Swimming in Solitude

Swimming in Solitude

Hey all,

This image is from the first trip I made into the Khutzeymateen Inlet in British Columbia Canada way back in 2006. Watching this family of grizzlies slowly and peacefully swimming across the estuary at the head of the inlet was an exceptionally special and fateful moment for me. I was already taken by the region, but when this scene unfolded right in front of me I knew I was hooked. Since that moment I have been visiting the Khutzeymateen and the Great Bear Rainforest annually - first "simply" as a photographer and then, for the past several years, I have had the privilege of introducing other photographers to the region through my photo tours.

About this shot. Well, this is a bit of an embarrassing admission, but I somehow managed to "miss" seeing (and processing) this image until about a week ago. While preparing a seminar on wildlife photography last week I found myself in need of an image demonstrating how strong lines naturally occuring within the scene can guide both one's composition and the orientation (vertical vs. horizontal) used on the original capture. I'm anal about the keywording of my image files and simply typed in "horizontal line" and "composition" and "poof" this image came up (in raw, unprocessed form). Although on a tight timeline, I couldn't resist the urge to take the few minutes needed to process the final image.

So here ya go - and oldie, but I think a goodie, and hot off the press!

Subject: Female grizzly (Urus arctos) on an early morning swim with her kids
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet, Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D2x
Lens: Nikkor 200-400 f/4 VR lens @ 250mm (EFL of 375mm). Hand-held from floating Zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/750s @ f4. ISO 200. No compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: Almost 100% of full frame image horizontally - cropped from top and bottom to produce pano aspect ratio

All the gory details about this shot (processing details, conservation, etc.) can be seen right here...

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/detail_3.html.

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Brad