20 Awesome Underwater Photo Shoots

Just add water, and it's art, right? Maybe the following photo shoots weren't that simple to do, but we admit that taking photos underwater has a certain magic to it, even if it might appear effortless. If anything, everyone loves a good shark pic, but not everyone has access to a shark to casually photograph. Here are 20 Awesome Underwater Photo Shoots that will have you thinking differently about life on earth and what we can capture in the ocean.

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Photographer: Daniel Botelhoe

National Geographic photographer Daniel Botelho is a prolific underwater photographer. This time, he's capturing the icebergs of Antarctica half in the water and half out of the water.

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Photographer: Christian Vizl

This is just like King Kong, except the woman falls in love with a dolphin instead of a gorilla. Either way, these make for some compelling photographs.

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Photographer: Daniel Botelho

Daniel Botelho has an affinity for large projects. In this shoot, he captures whales in their natural habitats off the coast of South Africa, which was a big challenge since whales are notoriously unfriendly.

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Photographer: Daniel Botelho

Botelho is a recognizable name in the photography world, and he's most known for larger projects like icebergs in Antarctica or elephants in India. In this shoot, Botelho uses actual models and photographs some of the underwater scenery off the coast of Curacao.

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Photographer: Tobias Friedrich

German photographer Tobias Friedrich's work is straight forward yet no less impressive than something more cryptic. His series shows photos of manta rays in their purest form.

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Photographer: Amos Nachoum

Photographer Amos Nachoum has an affinity for photographing some of world's largest underwater beasts. Nachoum has photographed whales, sharks, narwols and everything in between, with his photographs appearing in LIFE, The New York Times, and TIME.

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Photographer: Tobias Friedrich

Tobias Friedrich is one of the world's most prominent young underwater photographers. Of German decent, Friedrich has traveled across the world photographing numerous locations and appearing in many esteemed publications.

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Photographer: Jason Isley

Jason Isley offers a unique perspective on underwater photography in his series, Miniatures. He uses small, human action figures and portrays them in ocean life, juxtaposing them with the creatures we usually consider to be smaller and inferior to us.

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Photographer: Daniel Selmeczi

Daniel Selmeczi has an outstanding reputation as a photographer both on land and in the sea. Since he was raised in the landlocked country of Hungary, Selmeczi did not begin diving until he was an adult. He's honed his underwater skills, as evidenced by this shoot.

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Photographer: Joe Tepper

Last year, Joe Tepper was an intern at Young Underwater Photographer sponsored by Rolex. Joe spent a week on the big island of Hawaii, using the internship funds to dive off the coast. The result of his trip are these photographs of underwater life.

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Photographer: Joan Costa

Joan Costa captured these images in the Pacific Ocean while on the Malaspina expedition, one of the world's largest expeditions showing the ocean's biodiversity. These zooplankton, usually too small to be seen with the naked eye, were photographed between Sydney and Honolulu.

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Photographer: Michael Muller

Los Angeles-based photographer Michael Muller's fascination with sharks started when he used to surf among them as a kid. His personal quest to learn more about one of the most feared animals on the planet still continues to this day, as he generally dives with only a camera and no other protection.

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Photographer: Claire Oring

Claire Oring is a 22-year-old photographer, who experimented with this series using an underwater SLR camerapac by taking photos of models floating on the water's surface or just below it. Claire attributes the majesty of these shots to the way the light reflects off the water.

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Photographer: Mark Laita

Mark Laita is an international, award-winning photographer with vast technical and artistic experiences shooting sea creatures. In "Sea," Laita explores the depths of the ocean's creatures with cutting edge technology.

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Photographer: Hengki Koentjoro

Hengki Koentjoro graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography in California before moving to Jakarta, where he now lives. He specializes in underwater photography and fine art, as evidenced by this Untitled series.

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Photographer: Kim Preston

In order to educate the world about pollution in oceans across the world, photographer Kim Preston launched her series "Plastic Pacific," transforming trash to look like the sea life that gets affected.

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Photographer: Wayne Levin

Wayne Levin explores the depths of the ocean, capturing everything from surfers to shipwrecks and sting rays. The Hawaii-based photographer has been working in black and white for the past twenty years.

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Photographer: Pinewood Studios

Nearly every widely-known British movie that has complicated underwater cinematography in it was shot at the famous Pinewood Studios in London. The studio has agreed to finally open their doors to the public, allowing us to get a firsthand look at the type of intricacies these procedures require.

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Photographer: Bruce Mozert

Bruce Mozert is typically considered the pioneer of underwater photography. In the 1950s, he developed an underwater camera and took his photos straight to Hollywood, which got a lot of people talking about his work early on. These photos, obviously taken before the time of digital editing capabilities, are all natural and truly stunning.

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Photographer: Neil Kramer

Neil Kramer has a number of beautiful photographs in this series which mostly captures models in their natural state (without clothes). Unfortunately those photos are NSFW, but if you'd like to see more, hit the link at the bottom of the page.

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