As the old saying goes, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
"Poor Judgement?"
Not at all. The guide we were with has over 20 years experience around these bears and made sure we remained at a safe distance. If any of the bears came to close we moved away so as not to interfere with their hunting.
These particular bears are highly habituated to humans and pay no attention to people. They are there hunting Salmon and absolutely nothing else comes on their radar. Matter of fact the ONLY time I witnessed any bear somewhat interact with a person was when a guy that was fishing nearby caught a salmon. The man backed away from the waters edge as the bear went running towards him and the bear just kept on going right past him. As it turned out, it was simply chasing more salmon just past where the fisherman was standing.
It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life.
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
I guess that means I should have never jumped out of perfectly good airplanes 3 miles up a few times in my life?
lighthound wrote:
"Poor Judgement?"
Not at all. The guide we were with has over 20 years experience around these bears and made sure we remained at a safe distance. If any of the bears came to close we moved away so as not to interfere with their hunting.
These particular bears are highly habituated to humans and pay no attention to people. They are there hunting Salmon and absolutely nothing else comes on their radar. Matter of fact the ONLY time I witnessed any bear somewhat interact with a person was when a guy that was fishing nearby caught a salmon. The man backed away from the waters edge as the bear went running towards him and the bear just kept on going right past him. As it turned out, it was simply chasing more salmon just past where the fisherman was standing.
It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life.
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
I guess that means I should have never jumped out of perfectly good airplanes 3 miles up a few times in my life?
Apparently your "further exploration of the US, particularly Alaska" I see in your profile didn't work out too well for you. Perhaps you should look into a few guided wildlife trips next time you go to Alaska. I highly recommend Silver salmon creek lodge.
But you'd likely be wasting your money as you apparently would never leave the safety of your cabin.
Why do you assume that' it didn't work out too well for you?'
We have visited Alaska 5 times, obviously not in the last 3 years, and have stayed at various lodges to photograph the wildlife! These include Brooks Lodge, Homestead Lodge and the Kantishna Roadhouse. We have also hiked in Denali near Polychrome! We have also stayed at Knights Inlet Lodge in BC.
In every case we went out with Guides or Rangers who were very careful to ensure our safety at all times. The one cardinal rule in every visit was 'KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!'
Taking a 'selfie' while a few metres from a bear, in my opinion is not safe. But obviously my experience is not valid!
You have made an unwarranted assumption based on limited information. This type of thinking allows people to make decisions quickly, but it also means that these decisions are quite often wrong. As in your case!
We hope, depending on various factors, to visit next year, meeting up with a photographer friend who we met at Homestead Lodge.
Grahamc wrote:
Why do you assume that' it didn't work out too well for you?'
We have visited Alaska 5 times, obviously not in the last 3 years, and have stayed at various lodges to photograph the wildlife! These include Brooks Lodge, Homestead Lodge and the Kantishna Roadhouse. We have also hiked in Denali near Polychrome! We have also stayed at Knights Inlet Lodge in BC.
In every case we went out with Guides or Rangers who were very careful to ensure our safety at all times. The one cardinal rule in every visit was 'KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!'
Taking a 'selfie' while a few metres from a bear, in my opinion is not safe. But obviously my experience is not valid!
You have made an unwarranted assumption based on limited information. This type of thinking allows people to make decisions quickly, but it also means that these decisions are quite often wrong. As in your case!
We hope, depending on various factors, to visit next year, meeting up with a photographer friend who we met at Homestead Lodge.
I had attended a talk by Nick Brandt some time back. He shoots leopards, elephants and other big game animals mostly up close with a 50mm lens, and also a Pentax 67. He hires the best guides to lead him to these animals and he spends as much as $100,000 on a trip. He also sells his limited edition prints for well over $40,000 and as much as $100,000. He’s still alive today, as far as I know!
Caveat: I do NOT recommend anyone to get up close and personal with the wildlife in Africa!
"One interesting aspect of his photos is that unlike most nature photographers, Brandt never uses a telephoto lens. He instead uses three fixed-length lenses: a 55mm, a 105mm, and a 200mm (which is roughly equivalent to a 100mm lens on a 35mm camera).
In sticking with smaller lenses, Brandt forces himself to get closer to his subjects and thus is able to more easily create the personal feel his images possess."
