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Mesmerizing, striking, surreal, and chilly are only a few of the adjectives worthy of describing the powerful images by Photographer of the Week, Tobias Friedrich. With great skill and visual thought, he somehow manages to pack knockout punches into a single frame. Whether through his use of exposure and lighting to create a sunburst, or implementation of patience to capture a behavioral moment, Tobias’ images deliver the “wow” factor that underwater photographers seek to achieve.

But shooting in the underwater environment is all very natural for Tobias, who grew up watching Jacques Cousteau adventures. He finds the mental and physical space beneath the surface to be a calming arena where he can focus on the beauty of nature, while escaping the noise of the hustle and bustle of a human’s life on land.
 

Mantas, Baa Atoll, Maldives
 

Fur seal, Cape Town, South Africa
 

Split shot of an iceberg, Greenland
 

Fur seal biting kelp, Cape Town, South Africa
 

Humpback whale, Oman
 

Anemonefish, Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea
 

Blue-ringed octopus, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
 

Giant moray eel free-swimming the Chrisoula Wreck, Red Sea, Egypt

To see more of Tobias’ work, check out his website: www.below-surface.com. You can also purchase his book, Underwater Photography, on Amazon.com.