The amazing "dust" image left by an owl that flew into the glass of a window in Sally Nairn's Catton Grove road flat.; Photo by Simon Finlay

Archant Norfolk photographer Simon Finlay has been mixing it with the best of the world’s wildlife photographers at a prestigious competition.

Simon reached the final of The 2012 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition for this shot which featured in the EDP and Evening News in October 2011.

It perfectly captures the ghostly imprint left on Sally Nairn’s window at her home on Catton Grove Road, Norwich, after an owl slammed into it.

The competition received more than 48,000 images from 98 countries, with many of the world’s most dedicated wildlife specialists entering photos that took hours of preparation.

Simon said: “It is a great honour to have got to the stage I did, considering it is one of - if not the - most prestigious wildlife photography competitions in the world.

“Not being a wildlife photographer or having the time that they have to do this, I was really pleased the picture got as far as it did.

“It was very difficult to light it, I had to use three different flash guns to get it right, the lady whose house it was actually held one out of the window to light it from behind.”