" Spirit Bear ...Log Walker "

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 31, 2014189 views8 comments

Deep in Northern BC Canada lives the Rare and elusive "SPIRIT BEAR"
During an adventure to photograph the wildlife in the Great Bear Rainforest we were very fortunate to see only one of these great bears and he was a beauty , large and well fed on the returning pacific salmon . Later in the season when most of the returning salmon had already passed through and up the rivers. This guy was looking for one of those stragglers to fill him up before his upcoming Dormancy period. The weather was nasty with several hurricane like storms accompanied with Very high winds on our tail. We were only able to spend about 1 hour with this guy before trekking back to the mothership and sail off to find safe anchorage and ride out the storms.

Subject: Spirit Bear (Ursus americana)
Location: Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikkor 200-400mm VR lens @ 350mm
Exposure: 1/160s at f7.1 ISO 400.
-.33 compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Other: Hand-held while standing at Riverside

Wild Bear, Not Baited or called in.

Comments and critique greatly appreciated

Bill

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 1, 2014 at 12:05 AM

I never tire of images of these magical bears. It's like looking at images of unicorns. (smile) I like the fact that he's walking the log and giving you a nice head turn to boot.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 1, 2014 at 1:06 AM

Nice capture Bill, especially considering the somewhat limited time you had with him. He picked a wonderful log to hang out on though, the diagonal it creates and the wonderful green moss is attractive. Nice timing to catch him giving that subtle head turn towards you. If this were mine I might give the bear a bit more room at the top, not much but just enough to give him slightly more head room, if you have it in the original that is.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 1, 2014 at 2:35 AM

Bill,
Great moment captured here, I agree with Gary regarding more room at the top but perhaps you could shave a little from the bottom.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on February 1, 2014 at 7:17 AM

Nice head turn, I think the image/comp works well as posted Bill.
Especially like the setting, and moss covered log on the diagonal..
A pleasure viewing the big guy, thanx!

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 1, 2014 at 10:03 AM

Hi Bill,

Funny thing about this - if someone dropped down on the earth from another planet and used the current contents of the Wildlife Gallery as an accurate sampling of the wildlife on earth, they'd think most bears are white! And yet there's only 200-300 of them (as compared to almost 1,000,000 of their black conspecifics and 200,000 or so brown bears).

Good shot under tough conditions. My only comments here are on the crop - I too feel that this one feels a bit tight on top and a bit too "pano-ish". If you have more room on top I'd add some there and perhaps shave a little off the bottom (but less than what is added on top, and return it closer to a 3:2 aspect ratio).

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 1, 2014 at 12:02 PM

Hello Guys

The crop from the top was because of that large log in the background. It is a large fallen log but it's topline is just above this bear and interrupts the flow as I see it.

Brad.... I know this species is a rare sighting , even when I talked to the local natives (through another web site) who have always resided here they have never encountered a "Spriit Bear".

Yes, those conditions were very challenging to everyone involved, and I do feel very fortunate to have seen and captured a few special images. With another upcoming Adventure into this Great Bear Rainforest this Autumn , maybe I'll be able to see and capture another? I do feel more confident now after this past trip with some first-hand experience and some excellent mentoring and very picky critiques from knowledgeables !:)

Great Feedback..:)

Thanks very much.

Bill

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 3, 2014 at 11:43 AM

What a treat to see one of these, nice job in getting this challenging shot, way to go Bill.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 11, 2014 at 1:41 PM

Hello Jim

Thanks, was an Adventure to remember & am returning to the area again this Autumn!!!!:)

Bill

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

&quot; Spirit Bear ...Log Walker &quot;

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" Spirit Bear ...Log Walker "