Wings of a gull - Jan van der Greef - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2011

2011: Behaviour: Birds - Runner-up

Jan van der Greef Enlarge image Wings of a gull

Jan van der Greef (The Netherlands)

Wings of a gull

Jan first went to Flatanger in northern Norway to photograph white-tailed eagles. But he became captivated by the herring gulls wheeling around the boat. When he planned his next trip, he knew the picture he wanted to get. He crouched down low in the boat and concentrated on a single bird, waiting until it took off and panning his camera up with the gull, using a slow speed to capture the wing dynamics. 'The sublime, soft lighting,' says Jan, 'the gull's wonderful wing motion and the shimmering stream of water from its legs - for me, symbolizing the transition from floating on water to the freedom of the moment in the air - combined to create the ethereal image I had hoped for.'

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV + 70-200mm f2.8 lens at 115mm + 1.4x extender; 1/6 sec at f14; ISO 200.

This photograph is available to buy as a print.