Photographer Catharine Nelson’s digitally manipulated underwater photograph, Submerged Number 1, took two months and 1,000 images to make. Swirling stalks of lily pads, fish and the surface backdrop were painstakingly composited together to create this final image. The subject of the image is a backyard pond in Ghent, Belgium where Nelson lives.

Prior to this undertaking, the photographer worked in the film industry on films such as Moulin Rouge and 300. All photos for the final image were shot in chest deep water using a housed Nikon D800.

“Every time I looked into it I saw something. There seemed to be so many compositional options.”

Read the full article about the process and zoom into the image here.