UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Compact - Runner Up
'Fluorescent Fire'
James Lynott

I have experimented a little with shutter drag/motion blur photography in the past and have seen many incredible examples of this style from other underwater photographers. I had never seen this technique combined with underwater fluorescence, so this was something I was keen to start trying in 2023. I experimented with a range of subjects and soon discovered I really liked how fireworks anemones looked using this method, which was not really a surprise as they are my favourite fluoro subject! This shot was captured during a pre-sunrise dive in Loch Fyne back in October 2023, I used 2 Nightsea excitation filters on my strobes, together with FireDiveGear/Riff TL Azur blue LED lights, and a FireDiveGear barrier filter.

Judge's comment: This image is as visually beautiful as it is technically impressive. Not content just to capture the fluorescence of the anemone with flash, James added fluorescent continuous lights to allow him to capture motion blur in the fluorescent colours.
Alex Mustard