UPY 2025

UPY 2018 British Waters Macro - Highly Commended
'Swarm'
Rick Ayrton

I had been under Swanage pier for over an hour, I was getting cold and making my way back towards the entry steps. A little before getting back to the harbour wall there was a piece of the old pier with a hollowed out end. My eye was caught by movement within, a multitude of very small creatures moving fast to & fro. I had little time available and I fired off a few shots hoping the Nikon focusing would do its job. I had no idea what I had captured until I downloaded the images for review. I cannot say precisely what it is other than saying it is larval forms of a marine critter. I had a slow shutter speed dialled into the camera but the dark scene was frozen by the light from the flashguns. This is definitely a subject I would like to return to.

Judge's comment: A fun and different style of UK Macro image, showing a chaotic aggregation of mysid shrimps, with pink marsupium pouches.
Alex Mustard