Evening Cruise...

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 5, 2011348 views15 comments

Evening Cruise...

I'm currently preparing to leave for a few weeks up in the Great Bear Rainforest on the northern BC coast and thought it would be a good idea to review my image collection in order to identify "gaps" that needed filling. In doing so I came across this image sitting there in raw, unprocessed format. Oops...

Not a ton to say about this shot - definitely another example of what I think of as "active portraits" and definitely another example of how I TRY (usually unsuccessfully) to use selective focus and thin DOF's to control the eyeflow of the viewer. So...what part of this image did YOU look at first? I WOULD be interested in knowing...

One final comment - this had to be one of the most interesting bear encounters I've had from a behavioural perspective. This bear had to be AT LEAST 75 meters away (that's about 1000 miles in Imperial units

) when it first approached the water and looked to be interested in swimming across the narrow channel. Instead of wading in, it looked up and saw us, then proceeded to walk right down to where we were sitting in the Zodiac and proceed to swim right AT us (at one point I really thought it was going to try to get right into the Zodiac and hitch a ride with us!!) - at the last minute it SLIGHTLY veered off and swam right by us. I was shooting with a 600 prime lens but when the bear was at it's closest approach I could have shot an image similar to this one with a 50mm lens! The shoreline on BOTH sides of the channel was absolutely identical with respect to access, how far the forest was behind it, etc. - I can think of NO logical reason why the bear chose to cross right beside us and we certainly weren't positioned in a way to block the bear from crossing wherever it wanted. I'm certainly NOT complaining - he apparently chose to give us a great photo op (tho' he flagrantly broke the rules in terms of approach distance...clearly an illiterate bear!) and to this day I'm still befuddled as to why he did what he did...but it was a super cool thing to be witness to...

Subject: Brown Bear (Urus arctos) swimming shortly after sunset
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: Nikkor 600 mm f/4 VRII lens - handheld from floating Zodiac
Exposure: 1/250s at f4. ISO 1250. No compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: This is about 75% of full frame

Comments & critiques welcomed. Probably better to view larger version first...

Cheers...thanks for looking...

Brad

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on May 5, 2011 at 3:00 PM

One look and I knew it was your shot. My eye is immediately drawn to the bear's nose and eyes. To my eye the bear lacks sharpness starting at about the middle of the head back, which sends the eyes right back to that super sharp face. I'd mention cloning out the spots on the water, but obviously you would've done that if you wanted to.

The reflection and dof are excellent, great shot!

Can't wait to see your shots from the GBR.

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on May 5, 2011 at 5:07 PM

Spot on to me Brad, great DOF with perfect sharpness where it counts. The detail around the eye is a given, but when there is so much detail and depth in the nose, well... The overall colour and tones set the scene of the day and the image has a very tranquil feel about it, almost calming. Perfect POV, I envy you, both in terms of the image & your forth coming trip.

No quite in the same league, but my version was where she was fishing, blowing bubbles and snorkelling in the river, bizarre yes, hilarious without question.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Luca Mussato on May 5, 2011 at 5:26 PM

what attracted me first? The left eye and the nose. The DOF and the less sharpness forces to look at the muzzle.

Cheers, Luca

Registered on November 14, 2006, 118 Posts, 855 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on May 5, 2011 at 5:57 PM

I was first attracted to the nose but the eyes an instant later. I've never experienced an encounter with any bear that could have produce a shot near as good as this, but I'd say that from this overall look, I would not have expected trouble from him either. Your a fortunate guy to have a shot like this in you file and you did it justice.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 5, 2011 at 10:50 PM

I must be the confluence of lines, but my eye definitely settled on the nose first and stayed there for a bit... Excellent find for a second look in "mining" your raw files.

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

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on May 6, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Superb picture- Perfect exposure, excellent DOF management and a very pleasant BG- My best congrats for this one, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on May 6, 2011 at 12:40 PM

Terrific details and cool expressions !!!
The Bear appears very comfortable in your company.

Ideally I would have preferred more DOF, but I do understand, when subject is moving towards you, it becomes difficult at times.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on May 6, 2011 at 3:46 PM

Saw the nose and thought, snorkel.
Do you think it might be because of the bear's notoriously bad eyesight that it came down the beach and swam out to where you were? Obviously it didn't come with evil intent, but certainly with curiosity. No matter the reason, that close and you had to draw breath in short bursts, right?
I like this. It's a real portrait, an up close look at the facial features.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on May 6, 2011 at 7:49 PM

Brad - you certainly have a recognizeable style, trademarked by outstanding techs, natural and pleasing compositions, and beautiful lighting. Yes, I always wonder if it's your name beneath a bear image, but much more than that, it's your outstanding command of the craft and near-perfect (we'll always leave room for some growth I guess) processing.

To answer your question on the attention-order: eye(s), nose, water line on cheek, then a sweep. Love the wonderful detail in both highlights and shadow, but it's the expression in the eye that makes this more than just a nice reflection-shot of a bear swimming. The reflected highlight on the curl of the water ahead of the bear is a sweet bonus, too.

Beautiful image, again.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 6, 2011 at 9:17 PM

Nice shot and great story. If only we knew why animals do what they do. The tight focus on the eyes and muzzle really keep attention on the bear and the bow wave in the water creates action.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Lorna Taylor on May 6, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Fantastic work Brad. It feels like you could reach out and pet his head ! Fantastic perspective!

Registered on November 12, 2010, 254 Posts, 3083 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 7, 2011 at 2:57 AM

Really like the low perspective you've caught here with this one Brad, I'd love to have an encounter like this :^)

Wishing you great success up in the Great Bear Rainforest and looking forward to seeing the images you return with :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Vijay Raj on May 8, 2011 at 2:59 AM

This is such an in your face image. The level of the water with the nice details around the eye makes it special. One gets the feeling of swimming along the bear.

Registered on November 22, 2010, 29 Posts, 100 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on May 8, 2011 at 9:14 AM

Hey all,

Thanks for the positive feedback - much appreciated. And, interesting feedback on the eyeflow...thanks.

Wayne - you said:

Do you think it might be because of the bear's notoriously bad eyesight?

(in reference to my comments about why the bear chose to swim across the channel directly by our boat).

That "notoriously bad eyesight" is only bad in comparison to their amazing sense of smell - they have eyesight comparable to humans. In comparison, their sense of smell has been estimated at 100 to 1000 times better than ours...

So...I don't think that's the reason it approached us (but I have nothing better to offer in terms of an alternate explanation - I simply have no clue why the bear did it).

Cheers...thanks again all!

Brad

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

Comment posted by Harshad Barve on May 10, 2011 at 7:48 AM

Gotta love this image Brad

Registered on July 25, 2010, 39 Posts, 210 Comments