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Bears Highway 40 Alberta
#1

Spoteed this Mother (Parks Tagged 140 with radio collar) and her cub foraging -not tagged. the light was not the best - mid afternoon in October but you take the shot given the opportunity...

All taken with Canon 1D Mk4 and the Canon 300mmL IS lens. Hand held so apologies if some appear a little soft... The bears were about 20 yards away so the excitement made holding still a challenge!

   
F2.8
1/4000
ISO 800

   

   

   

   

Kind regards

Rolf


In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#2

A couple more?

   

   

   

Fell free to comment- or even critique...

Kind regards

Rolf


In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#3

20yds ?. I would have more than camera shake at that distance ! I have heard that a bear can travel at 40mph when upset.
Like all the shots Rolf, but think that in the last two the bear is taking a bit too much of an interest.
Mike.
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#4

Wonderful series. My first encounter with a mother and cubs did not result in good images at all... I was far too nervous LOL.
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#5

These are amazing shots - good compositions and great poses! As Mike has suggested, you have done well to avoid motion blur with the long lens - they all look sharp where it matters.

As you ask for critique I will mention one point. The images have very bright highlights and deep shadows, which indicate the harsh bright light of a sunny day and the sun high in the sky. However, to me there appears to be a yellow-orange bias, which seems to show that the white balance is not quite right - more like the product of WB set to shade or cloudy (although EXIF shows Manual WB).

Cheers.
Philip
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#6

Hi Mr B!

Thank you for your kind comment and the comment with regards the WB... I agree.. I think(?) I had the WB set at something like 65K to warm up some early morning shots of the Bow River... When you spot bears at a very close distance... the first instinct is to grab the camera and get what you can before they spook and disappear... so its is my fault - a basic error I suppose, but I did set the ISO, TV and AV and got reasonable opportunistic shots... I could, now that you have mentioned it, drop the images into LR and reset the WB... that's easy enough...Thanks for the heads-up though :-)

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
Reply
#7

Bravely done Rolf, some of them giving you the eye! Assume they are relatively safe!?
Excellent captures,the last one in the first lot, has a 3D look. Ed.

To each his own!
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#8

You've done a terrific job there Rolf, what a pleasure to see such cracking photos. I know what it's like when you have a split second only to get a shot. May I ask how much sharpening did you use in processing. Would the cub look a touch more cuddly if the sharpening were reduced? Shooting bears, eh? Cheers and thanks for the inspiring shots. Jeff
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#9

My goodness - stunning images.
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#10

Great series Rolf !
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#11

(Nov 11, 2015, 16:38)EdMak Wrote:  Bravely done Rolf, some of them giving you the eye! Assume they are relatively safe!?
Excellent captures,the last one in the first lot, has a 3D look. Ed.

Hi Ed.. Thanks for the kind words... They are just your regular wild Xanadian Grizzly bears... I do know that they can move very fast... but they were very intent on feeding and I kept very close to my SUV :-) They were feeding alongside the Hwy 40 so down about ten feet and about 20 yards distant.. The mother (with the collar) did get to within maybe 20 feet at the bottom of the slope up to the road... sniffing and curious so didn't get any shots as the 300mm 2.8L was just getting a nose! LOL! Some bears - as in this case - have been caught and radio collared by the Parks agency for tracking and management purposes but they are in no way habituated to humans or tame.

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#12

(Nov 11, 2015, 16:44)Freeman Wrote:  You've done a terrific job there Rolf, what a pleasure to see such cracking photos. I know what it's like when you have a split second only to get a shot. May I ask how much sharpening did you use in processing. Would the cub look a touch more cuddly if the sharpening were reduced? Shooting bears, eh? Cheers and thanks for the inspiring shots. Jeff

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the kind words! Appreciate them. No sharpening at all... I tend not to mess with my images other than to crop out uninteresting features that came with the shot... The sunlight was changing very rapidly as the sun was going down and I had the WB set to 65 or 67K from an earlier shoot in the early morning to warm the images slightly so that all may account for the glistening ... they were both in superb condition and the coats were really shinny ... I didn't even had a polarising filter inserted in the lens either... just the UV... Price you pay for happening on a situation that will not last so you shoot what you can when you can...but I'm sure you and everyone here knows that and have been there...?

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#13

(Nov 12, 2015, 03:06)Jeffbridge Wrote:  My goodness - stunning images.

Thank you Jeffbridge... appreciate your looking and taking the time to comment

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#14

(Nov 12, 2015, 11:44)Vanisle John Wrote:  Great series Rolf !

Thank you John, appreciate you looking and taking the time to comment

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#15

(Nov 10, 2015, 21:50)EnglishBob Wrote:  Wonderful series. My first encounter with a mother and cubs did not result in good images at all... I was far too nervous LOL.

Thanks very much Craig!... I think the nerves came afterwards... far too eager to get the shot to be concerned about nerves, and even some settings and the lack of the Polariser in the lens... but, hey ho! all part the fun

Have a great day

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#16

(Nov 10, 2015, 20:16)Browser Mike Wrote:  20yds ?. I would have more than camera shake at that distance ! I have heard that a bear can travel at 40mph when upset.
Like all the shots Rolf, but think that in the last two the bear is taking a bit too much of an interest.
Mike.

Hi Mike

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment... the distance coupled with they had a 10 foot uphill run to the road and the fact I was pretty close to my SUV... Expedition Max with the door open.. took a lot of the perceived danger out of the situation. Yes she did get to the very bottom and look up but those shots were too close for the lens so didn't work... The Moose, if anything, is very hard to get close to, to get a decent image and they really are very unpredictable and dangerous... But the opportunities when they present are just too fleeting to miss so a lot of caution seems to get heavily moderated by eagerness

Kind regards

Rolf

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotiv.

—Henri Cartier-Bresson
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