Grand prix

The Grand Prix of Hungarian Nature Photo

In its first decade, from 2010 to 2020 Magical Hungary awarded its first price to the photographer who collected the most jury scores fpr his photos uploaded to the main categories of the contest. In the twelfth year of its existence, with the recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture -responsible for the professional supervision of the national park directorates-, Magical Hungary established a prestigious award to recognise that the photographer, with a year-long hard work and continuously proving his talent, earned the place of the competition’s best. MH awards the Grand Prix of Hungarian Nature Photo to the photographer who gained the most outstanding result of the contest season, for his extraordinary achievement in Hungarian nature photography. The award is embodied in the Golden Crane statue, that is awarded every year from 2022 to the photographers of Grand Prix as well as to the second and third place.

We believe that our nature photographers create lasting value and play a significant role in raising awareness to the protection of nature. With the Grand Prix of Hungarian Nature Photo, Magical Hungary thanks nature photographers for this.

Daróczi Csaba

1st place

Daróczi Csaba

He was born in Debrecen in 1969, then he grew up in Püspökladány. His passion for nature started when he was young. He came into closer contact with nature photography in his college years, in the early 1990s. He came to Soltvadkert in 1994 and star...

He was born in Debrecen in 1969, then he grew up in Püspökladány. His passion for nature started when he was young. He came into closer contact with nature photography in his college years, in the early 1990s. He came to Soltvadkert in 1994 and started to explore the region of Kiskunság with the eyes of a photographer, which still lasts to this day, as this area is inexhaustible of amazing subjects. His first book, The Child of the Rivers presents this beautiful landscape. He is interested in every topic that provides him experience and in which he sees a chance to take a good picture. He is happy to take part in photo contests; he has already achieved great success in these, not only in Hungary, but also internationally. He is one of the longest-standing competitors of Magical Hungary and a photographer with outstanding success. Since 2010, he has participated in 272 contests with altogether 751 images throughout the years. In 2020 and 2021, he was a member of the jury, scoring the contestants’ images. He won the main prize of MH six times, and in 2022, in the year of establishing the Grand Prix of Hungarian Nature Photo, he was awarded the Honorary Grand Prix for his achievements. However, he did not need to wait too long, in 2022 he won The Grand Prix again, then he took over the Golden Crane statue for the third time in 2023.

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Hargitai László

2nd place

Hargitai László

Lives in Szolnok with his wife and he is the father of two grown-up children. He has been working in computer science for almost thirty years. He bought his first single-lens reflex camera in 2011. Initially, he tried out the hides of some of his fri...

Lives in Szolnok with his wife and he is the father of two grown-up children. He has been working in computer science for almost thirty years. He bought his first single-lens reflex camera in 2011. Initially, he tried out the hides of some of his friends to gain experience. He found it interesting and easy to photograph the birds that had already got used to the place, but he still didn't feel the pictures he took his own. He decided to visit the habitats instead, observe the birds' movements, hide and photograph them from there, so that the experience and success would be much greater. At first, he photographed waterfowl and shorebirds. He built a bird-watching hide in the reeds and hid in it, waiting for the right moment. Many species were photographed, including some that had previously only been known from descriptions. Then came the winter feeding with sunflowers and the carcasses of dead animals. His pictures of songbirds and birds of prey have grown nicely. For the sixth year, he has been placing nesting boxes next to his bird-watching place, so that he can now capture the whole process of mating, breeding and feeding. It is important to him that the final photograph is aesthetically pleasing in every way. A perfect background, interesting branches, the right lighting conditions and the tidiness of the surrounding vegetation should characterise the picture. A few years ago, he started to film his nesting boxes so that he can check on the progress of the nesting and breeding at any time via an internet connection. He now has a remote connection to the camera so he can take photos of the birds without disturbing them. A laser-controlled automatic system is being tested, which will also enable his camera to take automatic exposures. He has participated several times in Hungarian photo contests, and has won the MH's Birds category in the Magical Hungary photo contest three times so far.

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Litauszki Tibor

3rd place

Litauszki Tibor

The photographer was born in Kiskőrös in 1982. As a child, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents in Akasztó, so he was captivated by the love of nature at a relatively early age. His grandparents worked in agriculture and introduced him to the...

The photographer was born in Kiskőrös in 1982. As a child, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents in Akasztó, so he was captivated by the love of nature at a relatively early age. His grandparents worked in agriculture and introduced him to the world of nature, teaching him to appreciate it. He was twenty-five when he bought his first digital camera, with the aim of recapturing some of his childhood experiences. At first, he mainly photographed birds, collecting new species. At the time, he did not actively enter the contest as he did not feel his images were good enough to be submitted. In January 2016, he had the opportunity to photograph one of the most beautiful species he had ever seen, the kingfisher. It was after seeing the image that he first felt he had a place in nature photography. He loves images that make the viewer wonder: how was this image taken? Sometimes he spends years perfecting a shot, other times it takes a thousandth of a second to capture an inimitable moment. He believes that, indirectly, nature photographers have a major role to play in the conservation of nature. Images that make you think are half the battle. One of the most beautiful things about photography, he says, is that the images carry a message, in this case a message from nature. And it is up to the photographer to make the viewer understand that message. His photos have been successfully entered in several national and international photo contests for years, and he is happy to see his photos reach so many people on such occasions. He actively participated in the competition of Magical Hungary in 2019 for the last time, when he managed to reach the third place. For the 2023 season, he has brought his best nature photographs from the last four years, showing the three regions close to his heart.

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