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| Some of my most memorable photographs are featured in this section, along with photo tips and the story behind the making of each photograph. I hope these images inspire you to go out and experience your own memorable moments. |
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Featured Photo
17 A family of mergansers
keeps its distance from a swimming grizzly (above, left). The birds scramble as the bear
raises itself out of the water (above, right). The bear enjoys a quiet moment in the pond
(below) after the mergansers' departure. |
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Canon EOS-1V On my recent
trip to Southeast Alaska the weather was the best I've experienced in several years --
cool in the morning, sunny and warm during midday hours. On a couple of afternoons it was
downright hot, and it was tempting to take a long midday break because wildlife activity
is usually slow under these conditions. From past experience, however, I realized that on
hot days bears would sometime go for an afternoon swim in this small pond adjacent to the
salmon spawning stream. So, on this toasty August afternoon, instead of returning to our
rooms after lunch, we staked out the pond and got lucky. |
| Around 2 PM a large male grizzly bear
stepped out from the dense undergrowth and quietly slipped into the pond, surprising a
family of seventeen mergansers. As the bear swam in their direction the birds drifted away
as a group, keeping a healthy distance from their predatory neighbor. Suddenly, the bear
stopped swimming and stood (or sat) upright -- head and shoulders above the water line --
sending the mergansers into a mad scramble for safety. Maybe it was just having a bit of
fun with the birds. The bear posed in this upright position for a while before exiting the
pond to go chase salmon in the nearby stream. Luck was with us that afternoon -- not only did the bear and mergansers put on quite a show, but, high, thin clouds provided bright overcast lighting that was near perfect for photographing that situation. Shortly after the above photos were taken the clouds dispersed and contrasty midday lighting returned. Fill flash would have helped, but flash use is not allowed on bears at this location. I started to photograph the bear in horizontal mode, but as it approached the birds I switched to vertical, hoping to include both species in the frame. Although I stopped down three stops from wide open for more depth-of-field the distance between bear and birds is too great for both subjects to be sharp. However, there is enough definition for the birds to be seen as part of the story. The interesting blue/green water color is a result of fine glacial silt collecting in the pond, and it makes for an unusual background color not often seen in bear photos. |