p.1 #1 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
As a follow-up to my post, Hallo bay landscapes with bears, sharing some of the bear portraits & interactions. C&C is always appreciated.
1. Taking time to smell the flowers. I waiting for about an hour for the bear to line up with the daisy, while it was not perfect, I was very happy to get to see results. This Sow was just chilling and munching away at the sedge grass: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902229771_28193cf4ec_h.jpg
2. This big boy was resting peacefully in an Island formed by rising tide after eating a bellyfull of salad (if you look closely, you can see the green lipstick). I was able to get far away ahead on him, with waders on, get to close to eye level. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902580974_08f4ec8d0d_b.jpg
3. These three subadults were quite the joy to see, they would feed up and then play. I had not observed three subadults being so cozy with each other, perhaps they were all recently emancipated by the same mother. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902225656_472e094af6_h.jpg
5. Walking into the wind - At brooks falls, it is unusual to observe bears in the wind, as the beach of Naknek lake is right across from where the humans and other bears are, and bears tend to hunker down in high wind. Here in the sedge flats, the visibility is quite good and we did see a number of bears much about in high wind. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902577624_b054ff7509_h.jpg
8. What comes to your mind first when you see this photo? It has a tell - the raised tail. This slightly grumpy looking bear is in the process of defecating, but the pose looked cool and all stout. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902484433_181885224a_h.jpg
9. One foot in front of another in search of food - brown bears travel great distances in search of food, putting one step in front of another. While both Hallo Bay & Brooks are in the same national park (Katmai), the distances traveled by bears in Hallo bay appear to be greater. In Brooks, we usually find bears waiting by the Brooks River banks for the schools of salmon to arrive, Hallo bears move around to different food sources during the day. Hallo Bay offers clams during low tide, plentiful sedge grass available and a couple of short salmon runs in late July. As the tide was rising, this big boy was transitioning from claiming to head to the sedge flats.
10. Flowers & bears - I hope to capture better situations with flowers and bears, but this was still a lot of fun. Putting yourself in a the situation and waiting for luck to happen is what we all chase, things got close to perfection a few times this trip, but the near misses were still a heck of a lot of fun. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53902581464_25753b5831_h.jpg
p.1 #3 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
These shots are amazing. Thanks for the insight. I am curious what lenses you were using. I love the mixture of closeups and wider environmental look. Not like shooting small birds these are big critters
p.1 #7 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
Dave_E wrote:
These shots are amazing. Thanks for the insight. I am curious what lenses you were using. I love the mixture of closeups and wider environmental look. Not like shooting small birds these are big critters
Dave
Dave, I ended up taking 400 2.8, 100-300 2.8, 1.4x, 2x, 24-105 F4, 2x R5s and 8x batteries and used all the gear. When I wanted to play is lightweight, I would only take the 100-300 + 2x + 1 camera body and 24-105 in pocket.
p.1 #8 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
More wonderful images. TFS.
I had to put working on my Lake Clark NP images on hold for a few days to finish editing a couple hummingbird videos I was working on before the trip, so I'm really enjoying yours in the meantime as they remind me of things I saw on my trip.
The one disappointment of my trip was that we didn't see any cubs. The guides gave us two explanations. One was that there were still a lot of boars around, so maybe the sows were keeping their cubs hidden away in the forest. More likely, they said, was that the poor salmon runs in the last couple of years were affecting their ability to get big enough, so their body aborted the embryos. They said, however, that several of the sows looked quite healthy. Seeing cubs will be my excuse to go back
One member of our group was all about copulation and elimination. Any time two bears would approach each other, she would start chanting "do it, do it, do it". Whenever we saw a bear pee or crap, she would get excited and try to capture images or video. She definitely kept us entertained. I admit I do have one video of a bear waking up from a nap on the beach, getting up and taking a dump.
p.1 #11 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
vbnut wrote:
More wonderful images. TFS.
I had to put working on my Lake Clark NP images on hold for a few days to finish editing a couple hummingbird videos I was working on before the trip, so I'm really enjoying yours in the meantime as they remind me of things I saw on my trip.
The one disappointment of my trip was that we didn't see any cubs. The guides gave us two explanations. One was that there were still a lot of boars around, so maybe the sows were keeping their cubs hidden away in the forest. More likely, they said, was that the poor salmon runs in the last couple of years were affecting their ability to get big enough, so their body aborted the embryos. They said, however, that several of the sows looked quite healthy. Seeing cubs will be my excuse to go back
One member of our group was all about copulation and elimination. Any time two bears would approach each other, she would start chanting "do it, do it, do it". Whenever we saw a bear pee or crap, she would get excited and try to capture images or video. She definitely kept us entertained. I admit I do have one video of a bear waking up from a nap on the beach, getting up and taking a dump....Show more →
Looking forward to your Lake Clark photos, I have never been there but I hear it's a wonderful place to be. If the big boars are around, most Sows w/ cubs tend to avoid the area and the best time to see them is in shoulder seasons. Last year's Salmon run was not the best, depending on which region you are in the peninsula, so yes, there is that.
<rant_start>
TBH, as I get older, my patience for folks making commentary on the side is a bit limited and that is one of the reasons why I did a self organized trip. Plus many of these guides have such limited experience in dealing with difficult situations & bears that it is a bit concerning for me.
As well meaning as they are, often they are tolerating both human and bear behavior that I dont agree with. For example, in our camp area which is commonly used by organized trips, clearly, the bears were very habituated to coming close to camp and human fences. Every NPS/ADFG organized camp I have been to, they keep a clear distinction between human camp as human space where bears are discouraged from being there. If even a single visitor makes the mistake of some food being accessed by a bear in a human camp area, we would all be in trouble.
Financially, I ended up spending more than I would if I had gone with a guide, even accounting for staying there for 8 days. But I feel confident we were more ethical in our approach and I would do it all over again. And plan to next year .
p.1 #14 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
Twenty years ago this month I spent 3 days at Shelter Creek on the shore of Cook Inket, Lake Clark NP, guided by Silver Salmon Creek Lodge. We camped at the creek. Unfortunately it was hot for August in Alaska and the bears didn't come out until the third day (we could hear them chasing salmon in Shelter Creek every night). I've never had the chance to make another bear photography trip. Here are some images taken on that last day, shot with a 1D or 10D and EF500 f/4 + 1.4x or a 2x. The two walking profile images shot with EF 70-200 f/2.8.
- http://www.duaneburleson.com/galleries/grizzlybears/index.html -
p.1 #16 · Hallo Bay Part Deux - bear portraits & interactions
justashooter wrote:
Twenty years ago this month I spent 3 days at Shelter Creek on the shore of Cook Inket, Lake Clark NP, guided by Silver Salmon Creek Lodge. We camped at the creek. Unfortunately it was hot for August in Alaska and the bears didn't come out until the third day (we could hear them chasing salmon in Shelter Creek every night). I've never had the chance to make another bear photography trip. Here are some images taken on that last day, shot with a 1D or 10D and EF500 f/4 + 1.4x or a 2x. The two walking profile images shot with EF 70-200 f/2.8.
- http://www.duaneburleson.com/galleries/grizzlybears/index.html -...Show more →
Thanks for sharing your photos Duane; The salmon run & weather play such a huge factor in Alaska, that it is always hard to time it right, until the last moment, which is often not possible. There is a shot I want in Kodiak that you can only get every 4-5 years *if* you are already in Kodiak or can get there within a few hours. (ANC)
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douter wrote:
Great set overall, but, number 2 really speaks to me, Aditya!
Douglas
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