Lots of water, bison's droppings, and an introduction to nature photography

Today was the second full day of our Polish-German seminar in Białowieża. The first half of it resembled the previous day: we visited a (very) wet stretch of forest in the North-West of Puszcza Białowieska in the forestry disctrict of Browsk. Here the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (PTOP, our Polish organiser) conducts various measures to raise the waterlevel in order to bring back the forest to its natural state.

In the Browsk disctrict of Puszcza Bialowieska

The afternoon session was dedicated to nature photography. Marek Kosiński (http://www.kosinscy.pl), a renowned professional photographer based in Białowieża, gave us an introduction into the basics of digital photography. This theoretical part will be followed by practical exercises over the coming days, leading to the photo exhibition to be opened at the end of our seminar.

At the end of the day, we repeated yesterday's summary exercise, consisting of small groups of participants collecting five key terms characterising the contents of the day. Here is what the five groups identified:

• bagno / swamp / Sumpf, Moor
• integracja grupowa / group integration
• kupa zubra / Bisonkacke / Bison shit
• Storchschnabel (Geranium spec.)

• bison
• nature photography (Marek)
• swamp / bagno  (frogs)
• tama, próg, zapora / Wiedervernässung
• renaturyzacja, Renaturierung

Martin in a dangerous pose...

• przygoda / adventure / Abenteuer -> important for group experience
• retencja / retention / Aufstau -> water finds its own
• powoli / slowly / langsam
• connection / porozumienie / Verbindung
• slady / traces / Spuren -> presence of animals & we also left our own traces
• beautiful / piekny / schön
• zabawny, fajny / funny

• technika fotografowania
• ols / Bruchwald -> special type of forest (with the help of PTOP and beavers)
• zoo / rezerwat pokazowy (Luchs, Wisent, Wolf...) (zubron was disgusting)
• burza -> suddenly, refreshing, good for the
• kupa zubra / Bisonmist -> biggest animal in the forest, it was rather fresh

• ols -> standing water, great place for many endangered species, this type of forest is disappearing
• swiatlo / light -> the most important element of photography
• dam in the forest, built by PTOP and beavers
• composition -> second most important thing
• bison's poo

Our third day (Monday) will start rather early: We have an appointment with Marek Kosiński at 4.00 am for a photo excursion to various places around Białowieża...

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Die Begegnung "Treffpunkt Białowieża - ein Ort für Mensch und Natur" wird ermöglicht durch die finanzielle Unterstützung des Deutsch-Polnischen Jugendwerks im Rahmen des Wettbewerbs "Treffpunkt übermorgen - Spotkajmy się pojutrze" sowie der Stiftung für deutsch-polnische Zusammenarbeit.