1206_1032 Black Bear

wild prairie man
recent  |  interesting  |  random  |  favorites  |  contacts  |  sets  |  tags:  
1206_1032 Black Bear
1206_1032 Black Bear

As promised, an "encounter" photo and a little story to go with it. Part 1 of 2. This was 12 years ago, in the Canadian Rockies, a few years before a wildfire ripped through Waterton and changed the landscape forever (well, not really... only forever for me).

I was up early, taking a slow drive toward Cameron Lake, when I spotted this brown Black Bear feeding on spring vegetation not far from the road. I pulled over, got out, taking my time, and the bear didn't run. Very slowly I was able to work my way to a clear shooting position with my tripod and 300mm; the bear was aware of me and would look up from time to time - as per this shot - but did not stop feeding. Alert and relaxed. A gorgeous bear in nice, soft light. No other people around, as it was early and most visitors like to sleep in and have a nice breakfast before venturing out - and that's another reason why I like the early morning hours best.

What happened next? I'm sure by now you can guess, but you will have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out.

2012 was the year I switched over the the new, 36 MP sensor, via NIkon's D800... but I didn't have it in my hands yet... still, not a bad result here, reprocessed with today's software!

Sorry for my lack of presence and comments lately; I have visitors and we've been going out early, staying up late, shooting in the wonderful fall light. I'll be back to my routine in a few more days.

Photographed in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2012 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

© All Rights Reserved
Taken on: June 7, 2012
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Black Bear Black Bear Everybody's photos tagged with Ursus americanus Ursus americanus Everybody's photos tagged with wildlife wildlife more » Everybody's photos tagged with animal animal Everybody's photos tagged with mammal mammal Everybody's photos tagged with bear bear Everybody's photos tagged with brown brown Everybody's photos tagged with relaxed relaxed Everybody's photos tagged with alert alert Everybody's photos tagged with feeding feeding Everybody's photos tagged with foraging foraging Everybody's photos tagged with early early Everybody's photos tagged with morning morning Everybody's photos tagged with spring spring Everybody's photos tagged with wild wild Everybody's photos tagged with Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park Everybody's photos tagged with Alberta Alberta Everybody's photos tagged with Rocky Mountains Rocky Mountains Everybody's photos tagged with Canadian Rockies Canadian Rockies Everybody's photos tagged with Canada Canada Everybody's photos tagged with copyrighted copyrighted Everybody's photos tagged with James R. Page James R. Page Everybody's photos tagged with 2012 2012 « less
Sets appears in:   • Best 2012    • Bear   
Groups appears in:   • Wildlife Photography    • Born Free, Living Free    more » • Animals (All Kinds)    • Wild About Wildlife    • Wildlife, KEEP IT WILD!!!    • * Wonderful World of Wildlife *    • Flickr Wildlife    « less
Camera: Nikon D300, f/4.0, 1/400 sec, 300mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 300.0 mm f/4.0
Aperture: f/4.0
Exposure Time: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Macintosh)
Show full info
Stats: 1,199 views / 22 comments