A Grizzly and a Black Bear

Dixie

I was able to get this great shot (IMHO) of Sam the Alaskan Grizzly at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. The Center provides a refuge for problem grizzlies or cubs who have lost their parents.



I captured this Black Bear in the wild in the west-central section of Yellowstone National Park.



...and this is the best I've been able to do when it comes to Bighorn Sheep. :

digismile

Sam doesn't look too happy! This is a good shot to show people that bears are truly wild animals and not the cute teddy bears that we make them out to be. It's great to see a place that takes in problem bears.. Most often they just get shot ...:cry

I like your shot. I only wish his other eye was a bit more visible. He looks a little one eyed to me.

Regards,
Brad

Dixie

Brad, thanks for the comments. I agree about the "eye." There was a very dim catchlight in the bear's right eye so I tried to lighten it slightly so it is more visible. Does that help some?

The bear was snarling which raised the right side of his nose which caused the right eye to appear dark and sunken. I hope that by bringing out the existing catchlight in the right eye a little that it will keep him from looking "one-eyed."

jeff lapoint

Dixie wrote:

Brad, thanks for the comments. I agree about the "eye." There was a very dim catchlight in the bear's right eye so I tried to lighten it slightly so it is more visible. Does that help some?

The bear was snarling which raised the right side of his nose which caused the right eye to appear dark and sunken. I hope that by bringing out the existing catchlight in the right eye a little that it will keep him from looking "one-eyed."

Great shots Dixie. I especially like the black bear: wonderfully natural and perfectly exposed How close were ya on that one?

-j

Dixie

Jeff, I would figure about 40 yards, but that's a guess. I was shooting a 100-400 at 400 (560mm on the 10D). That is the full frame shot without any crop.

jeff lapoint

Dixie wrote:

Jeff, I would figure about 40 yards, but that's a guess. I was shooting a 100-400 at 400 (560mm on the 10D). That is the full frame shot without any crop.

So that means the bear could close that distance in about...6 seconds (given the terrain)? Were ya even a bit nervous? Anything that big and that fast with claws that sharp has to require some special shooting considerations...

-j

Dixie

Well, luckily (or unluckily, depending upon how you look at it), the bear was being pursued by a bunch of idiots with cameras and they chased him by me. I know that he saw me because he was looking right into the camera. I never took a step in his direction so he probably didn't feel threatened by me. He was moving perpendicular to my position and just continued on his original track once he checked me out for any type of threat. He was probably as surprised when he saw me as I was when I saw him. I know that he is centered in the frame, but I surprised that it wasn't blurred, etc. under the circumstances.

The only reason the shot came out as good as it did was because I already had the aperture set wide open in Av mode. When I saw him coming, I just pointed and shot five frames as he moved by. The only ones which came out good were the first two frames (the one above was the first frame when we first spotted each other). All the others had trees and brush between us.

Here is the second frame of the black bear.

...and to answer your question about me being nervous - it happened so fast that I didn't even think about it at the time. It was just bring up the camera and shoot which was really more of a reflex than actually thinking about it. If I had thought about it first, I would have probable been down the hill faster than the shutter speed (1/500th of a second).

Dixie

I should also add that I wasn't looking for, nor was I expecting to see a black bear. I had gone into the woods trying to get closer to some trumpeter swans in the Madison River. I had shot two frames of one of the swans, but they were really too far away. I was disappointed with the swan effort and heading back to my vehicle when I got the bear surprise.

gluwater

Those are awsome Dixie. And I guess it shows that you are a true photographer at heart, your reflex is to take a picture instead of flea in terror. I think the grizzly looks a little like I do in the morning .

Nick

bfjr

Great bear shot Dixie, next time get a little closer will ya :hide

Well the Big Horn , want can I say dude we do want we need to do

Dixie

gluwater wrote:

Those are awsome Dixie. And I guess it shows that you are a true photographer at heart, your reflex is to take a picture instead of flea in terror. I think the grizzly looks a little like I do in the morning .

Nick

Yea, Nick, but Sam cleans up nicely.

jwear

the bears shots are great but the black bear is a all around great shot -and a tip they like peanut butter for those really close up shots

Dixie

bfjr wrote:

Great bear shot Dixie, next time get a little closer will ya :hide

Well the Big Horn , want can I say dude we do want we need to do

When I saw the sheep "statue" all I could think of was me telling everyone that I was trying to get a photo of a bighorn so I slammed on the brakes, and ran back through traffic to get that photo just for all of you. Pulling that trick was probably more dangerous than running into the black bear in the woods.

Speaking of slamming on the brakes also reminds me of my wife's and my trip from the Salt Lake City airport to West Yellowstone, MT last Tuesday. We were almost to West Yellowstone on US 20 and I glanced out into some trees on my left. I slammed on the brakes and almost put my wife through the windshield, and then executed a wicked u-turn to get back to the bull moose that I had seen silhouetted in the trees. I get back to where I thought that I had seen the moose and started glassing with the binoculars, but couldn't find the joker. I knew that he couldn't have moved far so I backed up a little and lo and behold there he was - or at least there was the bull moose silhouette some joker had put in the trees. My wife will be telling that one on me for the next three years.

Some joker is probably still sitting on his front porch in Montana laughing his a.. off at that tenderfoot he fooled.

Dixie

jwear wrote:

the bears shots are great but the black bear is a all around great shot -and a tip they like peanut butter for those really close up shots

Jeff, what can I say? ...right place at the right time and fast on the draw. In other words, I was just plain lucky on those shots. However, when all else fails, I will take luck.

...and Jeff, just how do you administer the peanut butter to the bear?

jwear

on the tip of a 50mm for that wide look ---oh did i saay anything about the remote

Dixie

I hope your remote is wireless because mine only has about 3 feet of cable.

Harryb

Dixie wrote:

I was able to get this great shot (IMHO) of Sam the Alaskan Grizzly at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana. The Center provides a refuge for problem grizzlies or cubs who have lost their parents.

If they are willing to take in problem grizzlies do you think they may be willing to take in Ben and Jeff? :lol4

Great bear shots Dixie.

Dixie

Harryb wrote:

If they are willing to take in problem grizzlies do you think they may be willing to take in Ben and Jeff? :lol4

Great bear shots Dixie.

Thanks Harry.

They feed the bears a lot of salad. I'm serious with that. The have holes under some of the large stones and hide the salad (just like ours with carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.) so the bears have to forage for their food. Forage if you want to call it that - they already know which stones have the holes under them, but it is still fun watching them turn over the stones to get their food. The center also freezes fish and red meat in buckets of water (size - about 10 inches across and 10 inches high). The grizzlies have the fish or meat out of the ice in two to three chomps.

I do hear that they do run short on meat sometimes so there may be a use for Ben and Jeff yet. I know that you didn't specifically offer them up as food, but I figure that is what they would be if placed in the grounds with some of these grizzlies. I didn't mention it before, but Sam, the grizzly shown above is just over a 1,000 pounds. Needless to say, but Sam is one large grizzly.

digismile

Hey Dix,

I think the picture of Sam "the one eyed pirate" bear looks much better with the catch light.

Brad

Dixie

Thanks Brad. The catchlight was there, but it was barely a fleck so I just emphasized it a little to match the one in the left eye.