Name: Bence Máté
Picture title: Crash
Category: Black & White
Nationality: Hungary
Occupation: I am a full-time wildlife photographer as well as a nature conservationist.
Technical information
Camera: Canon 5DSr
Lens: Canon EF f/2,8L Macro IS USM
EXIF: ISO 1000, 1/200sec, f/13
Accessories: 2 pc Canon flashes
HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY BLACK & WHITE
Bence Máté | Crash
Name: Bence Máté
Picture title: Crash
Category: Black & White
Nationality: Hungary
Occupation: I am a full-time wildlife photographer as well as a nature conservationist.
Technical information
Camera: Canon 5DSr
Lens: Canon EF f/2,8L Macro IS USM
EXIF: ISO 1000, 1/200sec, f/13
Accessories: 2 pc Canon flashes
Bence Máté says:
My former English teacher, who had been following my career, informed me about an intriguing scene on his classroom window and asked if I might be interested in photographing it. When I saw it, I immediately called him, asking him to ensure that no cleaners disturbed the area. Unfortunately, I was abroad at the time, but I promised to visit as soon as I returned.
Later, I discovered what had happened: sparrow hawks had been chasing pigeons in the schoolyard, and in their frantic escape, some pigeons tried to fly through the double-insulated windows. The collision left dust from their plumage adhered to the glass, forming a haunting, ghostly outline of their final moments.
Each year, millions of birds lose their lives from collisions with glass in human structures. A solution to this problem is long overdue.
Species name: Domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica)
Location: Debrecen, Hungary
Bence Máté
Hungary
Bence Máté is a Hungarian wildlife photographer, and the most successful participant in the history of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of The Year competition. He is the only person to be voted both ‘Young Wildlife Photographer of The Year’ and ‘Wildlife Photographer of The Year’, and he leads all the rankings in this competition. He is best known to the public as ‘The Invisible Wildlife Photographer’ from the title of a three-part series broadcast on Spectrum Television. Apart from these achievements he has also established an international reputation as a designer of specialist photography hides. According to a 2014 survey, he is the 9th best-known Hungarian in the world, and is also very successful in his own country.
Bence is an Ambassador for Panasonic cameras.
Books: The Invisible Wildlife Photographer (English, Hungarian), The Handbook of Bird Photography (Markus Varesvuo, Jari Peltomäki, Bence Máté; English, German, Finnish, French, Chinese); The Exhibition (English, Hungarian)