Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands

Behind The Shot: This parasitic isopod was seen hitching a ride atop a catalufa.

Camera Gear: Canon 5D Mark IV with a 100mm lens

Settings: f/16; 1/100; ISO 100

Location: Mornington Peninsula, Australia

Behind The Shot: An artificial reef specifically designed to attract octopuses to the area proved to be an instant success with all the marine life in this region of Victoria, Australia. The Buddha statue is the latest addition to the reef, and the pale octopuses love visiting. On several occasions I have found an octopus tucked in under the chin of the Buddha. When this photo was taken, the pale octopus was resting on the statue’s shoulder and appeared to be whispering in the ear of the Buddha. I was able to take this shot without disturbing the octopus in its resting place.

Camera Gear: Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II; Isotta housing; Kraken Sports KR-S02 strobes

Settings: f/6.3; 1/200; ISO 200

Location: Red Sea, Egypt

Behind The Shot: During this wreck trip we explored the Thistlegorm four times, each time playing with different lighting techniques to illuminate the interior structures, objects and vehicles. I shot this with ambient light after we set up some powerful staging lights in the trucks. These images required a lot of teamwork and coordination, down to the model—who had perfect trim—giving the space a sense of scale.

Camera Gear: Sony a7S III with a 16-35mm lens; Nauticam housing

Settings: f/4; 1/80; ISO 3200

Related Reading: What It's Like to Be an Underwater Photographer in Ningaloo Reef

Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands

Behind The Shot: This photo was taken in September, when the calm seas come to Tenerife. I used the tranquil, crystal-clear waters to get a good surface reflection of a small family of pilot whales.

Camera Gear: Canon 5D Mark IV with 15mm lens

Settings: f/9; 1/160; ISO 200

Location: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia

Behind The Shot: The sea always has great surprises, and while you may frequently find squid eggs in the most unexpected places, often beaten by the currents, it is not so common to observe large squids appearing out of thin air like a hunting squadron, some standing guard while others are left to carry out the task that Mother Nature has given them: to oxygenate the eggs and thus encourage the birth of the new generation. These squids disappeared just as suddenly as they showed up. It’s all part of the continuous cycle of life.

Camera Gear: Canon 5D Mark IV with a Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens; Easydive Leo3 underwater housing; two Sea&Sea YS-D2 strobes

Settings: f/9; 1/200; ISO 320

Location: Abu Dabbab, Egypt

Behind The Shot: I really love night diving. Five years ago, my friends and I discovered the very rich macro world in Abu Dabbab Bay. On one of our night dives, we met an Octopus conispadiceus in the water column, measuring no more than 5 or 6 centimeters. I was lucky to photograph it.

Camera Gear: Canon EOS R5; Sigma 70mm Macro Art lens; two Inon Z-330 strobes

Settings: f/22; 1/160; ISO 160

Location: Tulum, Mexico

Behind The Shot: During a trip to Tulum, we decided to go dive the most emblematic cenotes in the area, so of course El Pit was one that topped the list. We were diving there just after a big hurricane. A lot of people had left the area, so we got the chance to dive this world-famous cenote with almost no other divers. Diving there during the summer, the sunbeams are much stronger and are absolutely stunning—truly one unique dive site in the middle of the jungle.

Camera Gear: Sony a7R IV with a Canon 8-15mm lens and Sigma MC-11 converter in an Easydive housing with a 6-inch dome

Settings: f/8; 1/50; ISO 1250

Location: Tulamben, Indonesia

Behind The Shot: The Favorinus tsuruganus is a species known to prey on the eggs of other nudibranchs. My dive guide found this one sitting on a large egg mass, though I’m not sure what species produced the eggs.

Camera Gear: Canon EOS R6 with a 100mm lens and AOI +18.5 close-up wet lens; Ikelite housing; two Inon Z-240 strobes

Settings: f/29; 1/200; ISO 100

Location: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida

Behind The Shot: Summer brings calm seas to South Florida, where a dedicated community of shore divers heads out nearly every day to search the nearshore Florida Reef Tract for cool critters. My friends Dewalt and Evelyn signaled me from across the reef to see this lizardfish struggling with a large doctorfish in its mouth. My rig was set up for miniscule nudibranchs, so I needed to back far away from the lizardfish and push my strobes as forward as possible to fit it all in my very tight frame.

Camera Gear: Sony a6500; Nauticam housing; Sony 90mm macro lens; two Backscatter MF-2 strobes

Settings: f/13; 1/80; ISO 200

Related Reading: Ask a Pro Photographer: How to Use Photography for Conservation

Location: Aqaba, Jordan

Behind The Shot: During a threeday period, my dive buddy Matt Waters and I kept returning to this helicopter wreck to perfect our composition and lighting setup, ending up with four strobes and one video light. Including a model in the frame can really elevate an underwater photo to the next level. Doing it right rarely comes by chance, which is why model collaboration is a key part of my wide-angle photography course. When it comes to wrecks, the model often doubles up as a lighting assistant, which was the case for this photo.

Camera Gear: Nikon Z9 in a Nauticam housing; Nikon 8-15mm fisheye lens; two Retra Flash Pro strobes, two Ikelite DS230 strobes and one Bigblue 65,000-lumen video light

Settings: f/11; 1/100; ISO 400

Location: Anilao, Philippines

Behind The Shot: I love blackwater diving, and I often go to Anilao to take pictures. We encounter plankton, larvae and juvenile fish in black water, and most of the juvenile fish hide in jellyfish. One day while blackwater diving in Anilao, I found a fish swimming around using a piece of trash paper as if there was nowhere else to hide, and I pressed the shutter.

Camera Gear: Nikon Z8 with a 60mm macro lens; Nauticam housing; dual SUPE Scubalamp D-Pro strobes

Settings: f/20; 1/200; ISO 200

See the winning images of the 2024 Through Your Lens Photo Contest here.