I See You!

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 30, 2010144 views10 comments

Been traveling a lot lately so haven't been on as much as I'd like. Recently spent a week in Alaska in early September with great fall color, salmon and lots of bears. This one is at Big River Lakes across Cook Inlet from Kenai. He was patrolling the shoreline looking for the last of the sockeye salmon. Used my new EOS 7D and the high ISO settings possible is changing my approach to wildlife shooting, making things possible that I wouldn't even think of trying before. Appreciate any feedback. Thanks for looking.

Canon EOS 7D
Lens: 100-400L IS @ 285mm (no crop)
F 5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO = 800

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on October 30, 2010 at 2:10 PM

looks more like "I SMELL you!"

Really nice image - great pose, good habitat, and very nice detail and DOF.
If possible, I'd lasso the bright area on his snout and the bright branch behind him and lower the brightness just a bit.

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on October 30, 2010 at 8:41 PM

Nice behavior shot Joseph, I can tell by the dripping water that the bear just lifted it's head out of the water, but I'm wondering if it's also shaking it's head as I see a few tiny spots just above the head that I'm thinking might be water droplets flying off, or is it insects?

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on October 30, 2010 at 9:53 PM

A nice parting glance and a smile to boot. I like the placement of the head in front of the opening in the grasses. Almost like she, giving a last look before she heads off into the woods.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on October 30, 2010 at 10:49 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, time to learn how to adjust specific parts of a photo. PS has never been my strong suit. To answer Gary's question, those are Alaska's state bird...mosquitos....buzzing over the bear's head. Cheers!

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on October 30, 2010 at 11:26 PM

Good habitat photo, Joseph, and I quite like the Alaskan state birds, too! Maybe, positioning the bear a little to the right and bottom of the frame would make the composition a bit better, in my opinion.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on October 31, 2010 at 7:12 AM

Good POV and I like the raised snout as if the bear is testing the wind..
Perhaps a bit less space rt. Quality looks good at ISO 800, great details.
Always nice when you get new gear, Canon don't make no junk...No matter what those Nikon users try to say

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on October 31, 2010 at 1:29 PM

This looks like one very content bear Joe. I really like the head-up pose and that smile on its face. I echo Ajit's suggestion regarding the composition.
Like it or not but today's digital photographer simply needs to acquire photoshop skills to get the most out of his RAW files. There are many sources available on the net that can help, but the best thing is: practice!

Congrats on your new gear.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on October 31, 2010 at 5:30 PM

Neat capture, well handled. I would like to see, however less space behind the bear and more in front.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on October 31, 2010 at 8:09 PM

Thanks again folks! I've tried a crop with more room to the front and attempted to tone down the highlights at tad. Looks better to me so I'm curious what the rest of you think. Thanks again for all the good advice.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 1, 2010 at 10:01 AM

Hi Joe,

The re=post looks better to me - thanks for putting in the effort to re-work it. If the image was mine - and if there's sufficient room on the original - I would also lower the bear in the frame (and add a little more room on top) via cropping out a little of the foreground.

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments