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UnderwaterPhoto Contests
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UPY 2026

by Underwater Photographer of the Year (Dan Bolt and Alex Mustard) (opens in a new tab)

Entries closed

Results are out

  • Closed 04 JAN
  • Fee from £20
  • Cats 14
Add to calendar Official site (opens in a new tab) Rules (opens in a new tab) Results (opens in a new tab)

You're viewing a past edition. See UPY 2027 →

Key dates

  1. Entries open

  2. Final deadline

  3. Results

    Feb 2026

  4. Ceremony

  • In-person judging: Tue 6 Jan 2026
  • RAW files requested from shortlisted entrants: Sat 10 Jan 2026
  • Deadline for shortlisted RAW files: Sat 17 Jan 2026
  • Winners presented on stage at the Go Diving Show (UK): Sat 28 Feb 2026

Entry fees

Entry options and prices
Up to 3 images£20
Up to 10 images£35
Up to 20 images£45

Free for: Save Our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation category (limited number of images, no fee)

Image allowances are shared across categories. Payment by PayPal. Search extracts of the rules also mentioned free entry for the phone category and for British Waters Living Together; check the rules for which free categories apply.

Prizes

Title of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026

  • cash
  • gear
  • other

Category prizes from sponsors include cash (e.g. £500 for the British Waters Living Together winner, funded by The Crown Estate), equipment and vouchers.

Categories

  • Wide Angle

    Wide-angle

  • Macro

    Macro

  • Wrecks

    Wreck

  • Behaviour

    Behaviour

  • Portrait

    Portrait

  • Coral Reefs

    Other

    Any style of image (wide, macro, behaviour, documentary) of tropical coral reefs.

  • Black & White

    Black & white

    Monochrome images of any underwater subject; toning and tinting are fine.

  • Up & Coming

    Newcomer

    Restriction: For photographers who have not yet won major awards; see the rules for the eligibility cutoff.

  • Compact

    Compact & mobile

  • Smartphone

    Other

    Images taken with any smartphone, housed or not, from anywhere.

  • British Waters Wide Angle

    Local waters

    Restriction: Taken in UK waters.

  • British Waters Macro

    Local waters

    Restriction: Taken in UK waters.

  • British Waters Living Together

    Local waters

    Images showing people and the sea interacting around the UK.

    Restriction: Taken in UK waters.

  • Save Our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year

    Conservation

    Conservation-themed images; above-water pictures are accepted too.

Who can enter

Open to
Open to all

Entrants must have taken the images themselves.

Rules at a glance

AI-generated images
Banned
AI-assisted editing
Limited tools only
RAW files
Required from finalists

Anyone caught submitting AI-generated material faces a lifetime ban. Images must be recent (see rules for the exact window).

Your image rights

Photographer-friendly

You keep copyright. UPY may reproduce top images royalty-free only to share results and promote the competition, always with your credit; sponsors of a category may use its images in campaigns about the competition.

Licence
Contest promotion only
Duration
Not specified
Commercial use by organiser
No
Credit promised
Yes
How "Photographer-friendly" is decided
  • Read carefully: the entrant grants an exclusive licence or transfers rights, or the organiser may use entries commercially (sell, license, use in paid products).
  • Photographer-friendly: use is limited to promoting the contest, there is no commercial use by the organiser, and credit is promised.
  • Standard: everything in between — typically a broad non-exclusive licence for marketing without commercial resale.

This is our plain-language summary, not legal advice. Read the official terms before entering: official rules & terms (opens in a new tab).

Judges

  • Alex Mustard · Chair of the jury
  • Peter Rowlands
  • Tobias Friedrich

Research notes

Closing was stated as midnight GMT on 4 January 2026. The official dates page gives two different public announcement dates (20 and 27 February 2026), so results are recorded to the month. Matty Smith won overall with "Rockpool Rookies"; the yearbook reports over 7,900 entries. Direct page fetches were blocked in this research session, so the official pages were read through search-engine extracts.

Provenance

Verified · 7 sources

  1. Important dates (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  2. Competition rules (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  3. Use of AI (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  4. Competition categories (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  5. 2026 Winners (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  6. 2026 Sponsors and prizes (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15
  7. Meet the judges (opens in a new tab) · accessed 2026-10-15

All editions

  1. UPY 2027≈ early Jan 2027Expected
  2. UPY 2026closed Sun 4 Jan 2026Results out3 judges Results (opens in a new tab)