Nature: Wildlife (PROFESSIONAL) - HONORABLE MENTION
Keep on the sunny side!

Photo © Bence Mate
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The majority of wildlife photos are enlighted by the sun; however, it is really challenging to make a wildlife image showing the sun’s disc itself.
The difficulty lays in the relatively small size of the sun, its position as well as its brightness. Such combination of all factors is mostly given when the sun is close to the horizon, but at this point we can also experience how fast the Earth moves, as the good moments depend on a few seconds. Even in case of clear sunrise and sunset we have only a few minutes to take good images. At this very moment an animal is to be composed into the foreground, which takes careful planning, especially in case of shy species that can be shot from hides only as the position of the sun and the camera is given, and it depends on the animals whether they walk into the space between them. A further problem is that it is not recommended to look into the view-finder when the sun is there because it can damage the eyesight, which is another reason why well-composed images can be made with such difficulty.
Bence Máté
• 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.
His most significant awards:
• BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2010
• BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2002
• 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
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The majority of wildlife photos are enlighted by the sun; however, it is really challenging to make a wildlife image showing the sun’s disc itself.
The difficulty lays in the relatively small size of the sun, its position as well as its brightness. Such combination of all factors is mostly given when the sun is close to the horizon, but at this point we can also experience how fast the Earth moves, as the good moments depend on a few seconds. Even in case of clear sunrise and sunset we have only a few minutes to take good images. At this very moment an animal is to be composed into the foreground, which takes careful planning, especially in case of shy species that can be shot from hides only as the position of the sun and the camera is given, and it depends on the animals whether they walk into the space between them. A further problem is that it is not recommended to look into the view-finder when the sun is there because it can damage the eyesight, which is another reason why well-composed images can be made with such difficulty.
About author:
Bence Máté
• 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.
His most significant awards:
• BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2010
• BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (international), 2002
• 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
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