UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Macro - Commended
'Out of the gloom'
Martyn Guess

I dived a lot under Swanage Pier last summer and when the sun emerges in the early evening there are often some fantastic sunbeams on display, breaking around the Pier legs and deck. The darker shadowy areas under the Pier are home to some wonderful critters including the Common Prawn. ( Palaemon serratus) I wanted to create an image of the Prawn with some real impact and set about an image overlay in camera with 2 images. The background with sun rays was shot with my RS 13mm lens at 1/1000th Sec and this was overlaid with a macro image of the Prawn taken earlier in the day and stored on the same card. I am really pleased with the result as the shadowy areas show off the habitat and the rays give the image real impact and in truth more of what you would see with the naked eye.

Judge's comment: An excellent use of a double exposure to show the creature and where it lives in a single image. - Alex Mustard