Meet Underwater Photographer Jack Israel

After sifting through 2,560 submissions in the 15th year of this contest, our judges were still amazed by the unique view applied to well-known subjects. As the winning shot by Jack Israel makes evident, there's always a new way to present the wonders of our underwater world. Check out all of the winners here and see our conversation with Israel below.

Behind the Shot: Nineteen divers from Russia and I descended in a shallow cove in the Sea of Cortez. We positioned a light to attract swarms of plankton and took our places around it. Suddenly, a school of voracious juvenile mobulas swooped in fast, like missiles. I drifted away from the plankton and sand-filled water and caught a glimpse of these playful bombers coming at me. I took the shot, and somehow they flared up in time to avoid a collision.

Camera Gear: Nikon D750 in an Ikelite housing; Sigma 15mm fisheye lens; two Inon Z-240 strobes

Settings: f/10, 1/160, ISO 400 Prize: $1,000 and a trip aboard Socorro Aggressor

Grand Prize Winner: Jack Israel

Age: 63 how long have you been a shooter: I started shooting seriously in 2016.

How Long Diving: About 25 years day job: Former chief technology officer at the FBI; now retired favorite camera: Nikon full-frame cameras like my D750, because you can choose among three frame sizes for shooting large and small scenes.

Awards:
2019:

• 1st Place, Small Exotic Creatures, Ocean Geographic Society

2018:

• 1st Place, Nudibranch category, “Deep Visions” contest, Scubashooters
• 1st Place, Macro, University of Miami

2017:

• 1st Place, Macro, University of Miami

What’s your favorite place to shoot underwater?
There is no place like home in Florida to practice and hone my skills.

What’s your most unforgettable moment underwater?
My first whale shark offshore in Belize. I shook so much that I didn’t think I could take a picture.

What inspires your photography?
Seeing what others are doing, replicating it and creating unique photographs of my own.

See amazing images from Scuba Diving's 2019 Underwater Photo Contest

How would you describe your photography style? How did you develop it?
Eclectic. I like wide-angle and macro, night and day, large apertures and small, various light sources and rear-curtain lighting.

What's your No. 1 bucket-list dive destination?
I’m no spring chicken, so I’m hitting bucket-list destinations now. Ambon is in my sights.

What underwater shooter do you most admire and why?
My mentor, Yury Ivanov, a world-renowned nudibranch photographer who gave me one solid piece of advice: “Push the button.”

What's your advice for underwater shooters entering their first photo contest? . Post your pics first in photography groups. It’s hard to judge your own work. While not 100 percent, a high level of approval is often indicative of a photo that will catch a judge’s eye.