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50 Stunning Underwater Photos
October 19th, 2008 in Inspiration | 122 Comments
by Vailancio Rodrigues and Smashing Magazine Editorial Team
Of all the different types of photography showcased on Smashing Magazine, underwater photography is probably one of the most difficult to practice. It requires a very specialized equipment and the knowledge of some advanced techniques to get a perfect picture. You need to get the correct exposure, accurate focus, controlled movement of your subject and a pleasing color balance; you also have to deal with low light. Underwater photos offen suffer from loss of color and contrast when taken at a significant depth. Such photos are always adjusted with color balance to help offset the blueish tint of the water.
Because underwater photography is a specialized art, relatively few photographers attempt it. But it offers many exciting and rare photographic opportunities for fresh and truly different vivid images. Most often, photographers use a traditional film or digital camera covered in a watertight casing. Professionals prefer to use special underwater cameras.
Below, we present over 50 beautiful examples of underwater photos, created by artists and professional photographers. All works featured below have the artists and photographers’ names linked to their portfolios or websites. At the bottom of this post you’ll fine some links to Flickr groups where you can find more similar and exciting photos.
Also consider our previous showcases:
- 35 Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography
- 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos
- Beautiful Black And White Photos
- (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
- Celebration Of Smoke Photography and Smoke Art
50 Stunning Underwater Photos
Kenvin Pinardy
Dancing underwater.
Gattaldo
Water just makes every situation more poetic and graceful.
Smodger
Colorful scene captured using macro photography technique.
Tina Owens
Blue crab holding an urchin on its head for protection.
Saul Kondrotas
Jellyfish
Last Click
1938 underwater photography
By Bruce Mozertom.
Further Resources
Links for further photographs and related resources.
- Life Aquatic
The Life Aquatic group welcomes pictures of, but not limited to, amphibians, annelids, abalone, anemones, aquariums, aquatic plants, birds, bryozoans, chambered nautilus, cnidaria, coral reefs, crustaceans, coelenterates, ctenophores, fish, freshwater fish, jellyfish, marine mammals, mollusks, octopi, reptiles, sea snakes, sea squirts, sea turtles, sharks, sponges, squid, starfish, tunicates, etc. - Aquatic Turtles
All species of aquatic turtles - Aquatic insects
Photography of benthic macroinvertebrates, including dragonflies, mosquitoes, mayflies, stoneflies, water striders, beetles, etc. - Digital Underwater Photography
Scuba and other underwater photos. - Underwater Indoneesia
Photos taken underwater in Indonesia, including Bali, Java, Moluccas, Papua (Irian Jaya), Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi (Celebes), and other dive spots in Indonesia. - Underwater Maldives
Photos taken underwater in the Maldives Islands. - Underwater Videos
Underwater, scuba, diving or snorkeling videos.
(al)
ahnShev (October 19th, 2008, 4:07 pm)
Pertamax :D
wow…great!!
Jonthan (October 19th, 2008, 4:38 pm)
These are amazing!
Tombo (October 19th, 2008, 5:01 pm)
FYI, #12 (Exhale) isn’t actually an underwater photograph. On the flickr page the creator states that it was photoshopped.
edsonworks (October 19th, 2008, 5:07 pm)
i wish i can survive in underwater world… brilliant shot!
Keris (October 19th, 2008, 5:51 pm)
beautiful, great :)
robotobi (October 19th, 2008, 6:00 pm)
seriously. pictures are nice.. once in a while.
but i’d like to see some more webdev related content again..
Daniel (October 19th, 2008, 6:35 pm)
Hello, I am from Indaiatuba (São Paulo, Brazil) and love the Smashing Magazine.
These pictures are really fantastic.
bert (October 19th, 2008, 7:00 pm)
stunning!
Dave (October 19th, 2008, 8:35 pm)
The girls in flowing fabric under water is completely played out…
Jenghis (October 19th, 2008, 8:53 pm)
I like the turtle photo :)
simply makes me want to swim with it.
Nate (October 19th, 2008, 9:43 pm)
Is it just me, or do the vast majority of these photos look 100% photoshopped? These aren’t even photos that have simply been “touched up”; the human models look much more like plastic than flesh. You could have found 50 photos that look realistic instead of this fake stuff. Even if most of these are real shots, they’ve all been photoshopped well beyond acceptable limits.
