Shot 1. Lumpsucker: By the time I've waited for the water to warm up these wonderful fish are gone for the year. But in May 2001, the sea at St Abbs was still freezing, and so I came face to face with my lumpsucker. Taken on Fujichrome Velvia, with my Pentax LX and 50 mm macro lens in Hugyfot housing, and lit with a Sunpak Marine 32 flash.

Shot 2. John Dory: I chose this picture because the fish has such a striking outline, shown up against a plain black background. Also, it works well to have at least a couple of vertical shots in the portfolio. It was taken on the James Eagan Lane (near Plymouth). I used my Sunpak flash, and Fujichrome Velvia in a Nikonos V with a 35 mm lens plus supplementary close-up lens. The slow-moving fish posed obligingly in the framer!

Shot 3. Ballan wrasse: Like the John Dory, this is a simple dramatic image that works well in a portfolio. I use diagonal compositions a lot and they help to make a strong composition for the portfolio as a whole. I took this picture in St Abbs, 2001; large "friendly" wrasses hang out around Cathedral Rock. Taken on Velvia, with the same set-up as for Shot 1.

Shot 4. Octopus: I love cephalopods! St Abbs, 2001 again, provided lots of octopus encounters. This one was on the move over a rock, so I was able to get a low profile to make the subject stand out. Film and equipment as Shots 1 and 3.

Shot 5. Grey seal: On our St Abbs week in 2001, we took two days out to go down to the Farne Islands. We had a fantastic time with the seals - they were so inquisitive and followed us everywhere. One even swam back to the boat and was almost on top of me without me being aware of it! Another time I was a little unnerved by a feisty bull. He saw me off and I wondered if I'd have to take to the rocks. For this shot I used Fujichrome Sensia 100, Nikonos V with 15 mm lens. I made use of available light with a little fill-in from my Sunpak. I needed this wide-angle picture in the portfolio to offset the other macro portraits.