Coastal Brown Bear Photo Tips

What’s Up?

This blog was adapted from one originally published here on August 8, 2012. As I did with many others, I finished this post in the lobby of the Albatross Hotel on Sunday, December 14, 2014.

We boarded the Ortelius on the afternoon of 15 DEC. We get back to dock on the the morning of 9 JAN. There is no wifi on the ship. That means that I will effectively and absolutely be without internet at least from 14 DEC through 9 JAN. At present I am further behind with answering e-mails than at any time since I have began answering folks’ photography-related questions about 25 years ago.

Please therefore refrain from e-mailing me at the usual samandmayasgrandpa e-mail address until I get back home on 13 JAN. You can reach my right-hand man Jim Litzenburg by e-mail here or reach Jennifer here as usual.

Important Blog Notice

I have been preparing a few new blog posts today to be published during my absence with the help of either Jim or the invaluable Peter Kes, the BAA webmaster. In addition, my plan is to resurrect a collection of older but important educational blog posts (like today’s) and have them re-published during my absence. Please enjoy. Please consider signing up for an IPT. And please continue to do a great job of using my B&H and other affiliate links while I am gone.

To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we ask, as always, that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. B&H Is recommended for you major photography gear purchases, Amazon for your household, entertainment, and general purpose stuff. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

Squabbling Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bears. This image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens, 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode.

Left of center sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

Coastal Brown Bear Photo Tips

You have traveled to Katmai National Park in hopes of photographing tiny Coastal Brown Bear cubs playing and nursing. But it was a very harsh winter that followed the poor salmon runs of the previous fall and there are no baby bears. And there are very few squabbling bears. And the salmon have not begun running in earnest yet. All that the bears are doing is eating grass. What to do?

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/320 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode.

One right and two down from the center sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

As you have seen before, this image illustrates why I love the 5D Mark III so much; using my favorite AF Area Selection Mode makes creating pleasing compositions child’s play because it is easy to move the surround AF points quickly and because the AF system is so sure. Learn everything that I know about this great camera and save $10 by clicking here. As you will see, the list of unfinished items has dwindled considerably. The guide is nearly complete. When I am finished, the price will go to $50.

What to Do?

You can find a large, beautiful bear in soft light, take about a dozen frames when the subject to imaging sensor is ideal, and then keep the best one or two images.

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/320 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode.

Central sensor (right on the bear’s eye)/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

Here, I love the distant background, the big canines, and the bits of grasses.

What to Do?

Have the group sit low and tight as two bears graze closer and closer. Then catch one in the act of chewing.

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/800 sec. at f/7.1 in Av mode.

Central sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

What to Do?

Stand at full height behind your tripod to avoid getting the dark stuff at the top in the frame. Put the central sensor on the bear’s neck as it angled toward you. When you like what you see, create about a dozen images. Unbeknownst to me my rapid-fire-when-it’s-good approach paid dividends by catching the big bear with a mouthful of grass.

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Av mode.

Far lower left sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF and recompose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

What to Do?

Go small in the frame, put the bear down in the corner of the frame, and take advantage of the soft light and the glorious meadow.

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/640 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode.

Two to the right and two down from the central sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

Again, the 5D Mark III’s incredibly wide AF array and my favorite AF Area Selection Mode were up to the task of creating a pleasing composition.

What to Do?

Find a bear eating grass among the wildflowers, take off the teleconverter to go wide, get down in the river to get close to the bear’s level and to bring the distant conifer-covered hillside into the frame, and quickly choose the AF sensor that will create the composition that you want. The open mouth and the tiny bits of grass are both pluses.

[Not a valid template]

This Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear image was created at Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK with the tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lens, the 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 50. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/4 sec. at f/8 in Tv mode.

Central sensor/AI Servo Surround Rear Focus AF. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

What to Do?

It was dark. We were in the skiff. I was not too thrilled. When things look bleak learn to think pleasing blurs. As I saw the bear approach the big fire-blackened blog I went to my 5D Mark III’s C2 Custom Shooting Mode blur pre-set. Just a twist of the dial and I am ready for blurs. To learn to create and set your Custom Shooting Modes and save $10 for just a bit longer get yourself a copy of our 5D Mark II User’s Guide by clicking here.

