Just Chillin'
When grizzlies come out of hibernation in the spring they're voraciously hungry - their body is telling them they need all the calories they can get in order to restore their body after months of fasting. And, after gorging themselves on whatever is available (in this case the nutritious sedges found in a coastal estuary), they need a whole lot of sleep too! If you're a carefree, sub-adult male (like the one in the image above) who isn't too worried about breeding yet, all you really have to do with your time is eat and sleep (and, of course, make sure you stay out of the way of the big adult males who don't want company as they court willing females).
We caught this sub-adult male bear just chillin' out on the edge of a channel in the Khutzeymateen estuary. While aware of his surroundings, he was almost in a zen-like trance or meditating - he did know (of course) that we were floating nearby, but he really couldn't have cared less. Most of the time we were watching him he just laid there with head down, but every few minutes he'd raise his head (often without opening his eyes), perhaps to get a whiff of the air to reassure himself that there were no other bears in the vicinity, perhaps to hear a little better, or perhaps both. While photographing this bear seemed simple and straightforward (wait for the head to come up and "click"!), it was amazing how long it took before the angle of the sun, the band of grass, and the clean background all aligned themselves just the way I wanted to capture this shot. At the time the whole experience felt a little "zen-like" - hopefully that comes across in the image...
Subject: Sub-adult male Grizzly (
Ursus arctos) just chillin' in the Khutz estuary
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet, northern Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: AF-S Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR - hand-held from floating zodiac. VR on and in "Active" mode.
Exposure: 1/500s @ f4; ISO 160. No compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Very minimal - this is about 95% of full frame
More details about the image - including post-processing information and a higher res version of the image - can be found here on my website:
http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/.
Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!
Cheers...
Brad
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