NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Hungarian photographer Csaba Daróczi has enjoyed great success in a number of high-profile photography competitions. Tracy Calder talks to him about fresh challenges, originality, and what constitutes a prize-winning picture
Csaba Daróczi
Csaba Daróczi is a geography and PE teacher by trade. His passion for photography began in the 1990s and has been steadily growing ever since. He lives in Soltvadkert (a small town in Hungary) and likes to take pictures close to home. His main area of interest is nature, but he also shoots portraits, landscapes and aerial views, among other things. To find out more visit www.daroczicsaba.hu or follow him on Instagram @daroczics.
In order to chat with Hungarian photographer Csaba Daróczi I had to wait for a starless sky. Daróczi has been observing a pine marten in the forest for some months now and he has a particular picture in mind. ‘I want an image of the pine marten under a starry sky, jumping,’ he smiles. Csaba isn’t afraid to put the hours in: he once spent two years trying to capture a picture of some deer on a hilltop with a full moon. ‘I got it in the end,’ he says, fist pumping the air. It takes patience, persistence and fieldcraft to fully realise a picture you have in your mind’s eye, and thankfully Csaba has all three.
The power of observation
We begin our conversation by discussing his early background in sports and geography – two subjects that Csaba studied at university. ‘We used to go on field exercises to the hills and coast, and this is when I started taking pictures,’ he recalls. At this point the images he made were mainly record shots, but they encouraged him to take a closer look at the world around him. ‘I’ve always been an observer,’ he explains. ‘I love watching animals and trying to work out why they behave in a certain way.’ Csaba treats every encounter as a puzzle. ‘As a photographer you must be a problem solver,’ he says.
Finding a mentor
In 1992 a friend invited Csaba to visit an exhibition of nature photography by Alajos Hencz, and it was here that he experienced an epiphany. ‘Seeing the pictures on the wall, studying the animals and soaking up the mood made me want to become a nature photographer,’ he says, his face lighting up. After seeing the exhibition, Csaba contacted Hencz and asked for his advice. ‘Hencz said, “Come to me. I will show you what I do, and we will be friends,”’ recalls Csaba. True to his word, Hencz shared both his photography skills and his fieldcraft knowledge, and the pair enjoyed many nature trips together. (Sadly, Hencz died in 2010.)
Developing a style
While he might have been taken under Hencz’s wing, Csaba quickly developed his own style. Each photograph is a blend of hard-won insight, technical mastery and clear vision. Whether he’s capturing a flock of birds,
