Hobby chasing a dragonfly. Photo by Maksym Breus. Overall Winner of the 2026 Norfolk Wildlife Trust Nature Photography Competition. Image selected for June.
Wildlife photography often requires being in the right place at the right time, but sometimes getting the perfect shot takes years of patience. For 17-year-old photographer Maksym Breus, capturing a hobby falcon chasing a dragonfly was an image he had been working toward for three years.
After spending more than 200 hours observing the birds, Breus finally got the shot he had been hoping for at Redgrave and Lopham Fen on the Norfolk border in England. The action-packed image shows the small falcon swooping just above the water as it pursues a dragonfly, with golden reeds visible in the distance.
The photograph went on to win the public vote for Overall Winner of Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s 2026 Nature Photography Competition. More than 1,200 photographs of Norfolk’s wildlife, landscapes, and plants were submitted to this year’s contest, with 12 selected to appear in the organization’s 2027 calendar.
“For three years I’ve attempted to capture a legendary shot of a hobby chasing a dragonfly,” Breus says. After finally succeeding, he describes the feeling as “absolutely indescribable.”
Hobbies are small falcons known for their speed and agility, and they commonly hunt dragonflies and other diminutive birds while flying. Their long, pointed wings and streamlined bodies allow them to catch prey in midair.
For Breus, photographing wildlife is about more than creating a technically impressive image. He is particularly interested in capturing the behaviors and fleeting moments that reveal something about the animals themselves.
“Wildlife photography was never just about showing an animal,” Breus explains. Instead, he hopes his images convey the behavior and stories that make each wildlife encounter memorable.
Breus was not the only young photographer recognized in this year’s competition. Sixteen-year-old Tia Pardon received the Young Person prize for a photograph of a little egret backlit by sunlight at NWT Hickling Broad. Clifford Wicker won the Mobile Phone Photography category with an image of a banded demoiselle damselfly photographed at Ingoldisthorpe Water Recycling Centre.
The competition is open to photographers of all ages and experience levels, and it accepts images taken with both professional cameras and mobile phones. This year’s Overall Winner will receive a ZEISS Conquest Gavia 65 spotting scope, while the Young Person and Mobile Phone Photography winners receive gift vouchers donated by John Lewis Norwich.
Breus’ winning photograph, along with the other winning and highly commended images, is currently part of a free exhibition at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Cley Marshes visitor center. The exhibition runs through October 31, 2026, giving visitors the chance to see some of the best images submitted to this year’s competition in person.
The Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s 2026 Nature Photography Competition announced its winners.
Little egret with a glow. Photo by Tia Pardon. Winner of the Young Person prize.
Banded demoiselle. Photo by Clifford Wicker. Winner of Mobile Phone Photography.
This year’s contest received more than 1,200 photographs of Norfolk’s wildlife, landscapes, and plants, with 12 selected to appear in the organization’s 2027 calendar.
Bearded reedling. Photo by David Brooker. Image selected for January.
Long-tailed tit. Photo by Sue Coy. Image selected for February.
Toad on a Rock. Photo by Alice Redgrave. Image selected for March.
The competition is open to photographers of all ages and experience levels, and it accepts images taken with both professional cameras and mobile phones.
Ruby-tailed wasp. Photo by Robert Canham. Image selected for April.
Swallowtail. Photo by Carly-Ann Haxby. Image selected for May.
Ringed plover chick on the shoreline at Sea Palling. Photo by Jon Kelf. Image selected for July.
The winning and highly commended photographs are now on view in a free exhibition at Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Cley Marshes.
Curious young little owl at the University of East Anglia. Photo by Steph Bornemann. Image selected for August.
Roe deer. Photo Lucie Gregory. Image selected for September.
Snow bunting feeding on dandelions at West Runton. Photo by Vinnie Purdy. Image selected for October.
Bracket fungus. Photo by Ferenc Szoradi. Image selected for November.
Hawfinch. Photo by Russ Bartlett. Image selected for December.
