Winning a category in the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition is a tall order , and one I ’ m very proud of . I won a week-long trip to Shetland aboard the MV Clasina , a newly converted vessel owned and skippered by Bob Anderson of ‘ MV Halton ’ fame , hoping to photograph remote reefs in clear water . I am normally a fan of scenic dives over wrecks , especially in UK waters ; but over the course of a week , we dived on a series of wrecks that challenged my preconceptions . Some were resting on white sand where the enhanced light and visibility meant you could see the entire ship , a welcome change to seeing wrecks in instalments through gloomy viz . The boat , the crew , the group , the diving , and the scenery were altogether a fantastic prize . Sharing that prize with close friend and fellow photographer , Charles Erb , was a bonus .
With all UK diving , I suffer from pre-trip angst about the weather . Last year , COVID regulations were uppermost in everyone ’ s minds , but there was a window in the summer when it was possible to travel across the UK and go diving .
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E49 Burra Ness Jane Out Skerries Reef Gwladmina Lunokhods-1 Pionersk Noss Head Fraoch Ban Giant ’ s legs
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