We’re thrilled to unveil the judges for the DPG Masters Underwater Imaging Competition 2024. This year, the illustrious panel comprises six top photographers and ambassadors for the biggest brands in underwater imaging: Nicolas Remy (Nauticam), Steven Kovacs (Ikelite), Shane Gross (Marelux), Tanya Houppermans (Isotta), Imran Ahmad (Seacam), and Andy Sallmon (Sea&Sea).

As well as assessing your entries, each of these seasoned photo pros is offering a unique “mentor prize” to one lucky winner—an invaluable hour-long one-on-one video chat session to review your portfolio and give you handy tips and advice to help make your underwater photography even better.

This year, there are nine categories—Traditional, Macro, Wide Angle, Over-Under, Conservation, Blackwater, Portfolio, Compact and Short Film—with winners and runners-up receiving prizes worth more than $80,000 in total, include dive trips with the world’s top resorts and liveaboards, as well as the latest underwater photo and video gear. The judges will also decide on the top entry overall, with the winning entrant—the DPG Grand Master 2024—receiving both the top trip prize and the top equipment prize (by value).

The competition deadline—December 31st—is a month-and-a-half away, so make sure to start going through your images (and videos) now. We’re looking forward to seeing more of your amazing work!

Find out more about the judges below. To submit your images or videos, head over to the contest page on www.underwatercompetition.com.

DPG Masters 2024 Judges

Nicolas Remy
		Nicolas Remy is a French-Australian freelance underwater photographer based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of The Underwater Club, an online photography school and community, with members in 18 countries, and he serves as an ambassador for Nauticam and Mares. Nicolas’ images have won over 40 international awards and have been widely published in print and digital media. A seasoned photojournalist, he has authored dozens of articles for publications such as Scuba Diver Magazine, Plongez! and DivePhotoGuide, covering marine life, dive travel, and equipment topics.
Steven Kovacs
		Steven Kovacs has been fascinated by the underwater world from a very young age. Born in Canada, he began diving in the cold, nutrient-rich waters surrounding Vancouver Island. In 2001, he purchased his first camera and an Ikelite underwater housing system. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Florida to pursue his passion in a more tropical setting. Steven soon developed a love for macro photography, with a particular focus on capturing underwater behaviors. Over the past 20 years, he has placed in well over 100 international photo contests. His work has been widely published in numerous books and magazines and displayed in esteemed institutions, including the Smithsonian Museum and the Venice Natural History Museum. In recent years, Steven has become an avid enthusiast of blackwater diving—an activity that involves drifting near the surface at night over deep waters to photograph rarely seen pelagic and deep-water species that ascend to shallower depths under the cover of darkness.
Shane Gross
		Shane Gross is a Canadian underwater and conservation photojournalist known for his work in marine life photography and promoting ocean conservation. His images highlight the beauty of underwater ecosystems while raising awareness about the threats they face. Shane is an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and a co-founder of the Canadian Conservation Photographers Collective (CCPC). Shane was the Grand Title Winner of the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. His first book, Bahamas Underwater, was published in 2021 with funds raised from sales of the book going to ocean education programs in The Bahamas.
Tanya Houppermans
		Tanya Houppermans is an underwater photographer/videographer and shark naturalist who has won numerous international awards for her photography including the Grand Prize in the Big Picture Natural World Photography Competition, First Place in the Portrait Category in the Underwater Photographer of the Year Competition, and an unprecedented three First Place awards in the World Shootout “Sharks” category. Her images have appeared in publications around the world, including National Geographic. In 2023, Tanya was elected as a Fellow into the Explorers Club due to her discoveries in shark science. She is currently an ambassador for Isotta.
Imran Ahmad
		Imran Ahmad is Asia’s most celebrated and internationally published underwater photographer. He has been capturing the magnificence of life both below and above the water’s surface for over 22 years, and is known for his experimental photography with light and motion. Imran graduated from Middlesex University, UK with a Bachelor of Arts in Filmmaking. He is an ambassador for Seacam, Blancpain, Mares, Nikon, DAN, and RGBlue Lights, and is a member of the Ocean Artists Society. He spends much of his time as a university lecturer and professional photographer, giving presentations and promoting photography in all of its aspects. He also serves as a judge for several influential photo competitions around the world. Imran currently runs workshops on conservation, underwater, travel, and commercial photography, as well as running photo dive trips around the world.
Andy Sallmon
		Andy Sallmon began scuba diving in 1979 and was so enamored by the underwater world that he literally dropped everything to pursue a career underwater. A year later, he picked up his first underwater camera, an old Nikonos II film camera, and immersed himself to learn everything he could about both the technical and artistic aspects of underwater photography. In the mid-1980s, while working as a dive instructor and on staff for scuba diving stores and dive charter companies in California and Maui, he became an underwater photography instructor. As an instructor and photo pro, he spent the next two decades showing students and customers how to use their gear to create better images, while furthering his own skills in the process. By the year 2000, after several initial successes in marketing his underwater work and with a growing list of editorial and advertising clients, he started his own underwater photography business, Andrew Sallmon Marine Photography. At that same time, he began working with the equipment manufacturer Sea&Sea and continues to work with them as an ambassador and technical rep, training and advising underwater photography retailers about the brand. After completing over 10,000 dives, 90% with an underwater camera in hand, he can still be found enjoying himself in his “local” southern California waters, or in a deep blue tropical sea someplace.

DPG MASTERS 2024 PRIZE SPONSORS