Grizzly Bear's

Dear Sir/Madam
I would like some information on photographing Grizzly Bears ,eg, the best place's,the best times,etc, there is a time of year that the salmon swim up river and the bears are waiting to feed,this is what I want to photograph.Never been to Alaska,been to the USA though with the British Army working with your troops and had a great time. If anyone could help me with this matter and also tell me of trips/workshops that run there this too would be very helpful, thank you for yout time,and above is a sample of my recent work

An excellent shot, Craig. You might contact Andy Long at firstlighttours.com. I know he runs a bear workshop at least once a year in Alaska.

First off, there are no sirs or madams on this forum. That's way too formal for this bunch! Secondly, what a fantastic shot you have here! I'm not sure where to get those bear shots, but there are a few rivers in AK that you can access through a waiting list. Others here will have plenty of info for you.

Thanks for your service to your country and ours.

The salmon run in Katmai National Park in Alaska is usually about the 2nd week of July but can vary in length. There is a second run of silver salmon in the 1st week of September, but they don't typically jump Brooks Falls, so the bears just jump on them downstream of the falls and chow down. You will need a reservation to get into Brooks Falls. It is typically easier to get in for September (the park closes around Sept 15). A campground reservation would be the easiest to get rather than a cabin. You need to apply for a reservation about 6 months ahead of time and this is one place where you can go by yourself quite easily.
Check out www.jessleephotos.com . He does trips to Alaska's Silver Salmon Creek area across the bay from Homer.
Other do-it-yourself grizzly hot spots: Haines, Alaska in early Sept,----- Hyder, Alaska in early September -----Yellowstone NP,Wyoming in early-mid May,---- Glacier NP,Montana in Sept.

Outside of Alaska, the best place for grizzly bears is probably Yellowstone National Park. Spring is usually the best time (May into June) as the bears are out of hibernation, hungry, and their are lots of young and/or weakened from the winter elk, deer, bison, moose, etc. They make for irresitible prey for the grizzly (and black bear and wolves and coyotes).

Thank you all,very helpful/kind

Great shot Craig! Nothing to add about finding Griz to photograph, looks like the previous posts pretty much have it covered.

Yellowstone was mentioned in the Spring but it can also be productive in the Fall. Certain years the Whitebark pine produces a bumper crop of cones full of nuts. The bears eat these nuts to gain fat for hibernation. Although a number of these trees have been devestated by the pine beetle there are a few left on top of Dunraven pass in YNP. I am hearing that this year could be a good year. A good place to check out the status is YNet Forums.

Craig ...excellent shot!! Superb light and focus.... excellent job!! Sorry that I do not have info on the bears! I tend stay away from them....

Great shot! Like the light and the color.

Joe Van Os (www.photosafaris.com) and the Rocky Mountain School of Photography (www.rmsp.com) both do bear workshops in Alaska.

I went to Yellowstone in June and managed to see several bears (black and grizzly) in about 12 hours. They're all over out there.

Ditto on the appreciation for your service! Hope we can repay you in some small way with a few grizzlies!

Thank you all for your wonderful help/advice, many thanks to you all