UPY 2025

UPY  Up and coming - Runner Up
'Beauty on a red anemone skirt'
Yazid El Shaari

I had just travelled back home from a very exciting underwater photography workshop and if I had learned any thing from this experience it was to find an attractive background and then look for a subject to complement the scene. I caught a glimpse of a red anemone skirt in between the rocks and I have never seen this color in our area before, so I started to play with the lighting to get the right exposure, when suddenly I can detect some kind of movement in the view finder only to find this beautiful goby, very uncommon to our dive sites, but a very pleasant surprise.

Judge's comment: Beautiful and rarely photographed subject, on a stunning background. The result leaps out and to the top of the rankings. - Alex Muatard