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Bence Máté's Image
The newly fledged burrowing owl chicks (here, each balancing on one leg, with the female attending to some necessary grooming) still couldn't fly.
They had emerged from their den only three days before. But they were impossible to photograph for much of the day. 'In the sweltering heat, they would tuck themselves into the shade of my hide.' But as soon as the temperature cooled, they would flutter up to the top of the spoil-heap created when their parents had first excavated the nest hole. So every day for a week, Bence would crawl into his hide at about 6pm to photograph them in the short window of opportunity before the sun set over the Pantanal.
Behind the lens
Bence Máté
Hungary
Bence is a wildlife photographer from Hungary. Since 2008 he has been designing wildlife photography hides around the world, including in Hungary, Costa Rica, Brazil, Norway, South Africa and Transylvania (Romania). He was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2010.
Image details
- Nikon D700
- 300mm f2.8 lens
- 1/320 sec at f2.8 • ISO 1600 • Gitzo tripod
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