Early Morning
by William Bickle
Early morning in the Khutzeymateen , with low lying clouds/mist , quiet except for the melting snow cascading it's waters down from the snow-covered mountains to the estuary waters. Early breeding season for the Grizzlies has arrived in this verdant valley with its rich grasses. This young female Grizzly Bear has been followed closely by a very large male bear and is always on the look out for him and other intruders. A quiet time for her here as she engages in eating the high protein grasses that her body requires after emerging from her long dormant time during the winter months. The tide is mostly out in this image exposing the rich chocolate coloured waters banks and small white air bubbles are very evident on the waters surface.
Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in Northern BC CANADA
Springtime early morning in May
Nikon D700
Nikon Lens 70-200mm VR F2.8 @ 200mm
ISO 450, Speed 1/160, F7.1
Hand held while in Floating Zodiac boat
-.67 meter compensation
Small crop off bottom
Critiques and comments very much appreciated.
Wild Bear, Not Baited or called in
The large version shows better detail
Comments
7 commentsVery nice 'scape! This one captures the essence of the Khutzeymateen extremely well.
I think it also shows how darned hard it can be to pull off a great animalscape - so many uncontrollable variables that all have to fall into place. In this case I think the toughest thing to deal with are those white bubbles - and I agree with Zack that they're a BIT on the distracting side. I'm wondering if cropping out more of the foreground wouldn't strengthen this image? Major compromise here - I'd suggest cropping out enough of it to lose the reflection of the bear, but in doing so the bear would be pulled down off the near centreline of the image and that ridge it's on (and the subject) would be positioned about 1/3 the way up the frame. And a lot of the distractions of those bubbles would be gone. If you look closely at what's cropped out with this suggestion it's mostly OOF water, and it does reduce the impact of those white bubbles. Is it worth losing the bear reflection to do this? I think so - but definitely a judgement call with no firm answer.
Just so you know...this is the only time I've ever seen the "bubble thing" happen in there (not sure at all about what produced them that day) - guess you have to go back again, eh?
Cheers...
Brad
Beautiful with the Pure Clean Air, Vibrant saturated vegetation, ( Maybe the Grasses being washed and constantly submerged during the High Tides helps them here?) Secluded and peaceful without much human contacts, I could Go On about this Amazing Place. If readers here have an opportunity to enter into this Verdant Valley they are in for a Life Altering Experience to Remember!!:) And then there are the BEARS !! if you need more Entertainment. This Adventure was lead by Brad Hill and it exceeded my expectations by a Very large factor of enjoyment and memories with beautiful opportunities to become engrossed in Nature at its VERY BEST> I Will Return!:)
Bill