Contact!

Contact!

Grizzlies are classified taxonomically as Carnivores. But if you look at a what they eat, grizzlies (and black bears) are omnivores and their diet consists mostly of vegetative matter, insects and other invertebrates. There are times when I have watched grizzlies munch on grass for hours on end and wondered if they weren't misclassified as carnivores and are actually most closely related to cows!

Yet, when I was looking up at this adult male grizzly from slightly below it (and obviously at grass level), I have to admit that I had to remind myself that the bear undoubtedly preferred eating grass to eating photographers - after all my bones would get stuck in its teeth and my camera gear was bound to give it indigestion! And, when it made eye contact with me and I couldn't kid even myself that he didn't know i was there, well...to say it was a challenge to keep thinking about the technical and creative aspects of image capture is a bit of an understatement!

Understanding how to effectively use selective focus and controlling your depth of field (or DoF) is - at least in my opinion - absolutely critical to a wildlife photographer. When shooting shorter focal length lenses (like, for instance, a 70-200mm zoom) this can often mean choosing wider apertures and minimizing your DoF. And, when using longer telephotos you can also shoot close to wide open to produce soft, smooth backgrounds. But, in some cases, when the subject is close and you're using long telephotos (like in this shot) you have to do the opposite - stop down to INCREASE your DoF. When capturing this shot I knew I was close enough that I would render the grass I was shooting through soft regardless of the aperture I chose (and this is what i wanted). But I wanted to ensure that both of the bear's eyes and the fur along the bridge of the nose were sharp, so I stopped down (to f7.1). How did I know how much to stop down? Through doing a boring thing - committing a few key lens/aperture/subject-distance/DoF values to memory. By storing about 10 of these combinations on my "soft drive" I can easily estimate my DoF accurately enough to ensure when I'm in situations where it's not too convenient to consult DoF tables (like when I was shooting this - "...hold that look Mr. Bear, I have to check something before I can take your picture") that I get the shot that I want.

Subject: Adult Grizzly (Urus arctos) giving me a long look!
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet, Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VRII lens - hand-held. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/400s @ f7.1; ISO 900. -0.67 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: This is about 85% of the full-framed image

Additional details about the image (including processing details) available here

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/detail_2.html.

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

Cheers...thanks for looking...

Brad