Thursday, July 16, 2009

Da Bears

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When I set out to travel to Alaska, the one thing I hoped to do was get some close up photos of Grizzly Bears. For whatever reason, I felt like this was one of the main photo goals of the trip. Unfortunately I only saw Grizzlies at a distance the first 2 trips I took deep into the park, and I had one last chance on my next to last day in Alaska. We had just gotten back from Valdez at around 5am, and I had to grab a couple hours of sleep and get back up at 9:30 to get my gear ready to hop on a morning bus.


This turned out to be the best day of all in the park as I did finally see a sow and 3 first year cubs just about 50 yards off the road. They were traveling further away and moving behind some underbrush before I would be able to try to photograph them. By the time they were in clear view again, they were probably about 75 yards away. I had been using a 40d with a 600mm setup, but this was too close to get all the bears in the frame, so I quickly switched to my Mk2N with 100-400 lens. This allowed me to fit the sow and cubs all in the frame at the same time, but I gave up the opportunity to get close ups of individual bears when I set down the other rig.

Below are some additional photos from this sighting. I couldn't get over how cute the cubs were, and I felt fortunate that I had been able to see them this close.
















Other wildlife seen later in the day were several caribou and one moose. I have included one photo of each below.

The bears were sighted just a few miles east of the Eielson Visitor Center which sits at mile post 66. After seeing the bears, and especially the three cubs, I would have been happy even if I had not seen any other wildlife on the return trip. While I would have loved to have also gotten some close ups of the individual bears, I think it was better to do what I did, given the choice. I was unable to manage both cameras in the short time I had to squeeze off a few shots, and I felt more confident with my main camera rather than the less capable 40d.

14 comments:

  1. WOW WOW WOW...I can see that your persistence has paid rich dividends. The image of the Grizzly with cubs is priceless and that shot of the cub standing on 2 legs and looking at you is a wildlife photographers dream come true.

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  2. Hi Tim, I am just catching up with your work and I love these grizzly images - it must have been a magical experience and you have caught it superbly on camera as always.

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  3. Great shots! And you are right, the cubs are cute. Looks like one of them was curious about you, too.

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  4. Not everyone is so fortunate to capture such great wildlife scenes on their trips into Denali. You have certainly exceptionally captured some of the available wildlife. Glad things worked out for a bear series. Blue Skies.

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  5. Nice shots; persistence always pays. Glad Ken let them come out for you to photograph.

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  6. Fantastic bear shots! Those cubs are certainly cute! I especially like the photo of that little one standing up. You must've been excited to view them!

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  7. Tim, I need to make a confession.
    A few months ago I've checked you blog (I saw your comments on Ken's blog and he had posted once a link to your blog). I saw some baseball pictures - I make also sport photography, but beeing from Europe and knowing nothing about baseball - I have categorized your blog as "not interesting". A few weeks ago I read on Ken's blog about your trip together and I've checked it one more time. I must admit, I made a big mistake.
    You have a wonderful blog and some excellent series. Now I will follow it.

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  8. What a wonderful Nature feeling... Nice and natural shots. A cool experience, I certainly would enjoy. Keep the good work... i is always a pleasure!

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  9. Outstanding photography,great images.
    Very impressed.
    john.

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  10. It's so great when you get a special moment like that in nature.

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  11. That was one good moment to capture, not just one bear but the whole family. I wanted to visit Alaska once, but things didn't work out at that time, end up in Greece instead, lol. Well at least now I have equipment to travel... Anna :) PS Excellent images, thanks for sharing.

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  12. Hi Tim,
    Thanks for stopping by my blog. I have been following you and Ken's Denali adventures with great interest. Both of you have gotten a lot of impressive photographs. The bear encounter is the type of thing that makes memories that do not dim with the passing of time.

    It was interesting to see that you use the 100-400mm at times. It was the 2nd L lens I bought and I still use it in a lot of situations where the 500mm is too long and the 70-200mm doesn't have enough reach. I love its' versatility.

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  13. Wow! What a trip....mama and babies! Thank goodness you had that third day--truly, third times a charm for you! I couldn't imagine being so close to these huge animals. They are gorgeous. No doubt an experience you relive forever--fabulous photos. The cubes are sooo cute!

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  14. Amazing photos. The cubs are precious!

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