  We examine the the emission from optically bright gamma-ray burst (GRB)
afterglows as the Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope (UVOT) on the Neil Gehrels
Swift Observatory first begins observing, following the slew to target the GRB,
while the pointing of the Swift satellite is still settling. We verify the
photometric quality of the UVOT settling data using bright stars in the field
of view. In the majority of cases we find no problems with the settling
exposure photometry, but in one case we excise the first second of the exposure
to mitigate a spacecraft attitude reconstruction issue, and in a second case we
exclude the first second of the exposure in which the UVOT photocathode voltage
appears to be ramping up. Of a sample of 23 afterglows which have peak V
magnitudes <16, we find that all are detected in the settling exposures, when
Swift arrives on target. For 9 of the GRBs the UVOT settling exposure took
place before the conclusion of the prompt gamma-ray emission. Five of these
GRBs have well defined optical peaks after the settling exposures, with rises
of >0.5 mag in their optical lightcurves, and there is a marginal trend for
these GRBs to have long T90. Such a trend is expected for thick-shell
afterglows, but the temporal indices of the optical rises and the timing of the
optical peaks appear to rule out thick shells.
