UPY 2025

UPY 2016 Wrecks - Commended
'USS Kittiwake shipwreck'
Susannah H. Snowden-Smith

I have taken lots of photographs of the Kittiwake where it fills the frame, or it's shot head-on. For this photo, I wanted something different; I had an image in my mind's eye and set off to capture it. I had decided to photograph the shipwreck from the side, and further away to reduce its size in the frame. The Kittiwake is a 251' long vessel and so I had to swim quite a distance away, turning around occasionally to check my progress. I had noticed the school of jacks and knew I wanted to incorporate them in the photo. So composition-wise I waited for them to be in the right place. Then I wanted a diver in the image for scale and additional interest. I only clicked the shutter when the diver's fins were close together; this makes for a clean look. Black and white completed the strong graphic image I was after.