Katmai Miricle.

jaimej26jaimej26 Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
edited February 13, 2010 in Wildlife
Canon 1D Mark III / Canon 500mm f4 L
http://jaimejohnson.zenfolio.com/
This was a fun story. We were in the back country of Alaska photographing a sow and cub grizzly one afternoon. We were dropped off by a skiff that returned to our boat about two miles away. We had no guns or bear spray. After a successful afternoon, we radioed for our skiff and waited on the beach. While we were waiting (4 of us - My wife and I, our guide and a Nat Geo Video Photographer), we spotted a large Grizzly walking the beach coming towards us.
We quickly set up and began photographing the bear as it fed towards us. As the bear got about 30 yards away, a red fox jumped out of nowhere right in front of the bear. The Grizzly perked up and decided the chase was on! The fox looked overjoyed that his friend the bear wanted to play. In fact, at that moment we realized he wanted everyone to play! We sat motionless clicking pictures as fast as we could. But, the fox decided to run right to us! We kept shooting until they were too close (14.7 feet) they kept coming - first the fox and then the grizzly right on his tail. They came within about 5 feet and then circled us (both bear and fox) and headed back the way they came!
It was an unbelievable experience. We managed to get several nice shots of the interaction (check out our site). They were just having a good time! The bear didn't even pay attention to us!
Later to our surprise, we found out that the Nat Geo photographer got the entire thing on video (he was about 50 feet behind us)!
A Wonderful memory!
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Comments

  • StaystillStaystill Registered Users Posts: 232 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2010
    Great story and shot well donethumb.gifthumb
    I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. Douglas Adams

    My Photoblog: Mind Tap media
  • PantherPanther Registered Users Posts: 3,658 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2010
    Howdy Jaime,

    Oh My, what a wonderful story and stunning image, you can see the smile on the Foxes face, enjoying the game, and love the Grizzly in the background moving in.

    I can't believe Ya'll just stayed there, my heart would have stopped, but I can only imagine being caught in the moment, and what a moment in time it was.

    So very nicely done, still have a smile on my face from the Fox!!!
    Take care,

    Craig

    Burleson, Texas
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited February 13, 2010
    Wow....what an experience wings.gif

    I'd want to run and stay put at the same time. Lucky you stayed...if you had run then the chase might of turned into something much different.
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