Tobias Friedrich

Aliases: belowsurface
Role: German underwater photographer, competition judge, author, technique innovator
Nationality: German (Wiesbaden, Germany)
Website: below-surface.com
First appearance: 2009 (^[1])
Affiliation: Independent photographer; UPY judge; DEEP Indonesia judge

Biography

Tobias Friedrich is a German underwater photographer based in Wiesbaden, Germany, who became one of the most decorated underwater photographers of the 2010s and early 2020s. He is known for his wide-angle work — particularly manta rays in the Maldives, humpback whales in Oman, and wreck photography in the Red Sea — as well as his development of the bubble bokeh macro technique. He describes himself as primarily a wide-angle photographer: “Actually, I’m more a wide angle guy, known for my shots of the Manta Rays in the Maldives and the Humpback Whale in Oman.” (^[2])

His primary camera system is a Canon 5D Mark II with a 100mm macro lens in a Seacam housing. For bubble bokeh work, he also used the Meyer Gorlitz Trioplan bokeh lens. (^[3])

Friedrich is also the author of the book Underwater Photography (2014), described as covering “everything from the equipment needed, to creating powerful compositions, to processing the final image,” using case studies from his own work. (^[4])

Competition Career

Friedrich has one of the most prolific competition records in underwater photography, spanning from 2009 through at least 2021, with wins and placements in virtually every major international competition.

Major Titles

• Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 (UPY): Friedrich won the overall UPY title with “Cycle War,” a stitched panorama of Norton 16H motorbikes loaded in Fordson WOT 3 trucks inside the hold of SS Thistlegorm in the Red Sea, with soldierfish schooling above. Friedrich explained: “I had had this image in mind for a few years, but it is impossible to capture in one photo, because there is not space inside the wreck to photograph this scene in a single frame. My solution was take a series pictures and stitch them together as a panorama.” He also won the Wrecks category and placed third in Wrecks, with a Highly Commended in Wide Angle. (^[5])

• Ocean Art 2011 Best of Show: Won Best of Show and 1st Place Wide-Angle with “Manta Madness,” a wide-angle photograph of several manta rays. Judge Martin Edge commented: “This year the judging was very tight due to so many superb images… the best in show was the most awesome shot in the entire collection.” Friedrich also placed 2nd in Coldwater at the same competition. (^[6])

• UPY 2019 Underwater Photography Book of the Year: Won for his book on underwater photography. (^[7])

Other Competition Results

• 2009: 1st Place, Novice/Point & Shoot, Beneath the Sea International Imaging Competition, with “Eye of the Tiger.” (^[8])
• 2010: 3rd Place, General, Beneath the Sea competition, with “The Bridge” (Wiesbaden, Germany). (^[9])
• 2010: Honorable Recognition, Ocean Art competition. (^[10])
• 2011: 1st Place, Macro/Closeup, Beneath the Sea competition, with “Togetherness.” (^[11])
• 2011: Best Overall, RSMAS Miami Underwater Photography Competition, with an image of two gobies taken at Marsa Alam, Egypt. Also won the Macro category. The competition was open to amateur photographers only. (^[12])
• 2012: 9th and 10th Place, DAN Ocean Views 2012; also Highly Honored. (^[13])
• 2012: 1st Place, Fish ‘N Fashion category, HP Red Sea Shoot-Out; nominee for Jury’s Prize and Fish of the Year. (^[14])
• 2013: 9th Place, DAN Ocean Views 2013, with “Iceberg noraw.” (^[15])
• 2019: 2nd Place, Coldwater and 2nd Place Wide-Angle, Ocean Art 2019. (^[16])
• 2020: Winner, Wrecks category, UPY 2020. (^[17])
• 2021: Winner, Wrecks category, UPY 2021, with “Bowlander.” (^[18])

Bubble Bokeh Technique

Friedrich is co-credited with developing the “bubble bokeh” macro photography technique, which uses a specially designed background to create a distinctive spherical bokeh effect in underwater macro images. The technique originated during his preparation for the 2016 Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout:

“Bubble bokeh lenses are not new, but to create the special bubble effect, it definitely needs some help. Inspired by a cool background made by Sascha Janson from the Lembeh Resort, I developed that idea further together with Doris Vierkoetter at the Alam Batu Resort in Bali until we had the perfect background to create unique bubble bokeh shots.”

