TITLE: Lake Heron

The picture was a real technical and ethological challenge, a product of several years' preparation, 74 nights spent in a hide, and a lot of experimentation. I shot it manually from a fish-eye perspective at less than a meter's distance. As the stars and the birds were not in the same depth of field, homemade equipment was constructed specially for this purpose. I had to find a solution to change the focus and the aperture as well while shooting a single image. As the herons kept moving during the exposure, they drew interesting forms in front of the starry sky.

AUTHOR: Bence Mate (Hungary)

• Wildlife photographer, born in Hungary, 1985. In 2010 he won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year award in London. He is the most effective photographer in the 53-year-old history of the competition, being the only contestant winning the first prize in both the young and adult categories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_Photographer_of_the_Year#Ranking
• In 2005 he experimented the one-way glass photography technique, making fundamental changes in hide photography practice. This technique has been widely used all over the world, and most hides are equipped with such glasses.
• Since 2008 he has been designing wildlife photography hides in different parts of the world (Hungary, Costa Rica, Brazil, Norway, South-Africa and Transylvania, Romania). His enterprise operating in Hungary welcomes photographers with the most exclusive hides in the world.

• Books: The Invisible Wildlife Photographer (English, Hungarian), The Handbook of Bird Photography (Markus Varesvuo, Jari Peltomäki, Bence Máté; English, German, Finnish, French)

• Website: www.bencemate.com; www.bencemateshides.com


Most significant awards:

• BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2010
• BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2002
• BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Birds Category (international), 2014
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Hungary), 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015
• Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Hungary), 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Eric Hosking Award for the best portfolio, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011
• Bird Photographer of the Year (England), 2005
• GDT – European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Germany), 2015, Mammals category, Winner
• Nature’s Best photography competition (USA), 2010, 2012, 2014, Category, Winner
• Environmental Photographer of the Year (England), 2010, Category, Winner
• MontPhoto International photography contest (Spain), 2014, 2015, Overall winner
• Aves International Photo Contest (Belgium), 2014, Overall winner
• Transnatura International Nature Photo Competition (Romania), 2015, Overall winner
• National Wildlife international wildlife photography competition (USA), 2014, Overall winner
• EuroNatur International Photography Competition (Germany), 2014, Overall winner