UPY 2025

UPY 2016 British Waters Wide Angle - Commended
'Blue Blur'
Will Clark

Our skipper Charles Hood had attracted five hungry Blue sharks to his boat by submerging a sack of frozen rotten fish to create a tempting downstream trail of smelly oils and particles. I’d already captured a few shots that I was happy with by leaning over the side of the boat so decided it was time to get in the water with the sharks. The dramatic atmosphere of this image was produced using a technique I learned from Dr Alex Mustard, who in turn had been inspired by an epic shark photograph by Tobi Bernhards. It involves using a relatively slow exposure with a bright flash at the beginning to capture the sharp elements then quickly panning the camera in front of the subject to create the naturally lit blur behind it. Doing this with the camera on a slight angle added another level of complexity but after many failed attempts I eventually got the shot that I’d visualised.