Learn all there is to know about creating pleasing blurs with a copy of A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly.

All of the images in the bear boat card above were created in Katmai National Park during the month of September.

Bear Boat/Bears Catching Salmon IPT: September 1-8, 2015 from Kodiak, AK/6 FULL & 2 1/2 DAYS: $6699. Happy campers only! Maximum 8/Openings: 5. Plus the leader: Arthur Morris.

If I do not have four deposit checks in hand by 1/31/2015 I reserve the right to scrap this trip so please do not purchase your plane tickets until you hear from me. 🙂 Only one to go.

Join me in Katmai National Park, AK for seven days of photographing Coastal Brown Bears (grizzlies) catching salmon, fattening up for the long winter. Other subjects will include Mew and Glaucous-winged Gulls in flight and dip-feeding on salmon roe. Did I mention that we live on a boat and that the food is great? Most of our photography will be done in a variety of famed locations: Geographic Harbor, Kinak Bay, and Kukak Bay. We once had 39 bears fishing the creek at Kukak….

It is mandatory that you be in Kodiak no later than the late afternoon of August 31, 2015 September to avoid missing the float planes to the boat on the morning of September 1. With air travel in AK being what it is, with the chance of fog or other bad weather–being on Kodiak on August 30 is an even better plan). I be on Kodiak on August 30 to avoid any potential disaster. That said in my nearly a dozen bear boat trips I was delayed only once but since I was day early as noted above there was no harm, no foul.

We will take one or more float planes to the boat mid-morning on September 1. We will photograph bears fishing that afternoon and every day for the next six days (weather permitting of course). We should have bears catching salmon every day. In addition, we will get some nice stuff on Mew Gull and Glaucous-winged Gulls dining on roe and the remains of predated salmon. We may–depending on where the concentrations of bears are–get to photograph Harbor seals and some hauled out Steller’s Sea Lions (an endangered species). Halibut fishing (license required) is optional. On September 8, our last morning on the boat, those who would like to enjoy one last photo session will do so. The group returns to Kodiak via float plane midday. Most folks will fly to Anchorage and then continue on red-eye flights to their home cities.

The eight days will consist of six full days (Sept 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7) of photography featuring lots of Coastal Brown Bears catching salmon as above plus a variety of other natural history subjects plus some nice scenic photography that I forgot to mention above. Plus the first afternoon and the last morning.

What’s included? 8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS on the boat as above. All meals on the boat. (The food is quite excellent.) National Park fees. One night’s double occupancy lodging on Kodiak; arrive: Sept 1/depart: Sept 2. The thank-you-in-advance dinner on Sept 1. In-the-field photo tips, instruction, and guidance. An insight into the mind of a top professional; I will constantly let you know what I am thinking, what I am doing, and why I am doing it. Small group image review, image sharing, and Photoshop instruction on the boat.

What’s not included: Your round trip airfare to and from Kodiak, AK (almost surely through Anchorage). All necessary lodging other than the cost of your double occupancy room on the night of August 31 should you opt to arrive early–we can arrange that in advance for you. We will let you know the cost of a single supplement for the one night if so desired. The cost of the round-trip float plane to the boat on September 2 and back to Kodiak on September 9. The cost of a round trip this year was $500. The suggested crew tip of $210.

Is this an expensive trip? Yes, of course. But with 6 full and two half days, a wealth of great subjects, and the fact that you will be walking with the bears just yards away (or less….) it will be one of the great natural history experiences of your life. Most folks who take part in a Bear Boat IPT wind up coming back for more.

A $2,000 per person non-refundable deposit by check only made out to “Arthur Morris” is required to hold your spot. Please click here to read our cancellation policy. Then please print, read, and sign the necessary paperwork here and send it to us.

Your deposit is due immediately. That will leave a balance of $4699. The next payment of $2699 will be due on February 15, 2015. The final payment of $2000 is due on May 1, 2015.

I hope that you can join us for this wondrously exciting trip.

By e-mail from Bill Keown, veteran of three bear boat trips!

Hi Artie, What a great trip! With the exception of the one bright sunny day it was just great. Very different from my first trip in June where we only had the bears clamming; the fishing bears were amazing! As always I learned a lot and enjoyed the group immensely. All the Best, Bill

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.