Grizzly Bear with Salmon

[Karen Pleasant]

153760

After flying across Cook's Inlet we hiked several miles in the wilderness to a spot where grizzly bears were catching salmon. As we sat on the edge of a stream, this grizzly caught a salmon and brought it on shore right in front of us to eat.

Conditions: Very cold, with a light rain. Heavy overcast lighting.

Nikon D300, 200-400/f4 lens
300mm (450 mm in 35mm)
F8 @ 1/250, ISO 800, -1 exposure comp

This has not been cropped. Contrast applied using CEP, very light dodging and burning. I removed a very distracting piece of drift wood on shore. I really wanted to highlight the claws....

[haseeb badar]

Hi Karen - like the way u have managed to frame the image ! The fish is not on the same plane as the claw and inspite of stopping down to f8 the DOF remains quite shallow , since the subject was closer . Instead u should have opted for f 5.6 and you would have got more shutter to freeze the movement.It doesn't appear to me as very sharp especially the snout as compared to its claw. Also the shadows on the paw holding the fish appears to be lacking in detail ! TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Karen - I like the way you framed this tight, although I would prefer a little more room below to include the whole fish and a slight amount of extra room. It does show the claw well. Unfortunately, I agree that it doesn't look sharp. Perhaps 1/250 wasn't enough if the bear was tearing at the salmon as they do. Where was your AF point? The top of the bear's head looks sharpest.

The best way to become part of the BPN community, receive more comments and to get the most out of BPN is to participate in lots of threads. We recommend commenting on at least 3-5 other images in Wildlife each time you post a Wildlife image of your own.

TFS,
Rachel

[Karen Pleasant]

[QUOTE=Rachel Hollander;1075692.....

The best way to become part of the BPN community, receive more comments and to get the most out of BPN is to participate in lots of threads. We recommend commenting on at least 3-5 other images in Wildlife each time you post a Wildlife image of your own.

TFS,
Rachel[/QUOTE]

Not sure I understand this comment. I have started 9 threads, but have created 101 posts. Perhaps I don't understand the expectations of this site.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Karen - It looks like most of your comments are in the Avian Forum. Although there is some crossover between the various forums, the best way to get to know the regular posters in the Wildlife Forum and to receive feedback from them is to make comments in the Wildlife Forum. That's why we recommend posting 3-5 comments on other images in Wildlife each time you post your own image in Wildlife. It is only natural that people tend to make comments on the images posted by people from whom they also receive comments. We find that sometimes newer members get discouraged when they don't receive as many comments on their images as others and don't realize the correlation between the two. They receive a warm welcome and lots of comments for their first few images but it quickly trails off if they don't reciprocate. You seem eager and also, from the comments that I've seen that you have made, to have knowledge and a viewpoint from which we can all benefit, I'm just suggesting a way to get more out of BPN and the Wildlife Forum in particular.

Rachel

[Karen Pleasant]

After my warm welcome in the Avian forum, I was intentionally trying to check out and participate in other forums. I was seeking out threads in the Wildlife forum to comment on, but I had no idea each forum did not recognize participation in this site as a whole.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karen, great close up of the feeding behaviour, and love the wet fur of the bear. Thats a fair size salmon, maybe not for the bear, but I wouldnt mind some of that on one of my dinner plates.

You stated that the bear came pretty close to you, thus this FF shot. Are they not dangerous that you would be attacked, or do they not mind photographers/ humans. :w3

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Karen, sadly the image for me lacks 'critical' sharpness, it's soft, however cranking up the ISO to gain more SS and may be dropping the DoF to say f/5.6 certain would have helped, but also if the conditions were heavily overcast why -1 EV? As posted and this is FF, I would look to cropping that rear paw creeping into frame, but using a zoom, I might have been tempted to pullout a bit more, then crop, as things are a tad too tight at the foot of the frame as presented, that's the beauty of a zoom, the flexibility. Personally I think dropping the Green & Blue helps the shingle, but still retaining the over look & feel, likewise dropping the exposure, but masking the bear so you create a bit more depth. Masking the bear will prevent adding any more darkening overall as the shadows?blacks are clipped and need a slight tweak if you have time.


