A Press and Journal photographer has won first prize in a worldwide wildlife film festival with a documentary charting the life of an Atlantic seabird.

Orkney-born Raymond Besant, who now lives in Aberdeenshire, said it was a dream come true to bag the title after three years of hard work and long hours.

His film The Flying Dustbin looks at the challenges that pollution and climate change are posing for the fulmar.

Filmed in Aberdeenshire, Orkney, St Kilda and the island of Texel off the Dutch coast it won the amateur section of the International Wildlife Film Festival in the US and got a merit award for scientific content.

He said he could not believe he was the winner from the record number of entries: "I really didn't expect to win it," he said.

"You've only got yourself as a reference. You don't know if you're really doing the right thing."

He will attend the awards ceremony in Missoula, Montana, next month.

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