He noted it took additional trips to Bali and Flores to find the right subjects for a complete portfolio with the effect. Subjects photographed with this technique included frogfish, seahorses, ghost pipefish, rhinopias, wonderpus, clownfish, pygmy seahorses, and nudibranchs — all shot in Lembeh Strait (North Sulawesi) and Bali, Indonesia. (^[19])

Friedrich’s bubble bokeh work was featured in the Wetpixel 2017 Retrospective as one of the year’s standout Full Frame features. (^[20])

Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout 2016

Friedrich served as team captain for the Lembeh Resort (Indonesia) side of the inaugural Lembeh vs. Gulen Critter Shootout in May 2016. The event, announced in November 2015, was billed as “the first ever International shootout” and paired photographers at Lembeh Resort against photographers at Gulen Dive Resort in Norway, competing across three macro categories: nudibranchs, invertebrates, and fish. (^[21])

The initial announcement described both Alex Mustard and Friedrich as team leaders, with Mustard later taking the role of coordinator and judge between the two teams. Keri Wilk led the Gulen team. Friedrich provided training to the Lembeh contestants before competition days. (^[22], ^[23])

Team Gulen won the nudibranch round, while Team Lembeh won both the invertebrate and fish categories and were the overall winners. (^[24])

Iceberg Photography

Friedrich captured a series of underwater iceberg photographs in Tasiilaq Fjord, East Greenland, which were featured on Wetpixel in April 2016 and picked up by the Daily Mail. He described the experience: “It’s quite dangerous diving so deep around the iceberg because at any moment something on it could break off and hit divers or the boat. Unfortunately I’m only able to capture images like this from time to time as the travel costs of getting to, and staying in, Greenland are very expensive.” (^[25])

His iceberg imagery also placed 9th in the DAN Ocean Views 2013 competition. (^[26])

Writing and Publications

Friedrich contributed feature articles to DIVE Magazine, including a piece on white backgrounds in underwater photography (May/June 2012) and a discussion of shooting wrecks in black and white (October 2012). (^[27], ^[28])

He wrote about his experience judging UPY for the January/February 2023 issue of Underwater Photography magazine (UwP Issue 130). (^[29])

His book Underwater Photography was published in 2014. (^[30])

Lightroom Presets

In May 2020, Friedrich released two commercial sets of Lightroom presets tailored for underwater photography — one for wide-angle images and one for macro — sold via his Sellfy storefront at early-bird pricing of EUR 47.20, reverting to EUR 59. Each set used a modular workflow of seven to eight modules (exposure, white balance, contrast/underwater setup, saturation, background/vignette, noise reduction, sharpening, and for macro, lens profile corrections). The presets were compatible with Adobe Lightroom versions 4 through Classic CC, as well as Lightroom mobile. (^[31])

Wetpixel moderator Mike Veitch reviewed the presets in August 2020, concluding: “I think these presets are a great addition to the toolbox of anyone who is not confident with their Lightroom skills. They are easy to install and certainly save time.” He noted the modular approach was more useful than typical one-touch presets because it allowed users to pick and choose individual settings, though he found some extreme settings unnecessary. (^[32])

Adobe Lightroom Splash Screen

In November 2019, Adobe released Lightroom Classic 9 with Friedrich’s underwater image as the splash screen — a notable recognition by the software industry of underwater photography. Wetpixel described him as “Wetpixel member Tobias Friedrich.” (^[33])

Judging and Industry Role

Friedrich transitioned into a significant judging role in the underwater photography community:

