Award-winning photographer, Tony Reed, has been diving since 2009 and into the photography side of diving since 2011. He concentrates mainly on compact cameras and has won many awards over the past few years using the OM Systems (Formerly Olympus) TG series of cameras.

Tony’s most recent win was earlier this year (2023) when he took first and third places in the British Waters Compact category in the Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) competition. Two months later he won the annual BSAC Splash In competition in the compact category.

‘I am 44 years old and work in engineering mainly but also restore classic cars,’ he says. ‘For most of my weekends I try to get in the sea anywhere I can as diving and underwater photography is my passion.

‘I am lucky to live in Devon, which has the most beautiful coastline for all kinds of sea life. I do also travel across the UK exploring new sites capturing all the beautiful sea creatures it has to offer.

I learned to dive in the UK but have also done several courses worldwide; after working for a while as a guide in Dubai, I came home and concentrated on colours and composition and experimenting with all kinds of lights and equipment.

‘My ethos is simple and easy photography, and if I can help anyone else on their photography journey I usually jump at the chance, as I enjoy seeing others progress.’

Sea horse found on the south coast of Devon, taken with Olympus TG4 on macro setting using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light

Discodoris rosa nudibranch found at Porthkerris in Cornwall on a bed of star ascidians, taken with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light

A scallop side-on from Beacon Cove in Devon. Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light

Anemone shrimp found at Babbacombe, Devon. Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light

Thurlestone Rock, taken with Olympus TG4 using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light and the Weefine WFL-02 Wide lens

The resident octopus at Porthkerris in Cornwall, taken with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light 

Buddy at hope Cove in Devon with Olympus TG4 using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light and the Weefine WFL-02 Wide lens

Buddy with a jelly fish at Hope Cove in Devon using Olympus TG4,a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light and a Weefin WFL-02 Wide lens

Compass jelly fish reflection taken with Olympus TG4,a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light and a Weefin WFL-02 Wide lens

Buddy in the blue at Porthkerris, Cornwall. Olympus TG4 and a Weefin WFL-02 Wide lens using natural light.

Evening split shot using Olympus TG4, a Light & Motion Gobe 850 wide video light and a Weefine WFL-02 Wide lens

Sea Hare on kelp using Olympus TG4 in macro mode and a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video.

Tompot Benny shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Octopus eye using Olympus TG4 in macro mode with a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Nudibranch on a weedy rock shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Bobtail squid shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Babbacombe Cuttlefish shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video.

Octopus at home shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Jewel anemone from Babbacombe, Devon shot with Olympus TG4 in macro mode using a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

Tompot Blenny portrait using Olympus TG4 in macro mode with a light and motion Gobe 850 wide video light.

You can find more fantastic photos showcasing the best of British diving from Tony on Instagram @tony_reed_underwater

If you’d like to see your underwater photography published on these pages and shared across our social media feed and weekly newsletter, why not drop us a line at info@divemagazine.com.

A photograph of a huge plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, has won the 2023 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for a team of amateur astronomers.

The giant arc captured by the team led by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty, in the image titled “Andromeda, Unexpected,” was a “surprising discovery” and could be the largest structure of its kind near to us in the universe, London’s Royal Observatory Greenwich, which hosts the competition, said in a statement Tuesday.

Typically, an image of a new discovery is mostly a blurry black and white image with an incomprehensible and almost invisible faint dot or spectrum, according to judge and astrophotographer László Francsics.

However, this “astrophoto is as spectacular as (it is) valuable. It not only presents Andromeda in a new way, but also raises the quality of astrophotography to a higher level,” he said in the statement.

Scientists are now investigating the large object, which is in the immediate vicinity of the Andromeda Galaxy, in a transnational collaboration, according to the observatory.

Another discovery was made by a team of amateur astronomers led by Marcel Drechsler and Xavier Strottner, whose image of an ultra-deep stellar remnant in a previously unknown galactic nebula—a giant cloud of dust and gas where stars form—topped the Stars & Nebula category.

‘Strikingly beautiful’

An image of the Running Chicken Nebula—so called because it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky, according to NASA’s website—won the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award for two 14-year-old boys from China, Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang.

The nebula is located in the Centaurus constellation, about 6,000 lights year away from Earth, according to the release.

Judge and professional astronomer Yuri Beletsky described the image as “strikingly beautiful,” adding: “The photographers have managed to capture the vibrant colours of the nebula as well as the embedded star cluster.”

“This cluster contains several hot, young stars whose intense radiation causes the surrounding nebula to glow,” he continued.

Other winners included Monika Deviat in the Aurorae category for her abstract image of an aurora in the shape of a brushstroke; Ethan Chappel in the Our Moon category for capturing the moon passing in front of Mars; Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau in the Our Sun category for snapping the sun with a huge solar filament in the shape of a question mark; and Angel An in the Skyscapes category for capturing the extremely rare phenomenon of Sprites, in which atmospheric luminescence appears like fireworks.

The innovation prize was awarded to John White for uniquely capturing the sound of the black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy using audio source material from NASA’s Chandra Sonification Project—which he played through a speaker with a petri dish attached to it.

Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art (post-1800) at Royal Museums Greenwich, said in the release that this was her first time judging the competition and that “the winning images are absolutely stunning. It has made me look at the night sky in a new light.”

