UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Macro - Winner
'The amphipod has landed'
Trevor Rees

This amphipod (Iphimedia obesa) was a subject I had not photographed before or really been aware of. Conditions were such that the water at the time was alive with them - like little fleas darting about all over the reef. I settled down with a macro lens fitted with a dry diopter and just kept searching until I found a cooperative individual I aimed for a low angle, side on composition at the maximum magnification that minimum focus would allow. As with many tiny creatures most divers are probably unaware of the beauty and amazing colours of these creatures, so a photo is particularly valued.

Judge's comment: Peter Rowlands: In some categories there is sometimes a shot which is head and shoulders of the others and this is it. Graphically simple, perfectly composed with pin sharp focus and beautifully lit, it has a delicacy which is both beautiful and strange in equal measures.