UPY 2025

UPY 2017 Compact - Winner
'I’ve got my eye on you!'
Jenny Stromvoll

I have shot many whip gobies but this particular shot was taken with the Inon compact bug-eye lens which added a lot of character to the goby’s eye. The trick was to get close enough without the goby moving away. I was fortunate enough to find a very forgiving goby who allowed me into his private space. I knew I had to get down low and shoot up to include the surface of the water. I shot this scene many times before getting the image I was after.

Judge's comment: Martin Edge: For me this was an instant first place. The compact bug-eye lens is not easy to use but Jenny got the better of this tool. I think it was important to create some depth within the image and this has been done so well by opening-up the background water column. Try to imagine this image with a black background! There would have been such little depth, it would have been all about the goby and nothing else. Instead, the blue water background situated towards top left of the frame allows the eye of the viewer to wander back and forth again and again.