Grizzly Bear pics from recent trip to Alaska

Galloping bears -- galloping in my direction! Not sure I would consider it in my best interest to be standing where you where, even with the long lens and an experienced guide (unless I could be sure I could outrun the guide).

One thing -- the DR range has exceeded what you could capture in a couple of pix. One in particular is the fish shot. I think you need to lift the shadows there -- seeing the fish and the bear's face/jaws more clearly is essential. They are what this pic is all about.

Skeeterbytes wrote:

I'll put it this way, Ms. Gallop is taken at 210 mm, which isn't even adequate to reach the length of a soccer pitch.

The general advice for running away from a grizzly (one of four North American mammals that may, in fact, hunt you) is to always be with at least one person slower than you are.

Haha! Actually the advice was always give them room, stay as a group, and stand up tall.

Ah, bears.

Rick

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A very nice batch of photos.  Well done.

Great stuff Rob !! That's one place that really appeals with the wildlife they have. Some really unique and must say, darn cute shots in there. Well taken, you should be very pleased with these Rob. Bet you had a blast as well, very nice trip.

All the best in Palmy.

Danny.

RobPNth wrote:

Skeeterbytes wrote:

I'll put it this way, Ms. Gallop is taken at 210 mm, which isn't even adequate to reach the length of a soccer pitch.

The general advice for running away from a grizzly (one of four North American mammals that may, in fact, hunt you) is to always be with at least one person slower than you are.

Haha! Actually the advice was always give them room, stay as a group, and stand up tall.

Sounds like the advice of the guy standing behind you, who was pretty short.

Actually, I had an experience, back in the da, photographing an bull crocodile in Port Mortesby. On a croc farm. He dragged himself painfully out of the water, then dragged himself towards the food put out for him, then SUDDENLY!!! he was up and sprinting at the handler and me. I had the 200mm on the OM1 @ 1/1000. Got distinct camera shake in the two shots I got off before I took off!

They can really move -- but only for a short time. So if you have a bit of a start and don’t trip over…

(And in my case, have a gate you can bolt through with the handler about half an inch behind!) LOL.

Anyone ready to sit not that far from a mother grizzly and her cubs, deserves total respect! Wow.

Now if we want to be picky, I think the m43 sensor shows its limits a bit, the DR is a bit modest and burns the highlights a bit too quickly.

But wow, what great shots!

RobPNth wrote:

All pictures were taken at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge with the E-M1 and the 40-150 f2.8 PRO or 300 mm f2.8, both with or without the 1.4 TC.

Nursing!

Starting a fire!

Chasing salmon!

Sibling rivalry!

Success!

Thanks Danny! I did call in to your Pauatahanui Inlet one evening on my way back from Wellington and saw lots of kingfishers, but couldn't get close enough to get any really good pics.

Thanks. Actually, when they are fishing for salmon, they largely ignore us.:-)

Very impressive shots. Couple of questions: All handheld? Are these OOC Jpegs or did you do some post-processing?

Thanks for sharing!

DrBop wrote:

Very impressive shots. Couple of questions: All handheld? Are these OOC Jpegs or did you do some post-processing?

Thanks for sharing!

I would say about half were hand-held and the other other half on a tripod (all of the 300 mm f2.8 lens photos were on a tripod and some of the 40-150 mm).

I shot RAW and used Olympus Viewer to convert to JPEG, so minimal post-processing - just slight exposure adjustments and some cropping to taste.

Fantastic and courageous!!!!!!!!!!!!!