HBN Photo hides

As a nature photographer you dream to have an own private hide. Unfortunately, this is in a Country as The Netherlands almost impossible regarding permissions. But such a hide place is also a time eating job because of the many visits it needs with feeding etc. Han Bouwmeester was the first one in Holland and Belgium who was able to start with creating hides which could be rented by photographers.
In corporation with national Nature protection organisation and Land owners we were able to setup hides in highly protected estates. We are situated in the Eastern part of Holland near the German border.
All the hides are situated in the way photographers would wish. So always giving you a nice low angle of view and good distance between lens and birds. The hides are all quitte luxueus so you are able to have a comfortabele stay.
Normally you can expect the whole day bird for and around the hide. In Winter they come especially for the food and in the dryer season for the water to drink and bathing.
For each hide we tried to give you something different in setting, light and species. We made a separate page for each hide and with the calendar you are able to see when you can use them.

How does a booking work?

We use an online booking system to prevent double bookings. You can view the schedule for each photo hide and make your booking there. After completing and paying for your booking, you will immediately receive a confirmation in your email inbox. This email contains a link to a page where you can download the hide information. The login details are included in that message.
The hide instructions clearly explain how to get to the photo hide, the key code, and how everything works at the hide. You’ll see that everything works very well and easily, so nothing will stand in the way of a wonderful photo hide day.

You can find the booking system at the top of each photo hide page; click the orange button.

Information hide by hide:

Renting a HBN hide:
The HBN hides are available for using whole days; we are not working with half day renting but of course you can make your own decision how long you want to stay. The only limit is ending one hour before sunset. We are also not putting people together from our side so you make your own choices who will be your hide partner(s) that day.
A nice Video production made by Marien Brethouwer and Ivo van Meurs. De HBN Hides in Bird flight.

 
Overnighting:
As soon you book we will send you also information about places where you can overnight. We made appointments (regarding your early starts and packed lunches) with two HBN-Partners for this who have possibilities in the hide areas.

Corporations:

TSE-Imaging / Sirui
Thanks to a partnership with TSE-Imaging and Sirui, we can offer the use of Sirui ball heads and swing heads in our photo hides. For the photographer, the opportunity to test these high-quality tripod heads extensively for a day; which is included in the rental price. All this is mounted on our HBN slider system, which also allows you to shift your tripod head from left to right. Truly a very effective option from a photo hide and totally unique! 

Vivara:
We use the highly quality bird food and nest boxes from our Partner Vivara. Have a look on their website for all of the products!

Mirror glass:
In some of the hides we use the only best high quality mirror glass. We only want to do this in a save way because we don’t want to have the risk of accidents with the birds hitting the windows. So we use a special and unique protection to do this.

Social Media:

We interact with photographers through two Facebook groups. The main group is the ‘HBN Fotohutten‘ group where photographers share their results and experiences.

The second group is ‘HBN Spots‘ where we announce available hides, share observations per photo hide, and offer photographers the opportunity to find photo buddies within the HBN photo hides.