Billboard
Pondweed King - Highly Commended, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024, British Waters Macro Category

For the past few years, I’ve been working to capture artistic interpretations of our British freshwater realm. Signal crayfish are an invasive species with a bad reputation. They can be destructive, reproduce rapidly, and quickly dominate a freshwater habitat. I’ve grown to admire their tenacious side. They’re survivors, and I felt compelled to portray them in a vintage, cinematic way.

I came across this feisty crustacean in a favourite lake, where they’ve long since taken up residence. It was early summer, when the pondweed is a fresh limey green and the visibility a silty 3 metres. The pondweed - also an invasive species - couldn’t have made a more perfect backdrop. My lens of choice was a reconditioned ’altglas’ Pentacon art lens. Shot wide open it produces this distinct bubble-bokeh effect. Using a razor-thin depth of field and the highlights in the pondweed, I finally came up with this dreamlike rendition.

Judge's comment: "An original and striking shot of an often overlooked British species. Presumably shot with a vintage lens, the distinctive bokeh captures the essence of the bright green, freshwater weeds, contrasting perfectly with the orangey hues of the crayfish's carapace."
- Alex Mustard

Location: Wraysbury Lake, Wraysbury Nature Reserve, Middlesex, England, UK

Photographer: Laura Storm

Pondweed King - Highly Commended, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024, British Waters Macro Category

For the past few years, I’ve been working to capture artistic interpretations of our British freshwater realm. Signal crayfish are an invasive species with a bad reputation. They can be destructive, reproduce rapidly, and quickly dominate a freshwater habitat. I’ve grown to admire their tenacious side. They’re survivors, and I felt compelled to portray them in a vintage, cinematic way.

I came across this feisty crustacean in a favourite lake, where they’ve long since taken up residence. It was early summer, when the pondweed is a fresh limey green and the visibility a silty 3 metres. The pondweed - also an invasive species - couldn’t have made a more perfect backdrop. My lens of choice was a reconditioned ’altglas’ Pentacon art lens. Shot wide open it produces this distinct bubble-bokeh effect. Using a razor-thin depth of field and the highlights in the pondweed, I finally came up with this dreamlike rendition.

Judge's comment: "An original and striking shot of an often overlooked British species. Presumably shot with a vintage lens, the distinctive bokeh captures the essence of the bright green, freshwater weeds, contrasting perfectly with the orangey hues of the crayfish's carapace."
- Alex Mustard

Location: Wraysbury Lake, Wraysbury Nature Reserve, Middlesex, England, UK

Photographer: Laura Storm