lens and a Backscatter Mini Flash 2 with an Optical Snoot.