The winning images will be on display in an exhibition opening at London’s National Maritime Museum on Saturday.

The winners of the 15th annual “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” competition have been announced at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich England. The annual competition features some of the best space photography taken by amateur astrophotographers from around the world.

For the 2023 competition there were over 4,000 entries from 64 countries. Our lead image features an eye-catching capture of an aurora by photographer Andreas Ettl over the Lofoten Islands of Norway.

“Pictures of the aurora such as this are so enchanting,” said one of the competition’s judges, Imad Ahmed. “The icy temperature of the landscape is almost palpable, with the snow-capped mountain framed by the cold emerald hues. … There are a lot of rich details in the picture too, including a canopy of stars subtly strewn across the sky, really adding to the majesty of the shot.”

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See more beautiful images below, plus an image that captured a surprising discovery.

The overall winners of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year are a trio of photographers, Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty for their photograph ‘Andromeda, Unexpected.’ This image not only is an amazing look at the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) — the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way — but also includes an unexpected discovery: a huge arc of plasma next to the galaxy. Scientists are now investigating the giant wispy cloud of gas, and say it could be the largest such structure nearest to us in the Universe. Since M31 is frequently studied by both amateur and professional photographers, the discovery is surprising.

“This astrophoto is as spectacular as [it is] valuable,” said László Francsics judge and astrophotographer. “It not only presents Andromeda in a new way, but also raises the quality of astrophotography to a higher level.”

Two fourteen-year-old boys from China collaborated to win the Young Astronomy of the Year category. Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang worked together to capture The Running Chicken Nebula. Yuri Beletsky, judge and professional astronomer described it as a “strikingly beautiful picture.” Xu and Wang said, “Thank you to the Greenwich judges. We’re very glad to receive this achievement as winners of the Young Competition.”

One of our favorite astrophotographers, Andrew McCarthy, took the Runner-Up prize in the “People and Space” category with this incredible shot of the International Space Station in front of the Tycho Crater on the Moon.

While the ISS is actually 1,000 times closer to Earth than the Moon, this perspective makes it seem like the ISS is in fact orbiting our natural satellite. McCarthy took this image from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, USA, to find the perfect position.

“Two cameras, two telescopes, a close eye on telemetry and a remote drive into the wilderness,” said judge Steve Marsh. “To say this photographer has gone out of their way to create this spectacular image is an understatement. The ISS is often photographed as it passes over the lunar disc (from our perspective), yet few can capture it like this. The Station itself is sharp and detailed. The lunar surface below is not only thoughtfully positioned but perfectly resolved and processed. All this would make it a staggering achievement but when you also notice the brown and blue mineral colours that have been reproduced in all their subtle glory you have one of the finest ISS transit images ever made.”

Sprites are a rare phenomenon of atmospheric luminescence that appear like fireworks. Angel An took this photograph from the highest ridge of the Himalaya mountains. 

“This is not, as it might first appear, an enormous extra-terrestrial, but the lower tendrils of a sprite (red lightning)!” said judge Ed Bloomer. “This rarely seen electrical discharge occurs much higher in the atmosphere than normal lightning (and indeed, despite the name, is created by a different mechanism), giving the image an intriguingly misleading sense of scale… It creates an unsettling, alien image that can’t help but draw your eye.”

Here, the Sun is photographed from Germany, showing a large solar flare around 700,000 km long that erupts on the left of the image.

“I’m blown away by how the photographer has managed to draw out the textures of the Sun’s surface and the intricate shapes of the solar flares to make this image come alive,” said judge Melissa Brobby. “But what I absolutely love about this picture is how the surrounding reddish glow has been wonderfully captured, further bringing to our attention the Sun’s ferocious nature.”

This incredibly clear and detailed close-up photo of the Moon highlights the dramatic shadows on the lunar surface. It shows Plato Crater, an almost perfectly circular crater that measures 109 km in diameter. This photograph was taken during a local lunar sunset in the last quarter, when approximately half of the Moon’s face is visible from Earth, taken from Wiltshire, UK.

“The best part of lunar astrophotography is that the Moon is one of the only objects in the night sky that can truly convey a feeling of three dimensions,” said judge Steve Marsh. “Nowhere is this better presented than when the rising or setting Sun casts shadows across its mountains and craters. The sharpness and clarity of the shadows in this image are breathtaking. There is also a staggering amount of detail resolved in Plato Crater itself with many tiny craterlets visible, some of which are less than a kilometer in diameter. The ripples and waves in the ancient lava-filled maria surrounding the crater are also exquisitely captured, making this one of the finest examples of close-up lunar astrophotography that we have seen this year.”

Probably the most unique photo in the competition is this sonification of a black hole, by John White. The photographer explained that the audio was played through a speaker onto which he attached a petri dish, blacked out at the bottom and then filled with about 3 mm of water. Using a macro lens and halo light in a dark room, White experimented with the audio and volumes to explore the various patterns made in the liquid.

Congratulations to all the winners and entrants. For all the winners see the Royal Museums Greenwich website. If you are lucky enough to be in the UK, you can see an exhibition of the winning photos opening at the National Maritime Museum on Saturday September 16, 2023. The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine.