I WAS lucky enough to get to go to a preview of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition last night, and chat with Paul Sansome.

PAUL isn’t really a wildlife photographer. He does landscapes.

Which is probably why he couldn’t stop smiling as he talked about winning Highly Commended in this year’s competition.

Paul’s been a fan of the contest since it started and has been going to London to see the yearly exhibition of winners at the Natural History Museum since the 1990s.

He’d never entered until this year – but an unexpected opportunity gave him a great picture he thought would be in with a chance.

He was in Iceland, taking landscape photos on a glacial lagoon. The lagoon was at the base of glaciers, and as the glacial ice sheared off, the lagoon filled with icebergs.

As he was shooting, he saw four terns lining up for a dive, then an iceberg float into view behind them. He quickly changed his camera set-up and got the shot in a two-minute window.

“It’s amazing to be part of the exhibition,” he said. “I don’t really do much wildlife photography and I’d never entered before because I’d never had a picture that I thought was good enough.

“These are the best wildlife pictures in the world.”

Strict publishing rules mean I can’t show you Paul’s picture now – but click here for a gallery of five of the best from the show, including Paul’s - or you can click here to see it online.

There’s more of Paul’s work here

Then make sure you get next Saturday’s Echo for the Magazine, where we’re printing another five images, including the incredible Starling Wave by Danny Green, and two amazing images from the Young Photographer section of the competition.

We’re also printing the controversial competition winner, The storybook wolf, by Spanish photographer José Luis Rodríguez, which shows a wolf jumping a gate.

In December the judges announced they were reconvening to determine whether Rodriguez had used a tame and captive "model" animal in breach of competition rules after rival photographers claimed they recognised the wolf as a zoo resident called Ossian.

The picture was already the subject of some discussion because it was taken by remote trigger –meat left on one side of the gate to encourage the wolves to visit, and the camera and lights set up with a motion trigger so the camera would automatically start to shoot when anything crossed the frame.

It’s a technique that requires great skill, as Paul explained to me – but should it have been considered in the same vein as other shots where the photographer was actually behind the camera?

Why don’t you visit Moors Valley and have a look at the exhibition for yourself – then come back and tell me what you think!

It's open to the public from January 23 until February 28. It's free entry but will you will have to pay to park. More details here.

You can read more about the Storybook Wolf controversy here.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine

UPDATE: Since this post was written, the Storybook Wolf has been disqualified, which means Moors Valley will be the first place to put the new winner on show. All the more reason to go and visit!