True beauty is found in real photographs that capture the eye and the imagination. Not in photos that look like they popped out of a hollywood film. *rolls eyes*
Albiona (October 19th, 2008, 9:52 pm)
Stunning as always. I would like to make a suggestion: could you please implement a j/k navigation (like reader and boston dot com, and of course, emacs) so it is handier to jump to the next picture or topic?
ali (October 19th, 2008, 10:00 pm)
:-p
Andris (October 19th, 2008, 10:35 pm)
I like the ones of Dustin Humphrey and the tiger of Eldad Hagar. The others are also nice, but those are the nicest.
Gerd Wippich (October 19th, 2008, 10:46 pm)
So beautiful! Dustin Humphrey is very special.
Joefrey Mahusay (October 19th, 2008, 10:48 pm)
Great scenes! I love all of these!
yoxx (October 19th, 2008, 10:51 pm)
one word…”awesome!”
speedcu (October 19th, 2008, 11:54 pm)
WOW!!
pipomu (October 20th, 2008, 12:05 am)
wow… Really nice pictures
Dele (October 20th, 2008, 12:10 am)
simply stunning!! I love this genre :)
Ole (October 20th, 2008, 12:51 am)
Hey great pictures but i really do miss some ive seen long time ago. That was a book and they pictures of people diving with elephants….they should really be in here…unfortunatly i cant find the page anymore…maybee someone can post the adresse!?
Thanks
David Mathi Raj (October 20th, 2008, 2:33 am)
Hey,
Wonderful !
All the photographs are Wonderful, except those with female presence !!
basibanget (October 20th, 2008, 4:11 am)
Link [www.flickr.com] a good one
Mayur (October 20th, 2008, 4:58 am)
wow :D Beautiful artistic pictures
SM Rocks ….
Link [webtrickz.com]
Jehzeel Laurente (October 20th, 2008, 5:02 am)
all i can say is… “WOOOOOOOOW”!
MSOnWired (October 20th, 2008, 5:06 am)
The color is amazing in these pictures. I love the composition and anger in the last National Geographic photo.
onwired.com
tom (October 20th, 2008, 5:10 am)
@nate - who cares if they’ve been photoshopped? Are you one of those people who whinges about people using digital slrs as well, that they’re not proper photographers?
surely true beauty is found in photographs that capture the eye and the imagination. so what if artists choose to use photoshop to create stunning visual effects?
some of these are amazing…
Dan (October 20th, 2008, 5:46 am)
You should check the work from Link [www.vitorschietti.com] for Link [www.estudiomopa.com]. Astonishing underwater photos for the studio’s portfolio.
mikey (October 20th, 2008, 6:00 am)
@ tom - i think nate’s point is that the title is “stunning underwater photographs” not “digital artwork inspired by stunning underwater photographs”.
that said, there’s a lot of good work up there. however I agree that we’re seeing TOO many “stunning photos” and hardly enough other stuff, like dev or animation or anything else for that matter.
danny garcía (October 20th, 2008, 6:31 am)
oh! nice pic`s
DaveW (October 20th, 2008, 7:16 am)
Fabulous set! I *really* need to go diving again…
Submitted for your consideration:
Link [farm4.static.flickr.com]
Miriam (October 20th, 2008, 8:48 am)
Absolut beautiful.
Dora (October 20th, 2008, 9:17 am)
Wow these are awesome!!! :-)
ZeroD (October 20th, 2008, 9:51 am)
as always amazing showcase
here are also great underwater photos which are in wallpaper resolutions
Link [www.wallpaperstop.com]
hylas (October 20th, 2008, 10:00 am)
Shelly Corbett:
Link [www.shellycorbett.com]
This is the best underwater photographer I’ve ever seen.
hylas
kimble (October 20th, 2008, 2:56 pm)
this is some amazing and very creative photography. i love the vibrant colours and creative contexts.
amazing
Kerrie Brooking (October 20th, 2008, 4:17 pm)
Photoshopped some may be, but how can we forget the wonderful imagination of the photographer! Just love the shot by Gattaldo, (sea nymph and lover??), visionary at its best!!!
