Hey Folks,
Just returned from a brown bear photo tour over to Katmai National Park, where we photographed brown bears at Hallo Bay and Kukak Bay; we were super lucky to get some great light, great bears, and some really cool photo opportunities. This young bear was hanging around a pile of driftwood in Hallo Bay, and the rich greens of the sedge grasses beyond made a nice soft background.
It took a little bit of work to scramble around over these logs and whatnot, carrying over 20lbs of camera gear, to get in a good position for photography, but I think it was well worth it.
Photography Tip
Make the Effort to Move
Oftentimes making the effort to move and get in position is the real difference between making a photo, and making the photo you want. It could be the direction of light, the background, the angle of view, proximity to the subject, or a combination of countless other variables that really makes the difference.
It’s far too easy to hike a bit, set up a tripod, point the camera at a subject, then try to zoom in or out, without moving and improving the image. The best advice I might offer is to continually be looking for ways to improve the image you see through the viewfinder.
Sometimes it’s simply not possible or practical to change it much; safety or disturbing the subject, or other photographers in the area all might restrict where we set up and how much we move. But keep your eyes posted around you, and look for ways to improve your image simply by moving your position. You’ll be glad you did.
And when photographing bees, we definitely recommend you carry bear spray in the field.
Image of the month for this month is this photo of a breeding brown bear pair at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska, on the coastal brown bear photo tour last week.
It was an amazing trip, with some great photo opportunities, perhaps the highlight of which was this breeding pair we found at Hallo Bay.
Twice we were able to watch and photograph this behavior, which was definitely a rare opportunity.
Females will often breed with more than one male during the short (2 month) breeding or mating season. We watched minutes earlier as this sow rejected the advances of another, much larger male, who then chased this male away, then himself walked off up the bay. This smaller male returned, and bred with the sow for 15-20 minutes.
The larger male then returned, and this guy left. The larger male hung around the sow for another hour or so, but didn’t have the good fortune of this guy, that we saw.
Cheers
Carl
