UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Living Together - Highly Commended
'Real Estate'
Sandra Stalker

Tompots are always a favourite of mine, cheeky, playful and so full of character. They are also a little territorial over their homes and seem to favour a certain spot. I came across this one living in a mooring chain at Kimmeridge, perfectly framed within the link of the chain. I managed to get just a couple of shots with it in this position before, being the unreliable model it was, it moved to a much more awkward to access position in one of the lower links. The chain was on an otherwise barren part of the seabed so actually paints a positive narrative of our coexistence providing a home for this handsome fish.

Judge's comment: This very strong, well framed, on message, image was a favourite of mine right from the start but it slide down the order compared to other shots which incorporated more background space.

Peter Rowlands