Are they not dangerous that you would be attacked, or do they not mind photographers/ humans.

Stu, at the height of the Salmon run bears are only concerned about packing on the weight and proving you don't do anything silly or pose a challenge, the bears a quite happy. Give them space, respect them (you know the drill) then everyone is happy, but they don't liked being spooked, hence when walking you do make a noise so they are aware of your presence. Fancy doing something different, tripwise :S3:?

TFS
Steve

[Karen Pleasant]

Hi Karen, great close up of the feeding behaviour, and love the wet fur of the bear. Thats a fair size salmon, maybe not for the bear, but I wouldnt mind some of that on one of my dinner plates.

You stated that the bear came pretty close to you, thus this FF shot. Are they not dangerous that you would be attacked, or do they not mind photographers/ humans. :w3
Thank you, Stu! We were a small group of 6 sitting on the bank of the stream. The bears were totally focused on the salmon and we were careful to remain very still and pretty quiet.

[Karen Pleasant]

Hi Karen, sadly the image for me lacks 'critical' sharpness, it's soft, however cranking up the ISO to gain more SS and may be dropping the DoF to say f/5.6 certain would have helped, but also if the conditions were heavily overcast why -1 EV? As posted and this is FF, I would look to cropping that rear paw creeping into frame, but using a zoom, I might have been tempted to pullout a bit more, then crop, as things are a tad too tight at the foot of the frame as presented, that's the beauty of a zoom, the flexibility. Personally I think dropping the Green & Blue helps the shingle, but still retaining the over look & feel, likewise dropping the exposure, but masking the bear so you create a bit more depth. Masking the bear will prevent adding any more darkening overall as the shadows?blacks are clipped and need a slight tweak if you have time.



Stu, at the height of the Salmon run bears are only concerned about packing on the weight and proving you don't do anything silly or pose a challenge, the bears a quite happy. Give them space, respect them (you know the drill) then everyone is happy, but they don't liked being spooked, hence when walking you do make a noise so they are aware of your presence. Fancy doing something different, tripwise :S3:?

TFS
Steve

All great points, Steve. Shooting was difficult because sometimes we were shooting in to the overcast skies and sometimes we were shooting with the hills in the background. That was before we could take advantage of Auto ISO and manual mode! I posted this not because it was a phenomenal image, but that it was a shot you don't see that often. You comments about the bears being fairly safe are spot on.

Thank you for commenting.

[Steve Kaluski]

Karen Auto ISO can be useful, but like everything, you need to keep an eye on your settings and so you may not always wish to have this function on. My advice is to always (where possible) keep your SS high and keep reviewing your Histogram. I'm shooting currently where the light is constantly changing and the EV is fluctuating + or -, so this will also affect your SS, or if you are using Auto your ISO.

Bears are great, but like everything, they command respect and in doing so you will be rewarded. :w3

[Karen Pleasant]

Karen Auto ISO can be useful, but like everything, you need to keep an eye on your settings and so you may not always wish to have this function on. My advice is to always (where possible) keep your SS high and keep reviewing your Histogram. I'm shooting currently where the light is constantly changing and the EV is fluctuating + or -, so this will also affect your SS, or if you are using Auto your ISO.

Bears are great, but like everything, they command respect and in doing so you will be rewarded. :w3

With Nikon, I can set the camera to manual, select the aperture and SS I want, and the camera will only adjust the ISO up to a maximum that I have entered. Very nice. And I can still use the Exposure compensation adjustment. Not sure how Canon's Auto ISO works...

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yep, photographing bears would be something special for me.