Kelly (October 20th, 2008, 6:12 pm)
These are all beautiful, but I also agree with the other person who said that the underwater photos of women in flowing fabrics are getting over-done.
For those macro photos - if ANY of you have ever attempted to take photos underwater while diving, you’ll have a sincere appreciation for these shots. It is NOT easy taking underwater photos. Not only are your subjects moving around, but the environment itself is moving YOU around as well: swells, currents, etc. all make taking photos underwater a pretty challenging undertaking. So it’s a treat when you get some of these wonderful closeups and crystal-clear shots (photoshopped, though some may be).
Shunan (October 20th, 2008, 7:40 pm)
every pic was…wow!!!
alex (October 20th, 2008, 7:44 pm)
gorgeous.
Phani (October 20th, 2008, 9:45 pm)
wow really stunning photos
LULZ (October 21st, 2008, 12:40 am)
The chick with the tits was hottttt
jim barter (October 21st, 2008, 3:06 am)
dude, check out…
Link [www.green.colorize.net] macro photography in a fish tank, sublime stuff.
Robert (October 21st, 2008, 7:49 am)
The photograph, taken under the surface, of the man standing on the boat, with light streaming in behind him (after: Anatoly Beloschin and before: Zena Holloway), which is currently marked as “Unknown” is definitely one of David Doubilets pictures. It is part of his limited edition fine art prints (http://www.daviddoubilet.com/gallery/public/thumbs.asp?dup=759259).
Nice work on putting this collection together
DaveH (October 21st, 2008, 8:31 am)
What??? No Alberich mathews?
Link [www.flickr.com]
Wayfaring Wanderer (October 22nd, 2008, 6:52 am)
I love the shot of the chick holding a birdcage with a fish……….WONDERFUL!
Link [www.wayfaringwanderer.com]
selvi (October 22nd, 2008, 8:02 am)
really xlent wat a picture
Vinay Prajapati (October 22nd, 2008, 9:11 am)
nature is really beautiful, thanks for great share!
Salma Zahid (October 24th, 2008, 1:24 am)
man.. those are some srunning pictures
Flavio Mendes (October 24th, 2008, 9:55 am)
Beautiful :o)
Christian Herbert Kulza (October 24th, 2008, 1:12 pm)
Magníficas. Lindas cores. Dá para imaginar o que há mais abaixo que isso? Fantastic.
Pamela (October 26th, 2008, 7:57 pm)
All of the comments and opinions on this collection are true of most collections. Some photog’s are purists, some like to enhance, some go wild! The point is the talent and vision that the photographer has and uses to create these beautiful, beautiful photographs.
ishizawa (October 26th, 2008, 10:52 pm)
Amazing image!! I like the color contrast!
john (October 27th, 2008, 5:48 am)
Nice but very KIRI !!
payam (October 28th, 2008, 9:13 pm)
beautiful, great :)
mohammad (October 30th, 2008, 8:11 pm)
ok….varey good
かとうせいじ (November 2nd, 2008, 2:25 am)
とてもすばらしいです！！
It’s very beautiful.
Kerrie Brooking (November 4th, 2008, 4:19 pm)
The shot by Gattaldo is called ‘The Kiss’ and can be viewed at:
Link [www.behance.net]
Jason Heller (November 16th, 2008, 6:46 pm)
The unknown shot is by legend David Doubilet - more from him and others on Link [www.divephotoguide.com]
Mika E Calles (November 18th, 2008, 4:25 pm)
Such a pleasure to see. Thank you for your creativity…
Dan (November 21st, 2008, 8:43 am)
Some of these are very good. However, i don’t believe the 2 shots of the orange jellyfish in a tank with a blue background taken at aquariums from the dry side of the glass belong in this set. Every amateur with a semi-decent camera that has been to an aquarium with a jellyfish display has nearly identical pics… hardly “stunning”.
yashwanth (November 21st, 2008, 9:58 am)
awesome ,,,,
vry beautful pics,,,,,thks 4 them,,
Rajan (November 29th, 2008, 10:45 am)
Its really beautiful….Great Pictures,Thanks.
olivier (December 5th, 2008, 9:11 am)
super cool. suer beautiful. a big thank you!
Gary (January 1st, 2009, 1:46 pm)
Wow! Some striking photographs, and many with gorgeous color contrasts.