UPY 2025

UPY  Up & Coming - Commended
'Dancing mantis shrimp'
Pascal Rusch

This shot was actually taken on one of my very first black water dives 2019 in Tulamben (Bali/Indonesia) approximately 300 meters from the shore and 10 meters below the surface.
Since my wife and I started diving 4 years ago, we have always been fascinated by the special personality of mantis shrimps and I was lucky enough having this little fellow dancing right in front of my lens for several seconds.

Judge's comment: Over the past couple of years black water diving has become very popular and we had so many entries to choose from that, myself in particular, had difficulty separating the best from all the others. However this image stood out for me in particular for the composition! It’s got space in the composition to breathe, whilst some we judged were placed too tight within the image frame. It also looks as though it has somewhere to go. Study the eyes carefully and you will see what I mean!
- Martin Edge