[Steve Kaluski]

That's how it works Karen, but you need to keep an eye on the techs, plus, Auto ISO does have some drawbacks too, it's not the 'silver bullet'.


Yep, photographing bears would be something special for me.

Time to start saying Stu... :w3 :cheers:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Karen leaving the technical issues a side , i quite like the tight crop , but agree to loose the leg in ULC .
The problem of being unsharp cannot be recovered , but this image does look like you have used the clarity sider in ACR/LR too much , or you have used Tonal Contrast within CEP ..... !!??
My personal view is to stay away from them or used them with a more sensitive hand .

TFS Andreas

[Karen Pleasant]

Hi Karen leaving the technical issues a side , i quite like the tight crop , but agree to loose the leg in ULC .
The problem of being unsharp cannot be recovered , but this image does look like you have used the clarity sider in ACR/LR too much , or you have used Tonal Contrast within CEP ..... !!??
My personal view is to stay away from them or used them with a more sensitive hand .

TFS Andreas

Thanks for commenting, Andreas. I concur with you advice to reduce the sharpening. In ACR I set the Clarity slider to 20. I did use CEP Tonal Contrast with whites at 5, mid tones at 25 and blacks at 5 - all applied to only the bear and fish. For sharpening, I used the High Pass filter set about 3 or 4, applied to the bear and fish only.

Better yet, take another trip and make sure shots are in focus! LOL!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Karen - sorry for being late to this one.
I can only echo the comments made above. If it was a tad sharper it would have helped a lot.
I would also back off on the contrast a wee bit...

[Raymond Barlow]

Hi Karen, wonderful image, I agree with all your points. It is unfortunate that so many people are so fussy about the concept of "Sharp", though sharp is a factor, the story you
have presented here is much more important to me.

For me, wildlife photography is much more about telling a cool story, and representing your own creative skills to tell that story., having a fish that is slightly soft is very minor, as people seem to
do anything to find something wrong with an image. I also think that chasing someone for more participation should be done privately.

Back you your image, I do recommend a full frame camera, with higher iso capabilities., I used the D300 for years, and I promise the D800 was a wonderful improvement to my
opportunities. Iso 2500 and f8 would have helped here, along with a shorter focal length, say 300mm in full frame, then a slight crop.

It's always easy to look back to a scene and say "what if"! But the fun is learning new techniques, and improving your skills for the next time.

Anyhow, over all.. killer shot, you should be proud!

[Karen Pleasant]

Hi Karen, wonderful image, I agree with all your points. It is unfortunate that so many people are so fussy about the concept of "Sharp", though sharp is a factor, the story you
have presented here is much more important to me.

For me, wildlife photography is much more about telling a cool story, and representing your own creative skills to tell that story., having a fish that is slightly soft is very minor, as people seem to
do anything to find something wrong with an image. I also think that chasing someone for more participation should be done privately.

Back you your image, I do recommend a full frame camera, with higher iso capabilities., I used the D300 for years, and I promise the D800 was a wonderful improvement to my
opportunities. Iso 2500 and f8 would have helped here, along with a shorter focal length, say 300mm in full frame, then a slight crop.

It's always easy to look back to a scene and say "what if"! But the fun is learning new techniques, and improving your skills for the next time.

Anyhow, over all.. killer shot, you should be proud!

Thank you, Raymond. I did not present this as a stunning image, but as a unique close up. I sold the D300 several years ago and now own both a D3s and a D810! wooHOO! And if my post ratio of about 10 comments to 1 thread on this entire site aren't good enough for forums other than Avian....oh well! LOL!

[Raymond Barlow]

Thank you, Raymond. I did not present this as a stunning image, but as a unique close up. I sold the D300 several years ago and now own both a D3s and a D810! wooHOO! And if my post ratio of about 10 comments to 1 thread on this entire site aren't good enough for forums other than Avian....oh well! LOL!

Ok, cool, congrats on the nice gear., and I think you got some good advice from a lot of people in here.