2007: Behaviour: Birds - Highly Commended
Chris Gomersall (United Kingdom)
Chinstrap slide
'I was leading a photographic expedition, and we sailed past this beautiful blue iceberg one morning. It was sprinkled with chinstrap penguins. I concentrated on this one, which looked as if it was going to jump into the icy water. I set up for a fast shutter-speed - but the penguin managed to negotiate the slope and hop across to another iceberg to join its companions.' Chinstrap penguins get their name from the distinctive black band that runs under the bill. They live and breed in large colonies, sometimes hundreds of thousands of birds, around the Antarctic Peninsula. When not trying to find food in the freezing waters, looking out for predatory leopard seals, they must guard their eggs and chicks from birds such as sheathbills and brown skuas.
Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 200-400mm f4 VR lens; 1/3200 sec at f7.1; ISO 200; monopod.
View other winners in this category
-
Adult awards Snowy owl stoop Louis-Marie Préau
View
-
Adult awards Frozen frenzy Kristin Mccrea
View
-
Adult awards Battling blackcocks David Tipling
View
-
Adult awards Porpoising penguin David Tipling
View
-
Adult awards Song of the corn bunting Gastone Pivatelli
View
-
Adult awards Flight of the yellowlegs George Decamp
View
-
Adult awards The ice-hoppers Maria Stenzel
View
Search the online gallery
Enter a keyword to search for images from the 2007 competition
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is co-owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.
All intellectual property rights in the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition images are retained by the photographer. Any reproduction of the images without prior written consent will constitute an actionable infringement. For information regarding permission to use competition images please email us.