2010: Underwater Worlds - Runner-up
Michel Roggo (Switzerland)
Bottom view
Michel is passionate about revealing the beauty of freshwater life and spends much of his time photographing below the surface. In winter, in calm parts of the River Rhine, Switzerland, fish gather in dense groups. 'I'd got an image in my head of a mass of motionless fish,' says Michel, 'chub, bream, sander ...'and that was the picture he set out to take. So when a mute swan swam into the frame and then a girl on the bridge above began dropping bits of bread onto the water to feed the chub and the swan, he was very frustrated. But then he realized that the swan's rear end actually added to the scene. 'I learned that day,' says Michel, 'not to be so single-minded and to embrace all opportunities.'
Canon EOS 5D Mark II + EF 16-35mm f2.8 lens; 1/85 sec at f5.6; ISO 400; Hugyfot housing.
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Adult awards The big four Tony Wu
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Adult awards It came from the gloom Patrik Bartuska
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Adult awards Manta-ray feast Michael Aw
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Adult awards The piranha-eater Marcelo Krause
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