4th Place Portrait Category

 

4th Place Portrait

Vanessa Mignon

 

Humpback whale eye contact, Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga

Ikelite Gamma light

 

Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm F2.8 @20mm
F8, 1/160th, ISO 320

"We got in the water with two courting humpback whales. Towards the end of the swim, one of them ascended vertically right in front of me, and stood there, clearly looking at me. It then swam closer to me while still making eye contact. It was so close that I could have touched it. Many people say that there is nothing like looking into a whale eye, and I could not agree more. This will always be one of my most memorable underwater encounters".