this is a feature of Twenty Eleven, to use the featured images of single post or static page in the header, if these images exceed a minimum dimension.
to change this feature, you will need to edit header.php in your child theme and remove/change some of the code.
change this section:
<?php
/*
* The header image.
* Check if this is a post or page, if it has a thumbnail, and if it's a big one
*/
if ( is_singular() && has_post_thumbnail( $post->ID ) &&
( /* $src, $width, $height */ $image = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id( $post->ID ), array( $header_image_width, $header_image_width ) ) ) &&
$image[1] >= $header_image_width ) :
// Houston, we have a new header image!
echo get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'post-thumbnail' );
else :
// Compatibility with versions of WordPress prior to 3.4.
if ( function_exists( 'get_custom_header' ) ) {
$header_image_width = get_custom_header()->width;
$header_image_height = get_custom_header()->height;
} else {
$header_image_width = HEADER_IMAGE_WIDTH;
$header_image_height = HEADER_IMAGE_HEIGHT;
}
?>
<img src="<?php header_image(); ?>" width="<?php echo $header_image_width; ?>" height="<?php echo $header_image_height; ?>" alt="" />
<?php endif; // end check for featured image or standard header ?>
to:
<?php
// Compatibility with versions of WordPress prior to 3.4.
if ( function_exists( 'get_custom_header' ) ) {
$header_image_width = get_custom_header()->width;
$header_image_height = get_custom_header()->height;
} else {
$header_image_width = HEADER_IMAGE_WIDTH;
$header_image_height = HEADER_IMAGE_HEIGHT;
}
?>
<img src="<?php header_image(); ?>" width="<?php echo $header_image_width; ?>" height="<?php echo $header_image_height; ?>" alt="" />
(not tested)