The Danube Delta - Nature Photography in uncharted terrain

Several months ago I was looking for new destinations in Europe, which had not been covered thousands of times. I decided to have a closer look on Romania, particularly the Danube Delta, as Romania will be a new member of the EU in the near future.

 

I did not know anything about the Delta, only that it should be a very pretty area full of birds. Through the www I found and contacted a romanian nature photographer living in Tulcea, the main city at the Delta.

After that, an article on the Delta was published in the german language nature photography magazine naturfoto. In short, this article including the pictures gives a completely wrong impression about what's going on in the Delta. Sometimes it was simply wrong!

That's all the information I had when I traveled to Tulcea in April to meet

Daniel Petrescu and spend a week in the Delta with him. Daniel already told me on the phone that it would be much to early for bird photography in the Delta. In fact, we found not much more than Cormorants. All the same, this week was very valuable for me as I learned a lot about the Delta, what it means and what equipment is necessary to photograph in this area.

Landscape of the Year 2007/2008

Some days ago was announced, that the Danube Delta was selected to be the "Landscape of the Year 2007/2008".

Landscape of the Year

Lets hope that this popularity helps the Danube Delta to cope with all the challenges.

Pictures of the "Landscape of the Year 2007/2008" can be searched by using "Schnellsuche" or by using this link for

Images Landscape of the Year 2006/2007 Danube Delta

Where can you take pictures in the Danube Delta?

 

The Delta is made of Channels, lakes and some solid ground. To go to the colonies you have to have a special license (quite dear) issued in Tulcea and a very good boat driver of course including boat. Even if it is expensive I must recommend to visit the colonies at least sometimes.

 

The channels and lakes can be visited with a simple and cheap permit. April to June, the Danube Delta is nothing but a huge lake. Most of the time you will take pictures based in the boat. The flight distance of the birds is very large. Long lenses are absolutly necessary (see equipment). In the colonies I take pictures I use the tripod, on the lakes/channels I rest the lens on the edge of the boat with a bean bag or stuff sack.

What can you photograph in the Danube Delta?

The Danube Delta is a unique area. I deceded very early to focus on very few species. Due to their prettiness I decided to go for the Herons breeding in the Delta. The herons are only a very very small percentage of the bird species living in the Delta. Everybody has to decide for him/herself what the targets will be.

All good birding pages give an outlock about the local bird life in the Danube Delta.

My experience come from taking pictures of Herons in the Channels, Lakes and Colonies of the Danube Delta.

The Danube Delta is huge. Therefore the decision for a location will decide what you will/can get. I only can recommend to hire a really good guide otherwise you will very likly fail!

The landscape of the Delta is on its own a good topic, more on that in a later field report.

The local population and their life on and with the water is on its own an option to consider for photography.

What kind of equipment is necessary?

The animals are shy very shy! The boat rocks and never stays at the position where you want to have it. Not easy for photography!

  • 600mm sometimes with 1,4 Extender (used in colonies and static situation, use of image stabilization is nearly obligatory)
  • 300mm sometimes with 1,4 Extender (flight shots, dynamic situations, ready to shoot combination)
  • Tripod for the big lens, used in colonies (you need a suitable boat)
  • Bean Bag or Stuff Sack for resting the lens on the edge of the boat
  • Wide Angle zoom for landscape work
  • If you use film, bring loads of it. The risc of spoilt pictures due to wind, waves and the moving boat is high!

How much time do I need?

No easy question! Therefore some fact which should allow you to answer this question on you own.

The Delta is a dry area, it does not rain much. But clouds are building up nearly daily and the good light vanishes. Even if you have good light it might be windy or even stormy. And of course you need to be lucky with the animals. This is my experiance from my visits in May and April. Every second mornig was fair or good. Good evening light was there every third day.

 

If you take pictures on the channels you need more time compared to working in the colonies.

About the infrastructure in the Danube Delta

Starting point for all tours to the Delta is Tulcea. You can get to Tulcea without any problems by train, bus or with you own car. To find accomodation in Tulcea is no problme. Ready made trips for nearly all tastes are offered by several companies (of course not for photographers...). On this trips you stay on "swimming hotels", which are tugged through the channels. Sometimes you use these hotels as platform for trips with small ooutboard driven boats to places, where the tug cannot bring the "hotel".IBIS Tours (D. Petrescu) is offering quality tours for birders and people interested in nature and wildlife.

If you come just for photography you have to arrange everything in a tailor made package. To go to the Delta on your own is useless. Even if you have a boat you would get lost hopelessly as soon as you leave the bigger channels!

Google Earth Link to Tulcea and the Danube Delta

Questions and further information

If collegues or anybody else have questions about my experience in the Danube Delta, do not hesitate to contact me, simply use the contac form!

 

More information and my experience from my further trips later in the year will be added from time to time!

 

 

Martin Zwick

05.06.2006