Farne seals wow Visions team

The third Visions in the Sea Summer Series saw a group of underwater photographers descend on the Farne Islands to photograph the resident playful grey seals.

Cameras Underwater sponsored the weekend and sent along their photo pro Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield for the trip. The Visions group were diving with Paul Walker from Farne Island Divers whose huge RIB was capable of carrying the 12 divers over the weekend, plus diving and camera equipment.

Day one brought excellent, yet brief, encounters with the Farne Island seals zooming around in and out of gullies lined with kelp. In the evening Duxy sat with each participant and went through their photos offering advice on composition, techniques and editing and gave a spot prize of a memory card to Liz Skinner for her stunning seal portrait taken that day.

Sunday saw the sun come out and the sea flatten to give perfect conditions for some underwater photography. Caroline Robertson-Brown of organisers Frogfish Photography said: “On our last dive of the weekend we were mobbed by a group of inquisitive juvenile seals, biting fins, holding cameras, pressing their noses up to our lenses.

“My favourite game, made up by the seals, was their humorous hiding technique where they would lie on the pebbles behind us while we squinted into the distance to see where they were – the panto line ‘look behind you!’ kept popping into my head. It was a truly wonderful dive and just what we had come for.”

The Visions in the Sea Summer Series was designed to get underwater photographers into UK waters to practice different types of photography, get tips from pros and peers, and to have fun diving some of the best sites and experiences the UK has to offer.

David, a Visions in the Sea Summer Series participant, said: “I had started to get a bit disillusioned about my underwater photography not going anywhere but the weekend and Duxy’s input really got me focused again.”