Black Bear on a Mission

[Gary Hamilton]

Black bear (brown color) following his mate in Yellowstone.

Canon 1D MK III
Canon 300mm f 2.8 IS
1/200
f 2.8
1000 ISO

This male was on the prowl for his mate, who was waiting for him across the road. He followed her path by her scent so I knew exactly where he was going to emerge from the woods. I cloned some grass under his right foot and a bit to his right at bottom of frame to cover the edge of the road.

[Rachel Hollander]

Gary - I like the pose and the extended paw. I understand why you did not include more room at the bottom for him to step into since it would have been the roadway. Is this a large crop because it looks a little soft and the IQ may have suffered in the crop? I am guessing it is a large crop seeing that you were using the 300 and knowing YNP's rules on distance.

TFS.
Rachel

[Gary Hamilton]

Gary - I like the pose and the extended paw. I understand why you did not include more room at the bottom for him to step into since it would have been the roadway. Is this a large crop because it looks a little soft and the IQ may have suffered in the crop? I am guessing it is a large crop seeing that you were using the 300 and knowing YNP's rules on distance.

TFS.
Rachel


It does look a bit soft here. Making the image fit within BPN's rules resulted in a big reduction in resolution. The original shot is tack sharp on the face. Let me try reposting it thru another method.

[Gary Hamilton]

Hopefully this is sharper.

[Marina Scarr]

Really like the light angle here, and the way one side of the bear's face is brighter than the other. It adds interest, as does the raised foot. Repost definitely looks sharper.