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The Gauntlet by Richard Barnden, Winner of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019
 

If you’ve been following underwater photography competitions around the world over the last few years, you’ll know the work of Henley Spiers. (Last year, he had no fewer than six images recognized in the DPG/Wetpixel Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia competitions.) What you may not know, though, is that the British shooter has got together with a fine bunch of fellow underwater photographers to create The Shot Chat, and the latest installment is a special edition all about the Underwater Photographer of the Year contest—as the deadline for the 2021 competition (January 5th) looms.

The premise of The Shot Chat is the absence of “inner and external debate about images left on the editing room floor, either rightfully or not.” As such, the idea is to create a public forum where pro shooters offer images for critique, giving readers insights about “how award-winning underwater photographers think and feel about photographs.” The panel includes Henley and partner Jade Hoksbergen, Anita Kainrath, Shane Gross, and Grant Thomas.

In the new episode—a “UPY 2021 Primer”—the panel is joined by Richard Barnden, who was named Underwater Photographer of the Year, as well as British Underwater Photographer of the Year, in 2019. The shooters discuss why they enter the contest, the type of photo that tends to do well in UPY, and how to choose images. They also share their memories of what happened after they learned of their wins.

Whether you enter UPY or any other underwater photography contest, you’ll find the discussion most interesting and inspiring.