This photography trip to Kiskunsági National Park in Hungary is a dream come true for every nature photographer. From specially built photography hides (possibly the best equipped ones in the world), you will have a wide variety of species right in front of your lens. The fact that you’re also personally guided makes this trip truly complete. We will meet the world-famous nature photographer Bence Máté in person during a lecture full of practical tips. We now also offer this trip in late winter, which brings a completely different atmosphere and experience. We swap the little bitterns and rails for great bitterns, white-tailed eagles and herons: the giants of the marshlands.

Perfected Photography Hides

In the surroundings of his holiday farm, the world-renowned Hungarian nature photographer Bence Máté has built dozens of photography hides. These hides are located close to where we stay, all within reach of the beautiful wetlands.

We stay at Bence’s holiday farm near Kiskunsági National Park, just a few kilometers from the village of Pusztaszer and close to the Serbian border. From Budapest, it is only about an hour and a half drive to our accommodation.

We specifically organize this trip in late winter to photograph the giants of the wetlands: great egret, grey heron, white-tailed eagle, pygmy cormorant, great cormorant and more. You can choose from no fewer than seven different hides, each with diverse backgrounds and varying light conditions. Depending on the time of day, you can capture spectacular action shots of birds displaying, mating or flying in with all kinds of prey.

You photograph freely through one-way glass, making you invisible to the birds. Even changing your camera or lens goes completely unnoticed by your subject.

The Theatre or the Cinema: nature as the stage

Two of the hides (the Theatre and the Cinema) are located near shallow water. Fish are being fed here by using an ingenious system. These luxury hides are equipped with even more innovative features. In the Cinema, you can not only operate a one-way mirror screen, but also switch on artificial lighting. This means you can continue photographing in the evening – or even in complete darkness. The Cinema is perhaps the best place in Europe to photograph otters.

The larger Theatre, on the other hand, is the place to photograph all species of herons and wading birds up close (sometimes even too close!). In both underground hides (with a low camera position!), you sit in luxury armchairs. Each photographer has a swivel arm with two ball heads for two cameras. Switching from one camera to the other takes only a few seconds.

Telephoto or wide-angle shots of swimming, foraging, and squabbling birds – complete with elegant splashing water and perfect framing – are all guaranteed!

We photograph from early morning until late evening. Depending on your preference, you stay in the hide for three to six hours.

Unique European birds and a small, charming mammal

Expect a wide range of spectacular waterbirds. In the forest, we have three hides with “drinking stations”. These are located by a small pond where many species come to drink and bathe. You may come face to face with hawfinches, sparrowhawks and goshawks. But black woodpeckers, roe deer and pine martens are also among the possibilities.

The Theatre is the place to photograph spoonbills, great egrets, pygmy cormorants and more. In the Cinema, we regularly see great bitterns, kingfishers and grey herons.

In the Footsteps of Bence Máté

The Hungarian nature photographer Bence Máté has already won the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition twice. He also received a bronze award in the “Nature” category at the World Press Photo Contest. He is the pioneer of using one-way glass in photography hides, perfected the concept, and has built hides over the past fifteen years in Hungary, Costa Rica, Brazil and South Africa.

On one of the evenings during our stay, Bence will personally tell us more about his work. He will also give us specific tips to help us create unique images from a photography hide.