Dancing Bears

[Arthur Morris]

This image was created with the Canon 500mm f/4L IS II with the 1.4X III TC and the EOS-5D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering =1/3 stop: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, AK. I have been leading bear boat groups to Katmai for about 8 years. Next year's trip will be in September and will feature lots of bears catching lots of salmon.

Don't be shy: all honest comments welcome.

[Marina Scarr]

Nice action and behavior captured here, Artie. The color combinations are very pleasing, and I especially like the hint of wildflowers peeking through the grass. To my eyes, I think this image may need a bit of CW rotation since I think the grasses may be leaning a tad too much to the left. It's nice to have such good views of the two paws, the teeth and the ruffed up fur.

[Rachel Hollander]

Artie - great comp and action captured. I too like the pastels of the bg and grasses. Of course, your usual excellent IQ too. The mouth area seems to have a little bit of a red/magenta cast in the lips which I would expect to be darker, almost black, but you were there and I know there are often differences in the colors of the bears.

TFS,
Rachel

[Tom Graham]

Were they really dancing? What were they doing, play fighting? Or real fighting?
Tom

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome action shot, great IQ and detail Artie. I am eagerly waiting for your review of the 500 II before I place an order for that or the 300 II+TCs.
cheers
Sanjeev

[Steve Canuel]

Really nice Artie, I'm loving the soft light and colors. Detail/sharpness is just about perfect for me.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Artie, can only echo Steve C's comment above, however I wish you could have sound to this action too. :bg3:

TFS
Steve

[Arthur Morris]

Were they really dancing? What were they doing, play fighting? Or real fighting?Tom

Play fighting. They were almost surely siblings. Real bear fights are serious and often result in severe injuries. But they are rare.

[Arthur Morris]

Awesome action shot, great IQ and detail Artie. I am eagerly waiting for your review of the 500 II before I place an order for that or the 300 II+TCs. cheers Sanjeev

I have not used it much for birds. I will be bringing it on the Cheesemans' South Georgia/Falklands trip this coming October. If you like birds, even wildlife, I would recommend the 500 II over the 300 II by a mile.

[Arthur Morris]

First off, thanks all. This was my favorite image from the trip.


Artie - great comp and action captured. I too like the pastels of the bg and grasses. Of course, your usual excellent IQ too. The mouth area seems to have a little bit of a red/magenta cast in the lips which I would expect to be darker, almost black, but you were there and I know there are often differences in the colors of the bears. TFS, Rachel

YAW. The upper background is actually a distant conifer covered ridge, notsky. As for the color of the bears lips, I am in the dark: I have never kissed one....

[Stan Cunningham]

Nice shot of playing, nice to find the grass short enough to see the bears clearly. Not always easy. Bear's mouth looks fine to me and the eye is nice and clear. Another thing not always easy to do.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Arthur, great interaction between these two bears. Love the claws, but what I love most is the layers in the landscape...I think that makes this image fabulous!

[Jamie Douglas]

This is SWEET. Love the claws and teeth and I think the slight slope works for this composition.

Jamie

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely moment in a great setting here, Artie...
I don't think this needs a rotation as I personally quite like the play of the opposing diagonal ridges (FG and BG) here.
Might consider placing the bears dead centre though...
:5

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely moment in a great setting here, Artie... i don't think this needs a rotation as I personally quite like the play of the opposing diagonal ridges (FG and BG) here. Might consider placing the bears dead centre though... :5

Thanks Morkman. I accidentally had some left of center sensors selected when I ran for the action--not to worry they were across a large creek. So I put the tripod down and fired. The action was over in seconds. With the bear on our left facing right I was thrilled with the subject placement. So the center was a no-go for me.