Blue Shark. Acrylic Wall Art Print.

Listed Prices are for ready to hang prints. To buy simply select your print size using the drop-down menu, then add to cart. You will be guided through delivery costs and payment options.

Postage is Free for UK. For EU, US and S.E. Asia please email me.

(The large signature is on the web image only - not the actual print)

This is a picture I took, a few years back, of a female blue shark swimming close to the surface off Southwest UK. Each year blue sharks arrive off the coast of Southwest Britain, normally sometime in mid-June and remaining until mid-October. Blues are true oceanic sharks; they inhabit deep water, only infrequently venturing on to shallower, continental shelf waters. They are found in tropical and temperate oceans around the globe. However, in the tropics they tend to stay in deeper, cooler water but are often observed in surface waters in temperate seas. They feed on fast moving prey such as squid and schooling fish. Much of their feeding appears to be done in deeper waters.

The Image

The photograph was taken using a Nikon DSLR camera coupled with a 20mm prime lens, inside a Subal underwater housing.

Acrylic Glass Prints

Acrylic prints are art paper, pigment ink, prints mounted first on to an aluminium-dibond backing, then laminated under a sheet of 4mm acrylic glass. This not only gives rigidity and protects the image from scuffs, scratches and stains, but also from harmful UV rays. Acrylic glass also gives a luminosity and depth to the image. Pictures arrive with hanging systems (hooks or posts, depending on size) ready to hang.

Not all acrylic prints are the same

Acrylic prints can be direct printed or facemount printed. Direct printing is is easier and cheaper. However, it does not have the same colour accuracy, longevity or sharpness as facemount printing. With facemount printing the image is printed on to quality art paper – the best medium for faithful reproduction of photographic images. This is is then fixed to a dibond (or similar backing) and face-mounted directly onto a thin layer of acrylic, so that it is sandwiched between the two. The refraction of light through the acrylic helps give added luminosity to the image. I have chosen to have my prints created in one of the best (in my opinion) high end art print shops in the UK. This does not make them the cheapest, but it does reflect the quality.

Print Sizes

This acrylic print is available in 3 sizes: 38 x 25cm ( 15 x 10 inch) 50 x 33cm (20 x 13 inch); 70 x 47cm (25.5 x 18.5 inch). This is the edge to edge size of the image (rounded to the nearest centimeter). Other sizes can me produced, please email me to discuss.

Postage and delivery

The calculated price includes delivery within mainland United Kingdom.

For other locations delivery will be at cost using suitable courier service (please email for estimate).

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This is an excerpt from the blog I wrote about this trip:

On a clear July morning I stumbled out of my bunk (I was living on a boat at the time) at 5.30am, forced out my the insistent buzzing of my phone alarm. One hour, and one strong coffee later, I squeezed my dive bag into the back of a friend's car and we were off. We had over a hundred miles to cover, to get to the far tip of Cornwall, and a boat to catch.

The reduced light levels made focussing a little trickier, and when a blue shark came fast out of the expanse of blue water, the camera would struggle to pick up contrast and focus quickly. I fiddled with the settings, pre-focussed using my colleagues as targets, fired off test shots and again readjusted my settings. All the time keeping looking around me. A RIB, with its large surface area above the water, will drift with wind and tide, but a swimmer, around 90% below the water’s surface, will drift with the tide alone. So as I floated I was aware that the distance between was growing. This was not a concern; conditions were perfect and I knew Charles would be fully aware of our positions. On the contrary, it gave me space around me. As I drifted I also became aware that one of the sharks had become interested in me, and was moving with me, not steadily but zig-zagging. It would pass close, then swim off , to turn and pass close again.

You can read the full blog here.