Queen chats to Mustard, Duke looks at fish
My underwater photographs took me to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. It was an amazing honour and I am very proud to have done it.
I was flown to Estonia to meet them (where they were making a State Visit at the time) and got to show them some of my underwater photos, chat about underwater photography and to present them with a book. The meeting came about because I was invited by the British Council in Estonia to represent the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition and to present the Queen with their official gift of the Portfolio book.
The Queen is a keen photographer herself and congratulated me on winning in the competition and asked me about the challenges of taking pictures underwater. I actually spoke more about the advantages; underwater we can move in three dimensions and therefore can approach the subject from any direction we choose, I told her. Imagine what land photography would be like if we could fly. The Queen seemed amused by this answer.
The Duke of Edinburgh, well known for his patronage of the WWF, was more interested in the species shown in the photos and where the photos were taken. I explained that the Snapper photo (which you can see in the photo on the right) was taken in Egypt, explaining that the Red Sea is so lush and colourful below the waves, quite a contrast to the desert above.
Alex
