Trust - With Conditions!

Over the years I've been privileged to see a lot of female grizzlies nursing their cubs. It's always a special sight - when a wild grizzly lets you watch the nursing from close proximity you know she trusts you (after all, both her and her cubs are in a very vulnerable position, to say the least). Some female grizzlies never get comfortable enough to nurse in "public" and, to this day, every time I've witnessed the intimate family act the mother has made it abundantly clear there are limits to her trust! In this case it was impossible not to hear her saying (or thinking!) "Yep, you can watch, but that's close enough!"

Subject: Female grizzly (Ursus arctos) nursing a trio of cubs
Location: Khutzeymateen Inlet, northern BC coast, Canada
Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 Sport lens @ 300mm (for an EFL of 450mm). Hand-held from moving Zodiac. OS on and in "OS1" mode, with OS1 stabilization customized to Moderate View mode; AF customized to Fast Priority AF.
Exposure: 1/500s @ f5; ISO 1250; no compensation from "recommended" matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Very minor (less than 10% - for compositional purposes)

A lot more info about this shot - including a 2400 pixel version it - can be found on my website using the link immediately below.

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

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version (or, better yet, the new detail view) prior to doing so!

Cheers...

Brad

PS: Like all wildlife images on my website and that I post on NPN, the subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants or lures (including vocalizations or other sounds).