Khutzeymateen Grizzly

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 9, 2014227 views10 comments

The Khutzeymateen grizzly bear sanctuary is a very special place to me.
The mountains were still covered in the deep winter snow. The valleys were magnificent sites with waterfalls of snow melt cascading down the slopes. I was presented with this Spectacular Wild Female Grizzly foraging on the grass. I was floating within a Zodiac boat and with tide receding, this gave me a great vantage point, being at her height with grasses in the foreground. The foreground grasses were a distraction and I have cropped some from the bottom to be about 90% of full frame. I would have liked a bit more room at top, She is Very close to me and I used F9 for better DOF, I watched her move around, relaxed and unthreatened by my closeness !

Subject: Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos),
Location: Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, Northern BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR @ 200mm- hand-held from floating Zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/250s @ f9.0; ISO 560, -.330 stop compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Very minimal- this is about 90% of full frame, No Cloning
Time of day: mid morning

Wild Grizzly ,Not Baited, Not Lured in

Comments and Critiques appreciated. The Larger version here is best to see greater detail!

Bill

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 9, 2014 at 3:49 PM

Great close up. Sharp where it needs to be. Someday, I hope to have the opportunity to photograph a grizzly this close.

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

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on February 9, 2014 at 4:42 PM

Nice closeup here. I'm detecting some green reflected off the reeds/grass onto the bear, easy to correct using color balance or selective saturation adjustments

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 10, 2014 at 12:28 AM

A nice study in the beautiful facial details of this grizzly, lots of impact. Nice exposure although a bit darker over all would work as well I suspect.

He/she does appear very relaxed in this photo, but as you say she is "Very close" to you. I would remind folks doing REGULAR photography of unpredictable wildlife to keep those safe distances and to respect the animal's personal space ! I understand that the bears of this inlet are tolerant of humans.

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

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 10, 2014 at 10:25 AM

Bill.

Tihs is a true beauty, always seems strange to me that bears eat grass

Grat POV boats make such great platforms!

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 11, 2014 at 10:29 AM

Wonderful shot Bill and nice job of getting this from a floating Zodiac. My one and only grizzly sighting the bear was also eating grass and I was really surprised to see this. Nice and sharp where it needs to be, excellent shot all the way around, way to go.

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on February 12, 2014 at 10:57 PM

Bill: this is one of my favourites from you! In part because she is such a stunning griz, but even more so because of your portrayal of her. Great job in the field and at the digital darkroom. 90% at 200mm on an FX sensor?! I know the Khutz is a very unique location with "controlled" circumstances but holy smokes that's crazy! Must have truly been a remarkable experience, and you clearly kept your photography wits about you! Really nice image here.

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

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 14, 2014 at 8:39 AM

Khutzeymateen ............An inspiring Verdant valley where the glaciers come down to waters edge and these waters drain back into the ocean. Home to many Grizzly bears during early springtime where they can rely on the protein rich grasses being there for them , mostly at lower tide and mostly covered at high tide. On this Amazing Adventure we were visited by many Grizzly bears , some females had there yearling with them and some younger females were roaming the water bound islands of grasses in search of feeding and a quiet non obtrusive moment to relax some. This young female was "Special" and we watched her each day as she wandered about the shoreline when tide was lower and sometimes she would scamper up the mountainside without any effort to a nesting spot overlooking her Salad bowl . At times she would enter the waters edge and swim across the estuary and then passing us up very close to the other side. I think our presence gave her a comfort and feeling of security from the wandering and pestering male grizzly bears.

Thanks for the constructive feedback, really appreciate.

Bill

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 14, 2014 at 9:37 AM

Hi Bill,

I hate these shots where you have to search the frame to find the animal in it!

Nice shot of this sweetie. Placement of the head and eyes works well for me! My only comment is one that others likely missed because they haven't seen this bear and know it as well as I do: I think you've pushed lightening up the coat - particularly in the facial region and around the eyes - too much. Not sure if that was done via an exposure blend or some other selective technique, but this bear has much more contrast in tone in its facial region, and has darker "rings" around (and especially below) its eyes. Additionally, the area between the legs (and below the chin) looks too bright (it should be darker, and that contrast of it being darker would make the image even more striking). It's all about contrast - so be careful about flattening it out too much (shadows aren't necessarily "bad" - there needn't be shadow detail shown EVERYWHERE!).

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on February 16, 2014 at 9:05 AM

Interesting comments from Brad about the shadows. When I first looked at your photo Bill I had exactly the same feeling as he did. I then looked at the direction of the light and concluded that if this was indeed full frontal lighting than it might be possible that the shadows had all been "naturally" filled in on the bears lit side. So, I gave the benefit of doubt to the photo and simply commented that it might work better a bit darker over all. I was also thinking that this must be a fairly light-colored grizzly. You had used a slight negative exposure compensation, so also wouldn't think that you would want to undo that by lifting the shadows in post to any great extent. Thanks Brad for providing some independent context on the photo and bringing up the importance of retaining contrast in photos. Bottom line, I guess it's ok to have "Racoon" eyes in bears and other furry animals, where we don't like to see that too often in our human portraits where it isn't too flattering.

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

Comment posted by William Bickle on February 17, 2014 at 8:46 AM

Here is a repost with less green as Morkel suggested, More contrast and a small amount of less brightness.

Critiques appreciated.

Thanks Bill

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