UPY 2025

UPY  Macro - Commended
'The Eggheads'
Jenny Stock

This kaleidoscopic crustacean creation began with an image I took in Lembeh of a peacock mantis shrimp carrying her eggs. By mirroring and layering this with Photoshop I pieced together a mantis mandala. When manipulating photographs into imaginative creations it helps to have a well executed natural history shot to begin with. Some of my photographic outputs have a meandering journey. Whilst sitting at the computer with Lightroom and Photoshop I’m never quite sure where my RAW files are going to take me. The incredible thing about the animals we take pictures of, is that they are so graphic and eye-catching that they don’t need manipulation, HOWEVER, it is so much fun to play to see what creations appear.

Judge's comment: A mantis shrimp with eggs, mirrored in the computer into a piece of photographic art. UPY outlaws content created with AI software, but will still accept creative processing, where the photographer is at the controls and there is no intention to deceive the audience with their art.
Alex Mustard