• ADEX 2018: Served as a judge for the Voice of the Ocean competition alongside Ernie Brooks, Mike Aw, Laurent Ballestra, Scott Tuason, Roger Munns, Doug Perrine, and Marty Snyderman. (^[34])
• DEEP Indonesia 2020: Judge alongside Ellen Cuylaerts, Mike Bartick, Kate Jonker, Renee Capozzola, and Andrew Marriot. (^[35], ^[36])
• Dive into the Pink / Think Pink 2019: Sponsored books as prizes; served on the judging panel for the 2020 “Sharing Our Air” contest alongside Mike Bartick and Renee Capozzola, raising over $20,000 for COVID-19 diving research. (^[37], ^[38], ^[39])
• UPY 2023 (and ongoing): Named as a judge for UPY alongside Peter Rowlands and Alex Mustard. He commented on the 2022 British Underwater Photographer of the Year winner: “This split shot of the most famous fish in the sea, truly captures its character.” (^[40])
• PHIDEX 2021 and 2022: Speaker at the Philippine International Dive Exhibition alongside Adam Hanlon, Howard and Michelle Hall, and other leading figures. (^[41], ^[42])

Timeline

• 2009: 1st Place, Novice/Point & Shoot, Beneath the Sea competition (^[43])
• 2010-02: 3rd Place, General, Beneath the Sea competition (^[44])
• 2010-12: Honorable Recognition, Ocean Art 2010 (^[45])
• 2011-03: 1st Place, Macro/Closeup, Beneath the Sea competition (^[46])
• 2011-04: Best Overall and Macro winner, RSMAS Miami competition (^[47])
• 2011-12: Best of Show and 1st Place Wide-Angle, Ocean Art 2011; 2nd Place Coldwater (^[48])
• 2012-05: 9th and 10th Place, DAN Ocean Views 2012 (^[49])
• 2012: Feature articles in DIVE Magazine on white backgrounds and black-and-white wreck photography (^[50], ^[51])
• 2012-11: 1st Place Fish ‘N Fashion, HP Red Sea Shoot-Out; nominated for Jury’s Prize (^[52])
• 2013-05: 9th Place, DAN Ocean Views 2013, with iceberg image (^[53])
• 2014: Published book Underwater Photography (^[54])
• 2015-11: Announced as team leader for inaugural Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout (^[55])
• 2016-04: Underwater iceberg photography from Tasiilaq Fjord, East Greenland featured on Wetpixel (^[56])
• 2016-05: Team captain for Lembeh side of inaugural Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout; develops bubble bokeh technique during preparation (^[57], ^[58])
• 2017-05: Wetpixel Full Frame feature: “Tobias Friedrich: Bubble Bokeh” (^[59])
• 2018-02: Won Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 overall title with “Cycle War”; also won Wrecks category (^[60])
• 2018-04: Judge at ADEX 2018 Voice of the Ocean competition (^[61])
• 2019-01: 2nd Place Coldwater and 2nd Place Wide-Angle, Ocean Art 2019 (^[62])
• 2019-02: Won Underwater Photography Book of the Year at UPY 2019 (^[63])
• 2019-06: Sponsored prizes for Think Pink 2019 competition (^[64])
• 2019-11: Image featured as Adobe Lightroom Classic 9 splash screen (^[65])
• 2020-02: Won Wrecks category, UPY 2020 (^[66])
• 2020-03: Judge for DEEP Indonesia 2020 international photo contest (^[67], ^[68])
• 2020-05: Released commercial underwater Lightroom presets (wide angle + macro) (^[69])
• 2020-05: Judge for Dive into the Pink “Sharing Our Air” contest (^[70])
• 2020-08: Lightroom presets reviewed by Mike Veitch on Wetpixel (^[71])
• 2021-02: Won Wrecks category, UPY 2021, with “Bowlander” (^[72])
• 2021-03: Speaker at PHIDEX 2021 (^[73])
• 2022-08: Speaker at PHIDEX 2022 (^[74])
• 2022-11: Named as UPY judge alongside Peter Rowlands and Alex Mustard (^[75])
• 2023-01: Wrote about judging UPY for UwP magazine Issue 130 (^[76])

References