UPY 2025

UPY 2018 British Waters Macro - Highly Commended
'In a sea of squirts'
Paul Kay

Velvet swimming crabs, with their red eyes and blue pincers are a popular subject. This one caught my eye not because it was in itself photogenic, but because it was hunkered down on a rocky reef dominated by vase sea squirts (Ciona intenstinalis). Whilst these sea squirts are common enough in sea lochs, in this particular spot they were really clean and about as abundant as I can ever remember seeing them. So, for an animal which mostly tries to be relatively inconspicuous, this one had failed pretty miserably. I was very fortunate as the visibility was good enough for me to back off with the 50mm macro lens so that I could take this 'view' including the crab, rather than simply take its portrait.

Judge's comment: Beautifully soft lighting has captured the subtle colours and textures resulting in a celebratory vibrance.
Peter Rowlands