UPY 2025

UPY 2019 Macro - Commended
'Fireworks'
wen ming

This is a hard-won photo. My subject is a very common soft coral, on which live transparent shrimp symbiosis with coral. I had all kinds of wonderful ideas in my head, but I didn't have a chance to try until I met this scene, which was a great opportunity for me to create a different picture. I used the background light to illuminate the soft coral and another light source to illuminate the shrimp living on the coral, making it the subject in the foreground. Fortunately, the ocean current under the sea was moderate on that day, so I had soft coral tentacles. The shrimp were not very obedient and very active, but I still managed to get the picture I wanted through patient waiting.

Judge's comment: Backlighting certainly attracts the eye but you need delicate and complimentary highlighting of the foreground subject to get you into the winners enclosure.
Peter Rowlands