HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY MAMMALS
 Zsolt Moldovan | High Jump

Name: Zsolt Moldovan
Picture title: High Jump
Category: Mammals
Nationality: Romania
Occupation: I’m a part-time photographer. I’m working in agriculture, in our family business. I’m an agricultural engineer as a profession. Wildlife photography is my “second job”, but in my heart, it always will be in the first place. Luckily I’m spending my time mostly in nature, so there is a strange connection between these occupations.

Technical information
Camera: Canon EOS R6
Lens: Canon EF 600mm F4L IS III USM
EXIF: 1/400 sec at f4 • ISO 800

Zsolt Moldovan says:

I’m working as a farmer, and luckily nature is my office. In the afternoons, after finishing my work, I spent a lot of time nearby Cernat village, taking pictures of bee-eaters and foxes. In my imagination, I have already taken several pictures, mostly of bee-eaters, as my main goal was to capture the life of our colorful little birds. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to capture anything for a long time, but finally, my patience paid off. I set up my hide on a field next to the loess wall (where the bee-eater’s nest was), and I also managed to have a good view of the red fox family’s life. I could say it was a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences. That’s the reason why the autofocus of the camera was on the fox, my finger on the shutter button, and my eye on the camera viewfinder before the jump. The scab beetle migration is a natural phenomenon that can be seen every four years in our country. I managed to catch a moment I have never seen before. The little fox showed me interesting and special behavior. That was an amazing day.