Water sports

There’s a striking elegance to this black and white. The lighting isolates the players beautifully, and their positioning feels almost like a moment from a ballet—poised, tense, and perfectly timed. The water binds them together with lush texture and the high contrast gives it a cinematic edge. It’s a great example of how sport and grace can come together in a single frame. Great job!

Classic. This image pulls us directly into the heart of the action—so close you can almost feel the spray of the wave. The tight framing works to great effect here, drawing our attention to the surfer’s concentration and physicality as he drives through the turn. His body position and the arc of water behind him create a dynamic frame that feels alive with motion. There’s an intimacy, too—it doesn’t just document the sport, it puts us in the moment, right there in the water, catching the energy and precision of the ride. Love the grain.

This photograph offers a striking glimpse into Kambala. The composition is strong, putting us right in the path of the action. The timing is effective, freezing the spray and intensity of the moment. While the frame is slightly chaotic, it suits the raw energy of the event and highlights its cultural vibrancy.

This is a stunning composite captured with flair. The timing is well controlled—freezing the exact second the dancer leaps in a graceful arc. The high shutter speed, combined with sharp lighting, highlights muscle movement well. It’s a brilliant example of how athleticism and artistry come together in photography. More dance than watersports but allowing a commendation as it implies swimming.

A lone swimmer cutting through one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes. The frame balances vastness and scale well, the swimmer foregrounded against the horizon line, while the cargo ship hangs distant, almost suspended, anchoring the image’s depth. Shafts of light break through the cloud cover adding detail to that dead-space, drawing the eye along the water’s texture. A quiet, deliberate composition — both in the camera and in the act.

The black and white treatment adds grit to this scene of a tourist diving from a boat. His body is caught beautifully in mid-air, arms spread, contrasting against the bright sky. The tilted perspective places the boat low and heavy, while the open water and distant city shoreline provide contrast to the natural texture of the sea. It’s a simple frame, but one that conveys movement and spontaneity. Love these kind of photos.

This image freezes the kayaker mid-stroke, captured with a fast shutter speed that holds every droplet of spray in sharp detail. The close framing pushes the viewer directly into the action, emphasizing the strain in his arms and shoulders as he leans forward against the current. Focus is locked tightly on the athlete, while the rushing water behind softens just enough to separate him from the chaos. The combination of crisp detail, shallow depth, and tight composition highlights both the technical difficulty of the sport and the palpable physical effort required to push through whitewater at speed.

This really captures the essence of exploring underwater, as any scuba diver will relate to. The feeing of movement is strong, leading us along the seabed as that vast school of fish sweeps through the frame, shimmering in the light from above. The wide-angle perspective highlights the diver’s small presence against the living mass, blending technical sharpness with the wonder of encountering marine life up close.

This image caught my eye very early on in the competition and actually placed quite highly in the top 10. Unfortunately it was withdrawn from the competition. By the time it was re-entered I had reconsidered the ranking of the winning images. A shame. Beautiful frame.

This top-down shot captures both the energy and isolation of the moment really well. The timing is great. The swimmer mid-stroke, gives a real sense of movement. The clean lines and even lighting make the image sharp and easy to read. The overhead angle also adds a nice mathematical touch, making it feel both sporty and visually interesting. Really like this frame.

This frame captures a split second where athletic control and raw turbulence collide. Caught mid-rotation, the board angled sharply overhead while his body twists under the sheer force of the wave. You can see the strain in his posture — every muscle working to maintain position against the chaos. The image benefits from that fast shutter speed, which freezes the spray into a curtain of fine detail without losing our subject in the whitewash. The framing keeps the board and surfer tight within the composition, making the viewer feel locked into the violence of the moment.

This quiet image offers a gentle counterpoint to the high-energy moments elsewhere in the competition. A silhouetted figure standing on the bough, mid-cast, The short exposure fixes the light of morning (or dusk) just right, making the image seem full of calm. Technically, the silhouette is clean and well-defined, thanks to backlighting and careful exposure control. Including this moment highlights the slower, contemplative side of watersports—more about patience and stillness than motion or adrenaline.

The aerial view captures the surfer moving across a turquoise wave so cleanly, it literally slices through the frame. The photograph works pleasingly by setting the surfer against the mix of calm water and foamy texture. The high angle simplifies the scene, giving a sense of scale while keeping the frame balanced and straightforward. Nice drone work!

This monochrome captures a quiet but engaging moment in the surf. The use of black and white flattens the scene slightly but draws attention to texture and contrast, especially where light glints off the water. The surfer riding the wave is well-placed, while others wait or paddle, adding a sense of rhythm and anticipation. Technically solid, with thoughtful composition.

A distance swimmer makes his way across the rippled sands, fresh from the water. The photographer captures him mid-stride, using a high, slightly oblique angle to emphasize the sculptural forms left by the retreating tide. The sea gathers in smooth, podlike pools below, catching just enough light to give texture without glare. It’s a quietly composed frame — minimal, but rich in detail — where the human presence is small but purposeful.

A clean, precise frame that finds its subject mid-flight. The surfer arcs high above the wave, body shaped by control and commitment, the board tether whipping around is great! Spray fills the space like grain on film — great texture. Light flattens and softens the chaos, pulling the action into something almost sculptural.

This image takes an abstract approach to the brief, I like that. Using a reflection in wet sand to suggest, rather than explicitly show, its subject. The distorted mirror effect creates a painterly quality, with ripples breaking up the otherwise clear silhouette. The bold yellows and blues of the board stand out against the soft, almost colourless ground, offering some visual anchoring in an otherwise diffuse frame.

While the image plays successfully with suggestion and impression, the composition feels a touch compressed. A wider frame may have allowed the subject more visual space to breathe, particularly given the openness implied by the scene. As it stands, the figure feels slightly cropped in its motion, making the viewer work a little harder to engage with the photograph’s rhythm. Nonetheless, it’s an image that rewards a second look to engage and feel the moment.

There’s a beautiful sense of momentum in this image—clean, fluid, and fast. The panning technique smooths the background into streaks of pastel ocean and sunset sky, letting the kiteboarder stand crisp and balanced against the motion. You can almost hear the wind in the lines and the quiet hiss of board on water. It’s a technical shot pulled off with the results of a painting.

Shot tight and vertically to emphasise scale, this image captures the kayaker mid-drop, moments before vanishing into the chaos. The framing isolates them against the wall of water, highlighting just how steep, violent, and committed the descent is. Timing is everything—frozen at the exact point where gravity, paddle, and precision all align.

The upward pull of the rope meets the downward gaze of the lens, framing a still moment where breath and gravity pause together. Nicely balanced fill-flash here against that strong crisp backlit water. A lovely portrait in the big blue!

Soft mist rising off the river sets a quiet tone, while filtered light through the canopy adds gentle contrast. The paddler, mid-stroke, is well placed within a subtle compositional flow. Exposure is handled with care—details held in both shadows and highlights. Feels like a calm, immersive frame with a sense of both still and alive.