UPY 2025

UPY 2018 Wide Angle - Highly Commended
'Cenote Nariz'
Herbert Meyrl

Cenote Nariz is the entrance to a large cave system in Yucatan that I dove for the first time with my 3 buddies Tom Groesslinger, Rainer Schwanner and Michael Faatz. When I saw this perfect window opening into a large room ahead of us I signaled my team to stop. After mind mapping the spot I swam very cautiously through the window and placed 2 strobes in slave mode on either side behind the opening. Then I signaled my buddies to swim through the opening. 2 divers should be in the picture, catching the light from those strobes. For background lightning each one held a slave strobe and pointed it backwards. One diver (out of sight) fired off 2 more strobes for even more background lighting. After many photo dives together we have worked out our own signals, so they knew what I wanted and they performed perfectly.

Judge's comment: We made it a rule this year that the Judges would wait until the photographer had submitted their notes about the image and I'm glad I did with this one. As soon as I saw this shot I was struck by the balanced lighting backed up by good solid composition but it was only when I read the notes that I realised how much work had gone into the lighting. This is teamwork at its very best.
Peter Rowlands