I have been to several parts of the world with LUMIX and took photos of the most extraordinary creatures of the animal world. However, with 20 years of wildlife photography experience behind me I am still convinced that one can find photography challenges anywhere. As in 2020 - due to the Covid situation - travelling became impossible, I photographed the wildlife in my own garden with great enthusiasm. Among others I looked for themes which had been almost impossible to capture before the appearance of pre-record technique. I built a drinking station in my garden where Barn Swallows would come to drink, but they never landed, just scratched the water surface. It was quite a challenge to take sharp images of them because of their incredible speed and small size. I kept trying for 2 weeks until I managed to reach my goal what the background, lights and water mirror were concerned.
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Due to their specific behaviour and dazzling colours the kingfisher is among bird photographers’ most popular subjects. It is one of the few small-sized birds that do not migrate to Africa as winter approaches, but brave the cold, and visit the waters for pray even in the lowest temperatures.
Catching their prey is their most incredible skill: they sit on a branch above the water and look for the small fish swimming close to the surface.
As soon as a suitable prey is spotted they calculate the measure of the water surface’s refraction, and - depending on the angle they stoop for it under the surface - they readjust the direction alongside the sight spotted.
Because of optical distortion the fish is not in the spot where it can be seen from above.
Kingfishers scrape their nests into vertical, torn off banks of rivers and streams. In lack of artificial watercourses there are no such habitats, thus I started to build an artificial wall in such a man-made environment. After 10 years’ attempts I managed to build a wall that seems natural and finally, a couple of kingfishers came to like it and raised their nestlings in it.
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Bence Máté
Bence Máté is one of the World's most well known wildlife photographer. He pioneered the one-way glass photography technique now popular among hide-based nature photographers around the world. In 2010, his image ‘Marvel of Ants’ won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year grand title, making him the only contestant to date to win the grand title prizes in both the young and adult categories of the competition. He is the first participant who leeds all the ranking list if the BBC competition at the same time. Since 2008 he has been designing exclusive wildlife photography hides around the world.