Most of us immediately recognize bear photos from McNeil, Brooks, Halo Bay and Denali. Heck, thousands of photographers know every rock, bear and pose by heart.
I think that's part of the problem with bear photography today, and certainly the sale of bear photos. Same-old, same-old humdrum, even if the photography is impeccable.
Here's the good news: Bears live almost everywhere you go in Alaska, especially along the coast. And throughout the region lots of new lodges and guide services have sprung up in the last 5 years.
And most of them offer bear viewing in fresh locations with "new" bears doing entirely new things.
I was as bad as everyone else in my growing lassitude about bears and bear photography until I started exploring the alternatives. Now I'm thoroughly recharged!
We just returned from one of the alternative locations, and I've attached an example of the photography we found. Great facilities, easy access and great people to deal with. And new bears!
Nope, I'm not going to tell you where or who we went with. This is not a plug for anyone, rather it's a plug for the concept. And frankly if the outfit wanted a plug they'd have to hire me.
This is a close-up (500 f/4) specifically because I don't want to tip the location. But rest assured that the setting is dramatic, and we shot as much with wides and medium zooms as telephotos just to take advantage of it.
Put your thinking caps on and start looking for the alternatives. Ask them for example photos and comments on suitable photo gear. That will help you pick and choose new bears and locations for your own portfolio!
Posted by Richard Wong on August 12, 2010 at 6:37 PM
This is great advice, Hank. I just got back from Ron's bear tour and it completely exceeded my expectations because my previous assumption of bear viewing was standing on platforms fighting off hordes of photographers. Our tour was down and dirty. Anything but touristy.
I haven't had the pleasure of Ron's tour, and I'm jealous. Not only did you experience the kinds of places and bears I'm talking about, you got time with Ron! That's a win-win for sure!!
If you're going bear viewing prepare for the worst, weather-wise. Bears have deep-set eyes and sunny days are the pits. And the bears could give a good rip about rain, much less that fact that you only have a few days on site. In fact bears are most active morning and evening, and nice soft light makes for some of the best photos. Even as the conditions will test the high ISO performance of your camera.
Here the Glad Bag custom rain covers couldn't compensate for the lens hood left behind. Time for the custom made Rite In The Rain lens hood.
Posted by Richard Wong on August 15, 2010 at 3:22 AM
I'd totally recommend Ron's tour even to an Alaskan such as yourself. It's much easier to be productive when all you have to worry about is showing up and taking photos then not have to worry about planning / logistics.
I agree about the eyes. In many of my photos, the eyes are dark so I have to dodge some of the highlights. For the rain cover, I just cut a hole into a Glad Garbage Bag and taped it secure around the lens with duct tape. It was quite solid.
Glad bags, duct tape and WWD-40. With that tool kit, you're ready for anything Alaska can throw at you!
This probably deserves a separate thread Richard, but I want to pass along an alternate technique for your eye work. It's a standard technique in studios, and we've found it very useful with wildlife. We call it The Eye Trick.
Create a duplicate layer and on that, select the eyes, then Inverse, then delete the remainder of the layer. Make the background layer invisible for the moment. The eyes all by themselves on the layer look funny, but bear with me. (Oooooh, a pun!)
Now use the Brightness/Contrast adjustment to lighten the eyes and increase contrast. It's okay to make them brighter than you think they need to be if it reveals more detail. I generally set the contrast for about half of the Brightness setting.
Now sharpen them, usually with a setting of around 124/1.4/4. Okay, not pretty, but hang on a moment longer.
Now make the Background layer visible again, and use the Opacity slider on the layers pallet to decrease the effect and balance it in relation to the background layer.
It took me longer to type this than to do the actual work. Once you get the hang of it, the job is relatively quick and easy.
Done right, it looks very natural and you can add a tiny bit of "gleam" to the eyes while bringing up the details mostly lost in darkness. If I had more time (and a much faster connection!) I'd prepare a before-and-after photo to demo the effect.
Try it. I think you'll like it a lot! It's much more powerful than dodging.
Okay, I relented and did a before-and-after on a cropped image. I hope the difference is apparent after posting.
