HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY UNDERWATER
Dmitry Kokh | The Ice Grin

Name: Dmitry Kokh
Picture title: The Ice Grin
Category: Underwater
Nationality: Russia
Occupation: Running IT company 

Technical information
Camera: Sony A7R2
Lens: 28mm f2 lens + fisheye converter
EXIF: ISO 800, f7.1, 1/250 sec
Accessories: Sea&Sea underwater housing, 2x Sea&Sea YS-D2 strobes, 2x Sola lights

Dmitry says:

One fine day of our Antarctica trip we were diving next to a beautiful iceberg. Our expedition was coming to an end, and we already made nice leopard seal’s shots, which was our main target. I didn’t expect much from this dive – the weather got worse and there were no animals around. So, our plan was just to make some underwater pictures of each other next to an intricate ice formation.

In the middle of the dive my strobes ran out of batteries, and I switched to static lights. Just minutes later I saw two Crabeater seals making circles around us and coming closer and closer. They were in very playful and curious mood and I’m very sure they were attracted with those lights. Then one of the seals showed me teeth, it looks a bit scary on the picture, but I’d consider this gesture as a sign of curiosity and excitement.