UPY 2025

UPY 2017 British Waters Macro - Third
'River Fly Nymph'
Paul Colley

Tiny river fly nymphs are staple food for freshwater fish and were part of a story for river conservation work. It was an experimental technique with the camera inside an open-top box and me kneeling on the river bed in waders next to a weed bed. I pre-focussed the lens and searched for the subject using live view on the camera. With such a small depth of field, having found a nymph I slid the camera backwards and forwards inside the box to find the focus point. Even in calm water, small movements meant hundreds of missed shots and it took almost a month practicing the technique to eventually capture this image. I also damaged the camera when a dog jumped into the river and water flooded into the box! Shallow water, bright sun and white reflectors helped to flood light into the scene.

Judge's comment: Alex Mustard: Original subject. Both it and the weeds are rendered beautifully in the lighting. If the tail wasn't slightly clipped it could have finished even higher.