Focení divokých vlků / Národní park Bieszczady

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MY DREAM CAME TRUE!

Wild wolf photography / Bieszczady, Poland

The Polish Bieszczady National Park won me over with its endless wild landscape on my first visit in 2022. Photographers David Němeček and Petr Dolejšek invited me to take a photo. I was lucky and thanks to my determination, I was the only one from the expedition who managed to photograph a bear crossing the river. It was the first time I had been in the company of such a large beast and I was there alone. The experience is indescribable and until now I could not imagine what it must be like. When the bear slowly disappeared into the grass on the other side of the river, I packed my things and left the place. I didn't need anything more that day.

It's a good 70km from the first Bieszczady welcome sign to the place, so it's really huge here. I went to the same place for the third time and this time I invited photographer Richard Paps. I didn't have high expectations, but I felt in the air that I could manage to take some nice photos. In this area you can see European bison, brown bear, grey wolf, lynx, white-tailed eagle and spotted eagle, various owls and actually a bunch of species that are found in Europe.

It's about 800km from Prague. So at 7:00 in the morning we get in the car and set off. We arrive at the place as planned, but unfortunately it's raining. Even so, we quickly change clothes and go sit by the river, where I photographed my first bear almost exactly a year earlier. After about three hours the rain stops and a bear appears on the left bank. He's pretty big and pretty wet. I keep calm, take a breath, slowly lean towards the camera and enjoy his slow and calm walk to the other side of the river through the lens. Waaaaw, so we were very lucky right at the beginning of the trip. "Unfortunately" I had exactly the same photos as I took there last year, so we decided to change our plan and move a few kilometers away in the morning. What a treat!

We woke up at 3:30 in the morning and it was already light. We got to the photo shoot location much later than we expected. We had to drive quite a long distance by car and walk a long way. And let me tell you, the journey to this place is quite unpleasant. I always try not to imagine what and where is looking at me. About 15 minutes later, when we had prepared everything, disguised ourselves and started waiting, a doe appeared on our bank. It was quite far away, there was fog over the river, and the doe was against the light. After a few minutes, the first silhouette of a wolf appeared.

And then it all started. The doe ran straight towards the wolf, who immediately started chasing her. At first we thought the wolf had caught the doe and started to tear her apart. Later at home we found out from the photos that the doe had escaped from the wolf and that the wolves had probably come there for the prey they had caught there the night before. Yes, I write wolves, because after a while a second silhouette of a wolf appeared.

The wolves weren't that close and were in the harsh backlight of the rising sun. We knew they were eating something there, but we definitely didn't want to get close to them. So we just waited.

We sit and can't believe the situation that just happened. I've been waiting for three years to see a wolf in the wild. I thought that if it happens, it will only be for a picosecond and I won't even have time to look at it properly, let alone take a good photo. I'm sitting by the river and I keep replaying it in my head over and over. I had no idea that this was just the beginning. Suddenly I hear Richard whispering to me that something is coming towards us. I didn't really understand him. I looked into the backlight and I didn't understand what it was at all. My head just couldn't take it. When I looked through the camera, I saw that a wolf was walking directly towards us and was carrying a piece of rope in its mouth. Oh shit!!! Apparently it was taking its prey somewhere to hide from other predators.

He knew us very well, he calmly turned around about twenty to thirty meters from us towards the other side of the river and walked around us beautifully. He stopped a few times and looked at us. We posed no danger to him, so he calmly continued on. After another twenty to thirty meters of walking exactly opposite us on the other side of the river, he turned around again and crossed back to our side. He simply walked around us beautifully. I can still hear the sloshing of the water in my ears. In a moment, the wolf returns without prey almost along the same path. He stopped exactly opposite us and took a good look at us. Then he quietly disappeared into the grass. The second wolf passes us from the left, crosses the river the same path as his partner, is completely calm and also slowly disappears into the grass on the other side.

This was a unique moment, a unique view that I may never see again in my life and I am incredibly grateful for it. On this expedition I experienced something that will stay in my head for the rest of my life. Thank you nature!!

Btw: this is just a part of the photos from the whole series. You will have the opportunity to see all the photos at an exhibition or lecture during the year. So don't forget to follow my social networks so you don't miss important information and possibly more photos :) On my Instagram you will only find my wildlife work and on my Linkedin you will only find my commercial work, thanks to which I can photograph wildlife. Thank you very much for your favor and support. Every share of my work helps me one step further.

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