Posted by Richard Wong on August 18, 2010 at 5:44 PM
Wow Hank. That made a huge difference. I am going to try this out when I process my next batch of bear photos. The dodge tool hasn't been that effective IMO.
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on August 23, 2010 at 11:58 AM
Richard and Hank - thanks a lot for the kind words! Richard and I had about as much fun as possible from behind the camera - photographing bears is really a thrill that never gets old!
Hank, I agree with what you are saying - there have been years around here were there have been some really cool bear opportunities if you are willing to put in some time. This year was shaping up to be another great one until the police decided they needed to start hazing the bears, and now they are more skittish.
We're getting that in a couple of place along the Kodiak road system right now, as happened the last couple of years. Here the troopers are writing tickets rather than hazing bears, which I think is the best solution. But then again, we're not dealing with the high volume of traffic you have over there.
Discussion
11 repliesI think that's part of the problem with bear photography today, and certainly the sale of bear photos. Same-old, same-old humdrum, even if the photography is impeccable.
Here's the good news: Bears live almost everywhere you go in Alaska, especially along the coast. And throughout the region lots of new lodges and guide services have sprung up in the last 5 years.
And most of them offer bear viewing in fresh locations with "new" bears doing entirely new things.
I was as bad as everyone else in my growing lassitude about bears and bear photography until I started exploring the alternatives. Now I'm thoroughly recharged!
We just returned from one of the alternative locations, and I've attached an example of the photography we found. Great facilities, easy access and great people to deal with. And new bears!
Nope, I'm not going to tell you where or who we went with. This is not a plug for anyone, rather it's a plug for the concept. And frankly if the outfit wanted a plug they'd have to hire me.
This is a close-up (500 f/4) specifically because I don't want to tip the location. But rest assured that the setting is dramatic, and we shot as much with wides and medium zooms as telephotos just to take advantage of it.
Put your thinking caps on and start looking for the alternatives. Ask them for example photos and comments on suitable photo gear. That will help you pick and choose new bears and locations for your own portfolio!
If you're going bear viewing prepare for the worst, weather-wise. Bears have deep-set eyes and sunny days are the pits. And the bears could give a good rip about rain, much less that fact that you only have a few days on site. In fact bears are most active morning and evening, and nice soft light makes for some of the best photos. Even as the conditions will test the high ISO performance of your camera.
Here the Glad Bag custom rain covers couldn't compensate for the lens hood left behind. Time for the custom made Rite In The Rain lens hood.
I agree about the eyes. In many of my photos, the eyes are dark so I have to dodge some of the highlights. For the rain cover, I just cut a hole into a Glad Garbage Bag and taped it secure around the lens with duct tape. It was quite solid.
This probably deserves a separate thread Richard, but I want to pass along an alternate technique for your eye work. It's a standard technique in studios, and we've found it very useful with wildlife. We call it The Eye Trick.
Create a duplicate layer and on that, select the eyes, then Inverse, then delete the remainder of the layer. Make the background layer invisible for the moment. The eyes all by themselves on the layer look funny, but bear with me. (Oooooh, a pun!)
Now use the Brightness/Contrast adjustment to lighten the eyes and increase contrast. It's okay to make them brighter than you think they need to be if it reveals more detail. I generally set the contrast for about half of the Brightness setting.
Now sharpen them, usually with a setting of around 124/1.4/4. Okay, not pretty, but hang on a moment longer.
Now make the Background layer visible again, and use the Opacity slider on the layers pallet to decrease the effect and balance it in relation to the background layer.
It took me longer to type this than to do the actual work. Once you get the hang of it, the job is relatively quick and easy.
Done right, it looks very natural and you can add a tiny bit of "gleam" to the eyes while bringing up the details mostly lost in darkness. If I had more time (and a much faster connection!) I'd prepare a before-and-after photo to demo the effect.
Try it. I think you'll like it a lot! It's much more powerful than dodging.
Hank, I agree with what you are saying - there have been years around here were there have been some really cool bear opportunities if you are willing to put in some time. This year was shaping up to be another great one until the police decided they needed to start hazing the bears, and now they are more skittish.
Someone needs to have a sit down with your PD. Do you suppose they've even seen this web page, much less talked to ADF&G?