UPY 2025

UPY  Portrait - Commended
'Friendly Orca'
Andy Schmid

An adult male orca pausing for a second on its way past me to have a close look, then continuing on, following its pod, looking for herring in the fjords of Northern Norway. Every winter enormous schools of herring migrate from the open ocean into these fjords which attracts large numbers of big predators such as orcas and humpback whales.

Judge's comment: Not that long ago any shot of a Killer whale underwater would have stood a chance but now it has to be full frame ‘who are you looking at?’ eye contact, crisp colours and a washing machine surface topped with golden sunlight. The bar is now even higher.
Peter Rowlands