UPY 2025

UPY  Portrait - Highly Commended
'Ol' Blue Eyes'
Nicholas More

"The eyes are the windows to the soul, and in your blue eyes, I see a world of wonder and beauty. Your looks are laughable. Unphotographable. Yet you're my favourite work of art.”
The amazing guides of Lembeh Resort found Frank, a hermit crab living in a discarded tube worm casing, at the very end of a dive, in very shallow water. I spent my safety stop with a very floaty, empty tank dialling in the perfect aperture to have enough depth of field to give detail on the animal but to also render the background, nicely out of focus. Why do we always find these amazing critters at the very end of dives?..... That's Life!

Judge's comment: A very productive use of your safety stop to create a delicate image. It captures the subject’s character with perfect focus, choice of depth of field and a symmetrical composition on a sublime pastel background. Frankly lovely :-)
Peter Rowlands