Photo: ''Turbo Swallow'' [View all]

© Karsten Mosebach and Bernhard Volmer/GDT 2021 – overall winner; Bird category winner


Turbo swallow shows a barn swallow in flight brought Karsten Mosebach and Bernhard Volmer first place. Karsten Mosebach said about the winning image:

''Barn swallows are fast flyers. They cut through the air at top speed, swerving around obstacles blazingly fast and unexpected. Our eyes can hardly follow their daredevil maneuvers. The birds seem to be in the air all the time. Only rarely do they rest with other swallows on a telephone wire or on the gutter of an old pigsty.''

The two photographers shot the winning image with a long exposure combined with flash to freeze the movement towards the end of the exposure time. Thus, the swallow in the picture looks like it wears a veil that shows both its speed and beauty.