The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition has released it's 2025 results last weekend. I am proud to share I am one of the winners in this prestigious underwater photography competition.

The award ceremony was held in The Crown Estate in Piccadilly Circus, an amazing venue for the evening where many of the winners came together to hear and see the results. Me and Sandy travelled to London to receive the awards for two images that made it all the way to the winning stage of the competition.

With 6752 entries in the competition, coming from over 600 photographers from 30 countries it is an understatement to say I am proud that these images have come so far. The first image that got awarded with a third place in the ever popular Wide-angle category of the competition is "New Moon Madness".

It was shot in the Maldives in Hanifaru Bay which is famed for the schooling manta rays that come to feed on a bonanza of zooplankton around specific lunar events. Special kudo's for Sandy for making sure we visited the place at the right time even though the season for manta encounters in the bay seemed virtually over.

The second image that got awarded is "Hanging by a Thread" which placed in the Save Our Seas - Marine Conservation Photographer of the year Category. The image, shot in Shetland is not an easy one to look at. To me however the image is reflecting an important part of who I am and want to be as a photographer.

Just showing the beauty of the underwater world only, does not cut it for me. Since we as underwater photographers are incredibly privileged to visit these places where animals thrive (or should thrive), I feel we also should share whenever we see wildlife struggle. Especially when the animals struggle due to human introduced issues I find it our duty to share these visual stories. We had an amazing evening looking at the other photographers' amazing work as well as learning from their experience and the feedback of the judges. Don't forget to check out the other winning images; there are some absolute stunners in there. The Yearbook might provide you with the best experience!

The celebratory Guinnesses (is that a word?) in the Glassblower pub also did not disappoint by the way... Note: some of the above images of the event were kindly shared by Saeed Rashid