Stunning competition-winning photos hold a lens up to global ecology

Capturing Ecology competition
(Image credit: Rebecca Nason/British Ecological Society)

The speckles on the seagull’s eye in the award-winning image above aren’t quite what they seem. According to photographer Rebecca Nason, they are actually lice, clustered around the eye of Kumlien Gull, a sub-species of Iceland gull that breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada.

It was this mesmerizing, tricksy image, snapped on an Olympus OM-D E-M1X with an M.Zuiko 300mm lens, that propelled Rebecca to the winning spot of the British Ecological Society’s annual photography competition, “Capturing Ecology”.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Jon Stapley

Jon spent years at IPC Media writing features, news, reviews and other photography content for publications such as Amateur Photographer and What Digital Camera in both print and digital form. With his additional experience for outlets like Photomonitor, this makes Jon one of our go-to specialists when it comes to all aspects of photography, from cameras and action cameras to lenses and memory cards, flash diffusers and triggers, batteries and memory cards, selfie sticks and gimbals, and much more besides.  


An NCTJ-qualified journalist, he has also contributed to Shortlist, The Skinny, ThreeWeeks Edinburgh, The Guardian, Trusted Reviews, CreativeBLOQ, and probably quite a few others I’ve forgotten.