UPY 2025

UPY 2019 Up & Coming - Highly Commended
'Red Knight'
Zarina Staller

I have always been fascinated by sea horses and wanted to photograph them. Finally on a trip to Lembeh, Indonesia I had my chance. In my head I always had the idea of a backlit profile shot. But, I wanted it to be different. So, I played around with home made filters to fit my Retra LSD (snoot) and took them with me to Lembeh. When I first saw this sea horse I knew this was my chance. I immediately decided on the red filter and setup the snoot behind the sea horse. As soon as I took the first shot I knew this was it. I loved the outlined profile with the subtle detail of its body and almost translucent snout. I was so happy that I was able to capture the image in my mind in the camera. It was a very surreal experience.

Judge's comment: The iconic silhouette of a seahorse is a graphically powerful picture. Here Zarina has raised that to another level with the addition of a red filter to her snooted strobe, reminiscent of a rim-lit animal at sunset.
Alex Mustard