Swanage Pier gives us lucky locals several brief bursts per year of wonderful water clarity . On this occasion , noontime sun overhead piercing through the gaps between the pier platforms offered me the most wonderfully atmospheric of photographic moments and as if by magic , a blue jellyfish decided to float into the frame to set off the photo beautifully
Knowing that overseas diving is largely on hold ( plus the marked slowdown in my day-to-day workload ) has allowed me the time to take a new perspective on local UK diving . I have been able to approach each dive with a much greater level of mindfulness , coming from a drop in urgency to make each dive as productive as possible . Returning day after day to the same few sites , revisiting the same critters , having more numerous windows into the lives of the animals has all afforded me with a much deeper level of intimacy with the local seas , for which I hope I will be ever grateful . 2020 ’ s post -lockdown sites for me were Swanage Pier , Kimmeridge Bay , the Weymouth / Portland region and I managed to sneak out for a three-day break to Lundy Island .
I am also in the fortunate position of having access to new and exciting underwater photo products from Nauticam , the brand I represent in the UK . Visiting the same sites , I could return with different lens and lighting combinations , and ideas as to how to tackle the same subjects from very different photographic perspectives .
My final thought , having revisited the image selection for this article , is that I ’ d have never expected to have been able to repeat dive these same sites and to find such diversity and beauty in our local marine flora and fauna . As for me , if there has been any upside to the past year it has been my awakening to the diving on my doorstep .
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