Beauty can also be found close to home, says multi award-winning underwater photographer Lawson Wood

Lawson Wood still dives regularly in the Berwickshire Marine Reserve (BMR) he co-founded. It is now part of one of the largest marine conservation areas in Europe.

Growing up spending his youth exploring rockpools and then making his first dive at the age of 11 in 1965, he is also co-founder of the Marine Conservation Society and founder of the first Marine Reserve at Eyemouth.

He is currently celebrating the release of the second edition of his An Underwater Guide to the Red Sea and the third edition of The World’s Best Tropical Dive Destinations (John Beaufoy Publishing).

When asked how the Berwickshire reserve compares with the tropics, Lawson said: “I was born in Duns and grew up in Eyemouth.

“The BMR has always been my love and whilst you can never compare the underwater life found on our own shores with perhaps the Red Sea or the Caribbean, the wealth and diversity of marine life found here is quite unrivalled anywhere else that I have found.”

Lawson made photographic history by becoming a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photographers solely for underwater photography.

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

An Underwater Guide to the Red Sea (2nd edition) and The World’s Best Tropical Dive Destinations (3rd edition) are now available at all good book stores and through online retailers.