Lumbering.. Black Bear

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 1, 2012217 views9 comments

The Great Bear Rainforest of Northern B.C. Canada is home to this very large Black Bear. He is lumbering up the river in search of returning, spawning Salmon. You can see evidence of the pink salmon on his snout from an earlier catch. The weather conditions were severe, with Very dark lighting, in this overgrown forest. With many distracting branches & fallen trees , it is rare to get a clear, clean unobtrusive background.

Nikon D700/ ISO 3600 / F5.6/ Nikon 200-400VR f4 Lens/ 1/160 speed/ RAW/ and Handheld. Minimal crop.

Constructive comments encouraged, Please & thanks .

Bill

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on May 1, 2012 at 3:57 PM

great shot, nice detail, eye and water make then shot stunning

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on May 1, 2012 at 4:58 PM

Great image! I love his pose!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on May 1, 2012 at 5:30 PM

This is a fine shot. Nice color and composition. It still amazes me to get shots this clean and sharp at 3600 ISO.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on May 2, 2012 at 9:38 AM

Hello Verdon Jenaya Richard

The Very dark conditions were from several Hurricanes passing through while we were there. The Extreme Winds(in excess of 100K) and the rain was Horizontal most of the Time. Was Very fortunate to see this guy over a very short window of opportunity.
We only had this few hours over many days of riding out the storms and finding Safe Anchorage .

Thanks for your Comments.

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on May 2, 2012 at 1:26 PM

Hi Bill, I quite like the mood in this created by the lighting conditions. The detail in the black fur is great and the catch light in the eye helps a lot. And yes, it is remarkably clean and detailed for such a high ISO setting! The environment is a bit busy, and I wish the twigs coming from the right behind the bear were not there, but that of course was entirely beyond your control.

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

Comment posted by Sally Wood on May 3, 2012 at 5:38 PM

Great shot............. he looks very determined!!

Registered on March 8, 2012, 39 Posts, 509 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on May 4, 2012 at 8:56 AM

Hello Vincent

Quality using the D700 at high ISO settings , has been Excellent. I have not applied any noise reduction to this image. The cluttered background does distract, but : Thats's- What- it- Is!!

Sally... Yes, Determined to Eat , So much prior to hibernation.

Thanks for you comments and Feedback .

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 4, 2012 at 9:07 AM

Beautifully handled and I like the pose very much. The aforementioned busy background is a bit unfortunate, but no deal breaker. Nice image.

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

Comment posted by William Bickle on May 4, 2012 at 9:30 AM

Hello Lon

Thanks, .... I am off to the Khutzamateen in a few weeks for more BEAR!!!!. But most likely Better BG. !!

When the Image has so much distraction with foliage etc. in the BG. I can see how a Very Tight Crop may Isolate the Main Image better, But I think including the Environment in my Images tells a better story. When looking at an Image with Environment & Very Tight Crop, there is a different feel & the mood is changed to a Great Degre., I can always Recrop .

Thanks for taking time to comment...Appreciated !!

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments