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Big brown
One from my Finland trip. Despite their size the brown bears are incredibly shy (as I found out the last morning but thats another story) more so even than deer and Co. I did not get lucky with the light, as I said in my wolf post but the experience of these guys being less than a foot from you in complete darkness is one I will not forget.
1DX, ISO3200, 500 f4 @ f4,1/320sec, Wimberley mounted on a plate, hide. Bears are baited with salmon (they eat well!) ;)
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BPN Member
Love that mouth, lovely detail and soft light here Neil.
Presume this is full frame at the bottom? Would have liked a bit more "leg" visible at the bottom, but probably impossible to fit it in entirely? How about shaving just a sliver from the top, maybe it will balance out a bit better?
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Lifetime Member
Hi Neil - this is great with excellent detail, sharpness and a beautiful bg. I also wish for more room below. If you don't have it perhaps a tighter crop all around will work as alternative. Looking forward to seeing more images from your Finland trip.
TFS,
Rachel
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Pin sharp and shows character of the bear. Shy or not, I'd have second thoughts about being that close! As Morkel and Rachel said, a tad more on the bottom would be great.
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Hi Neil that is one awesome beast ,detail, sharpness and clarity all excellent.
Cheers Keith.
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It is full frame, apart from a sliver off the right. Any lower would have revealed his dinner, which didn't fit with the forest env. (you can see a salmon scale on his leg).
OK, a bit off the top it will be.
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BPN Member
hi Neil , very nice color ,detail and tones across the frame. Good job on processing.A very pleasing creamy BKG helps to isolate the subject.Agree on shaving the image slightly
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Tfs Andreas
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Lifetime Member
Hi Neil
Crisp, very crisp!
Were you in a underground hide?
Agree with the foot, can't you clone out the scale?
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Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
Oh Neil, this is soooo good! Great detail, sharp where it counts and I love the processing! Image well presented, love the pose, love the POV, a 3D feel to it and I like the space you gave the bear-congratulations, really a stunner and I enjoyed viewing!!!
Kind regards,
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Have to say I am imporessed with the 1Dx at ISOxxxx :)
Was not an underground hide but the bear sat in an area aloping up from the hide so worked nicely. I could clone the scale of course ;) Not had time to go back and change anything so far.
Thanks all!!
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi Neil, think the 200-400 may have been a better option to give more space all round and perhaps a better option on cropping, as it is a little tight for me. Love the overall colours and cracking detail. Bears are awesome, lets see more Neil!
Andreas this is a different location to the one I went too almost 10 years ago.
TFS
Steve
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BPN Member
Hey Steve , good to see you back , hope you had a good time
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As far as i know by reading about all the different options in Finland , different locations , different operators . In the end they are all the same , you sit in a hide and wait for the bears, wolverines etc who are just baited and you are less flexible . Not comparable to Alaska /Canada where you move around , unless you stay on platforms like Brooks.
Cheers Andreas
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Wildlife Moderator
Thanks Andreas and yes.
Not comparable to Alaska /Canada where you move around
If you are going to do Bears then no question, Katmai is the best, but both time and more importantly budget are the key/constraining factors. From the few I have seen, Neil has some cracking images and so Finland can offer/produce some great results. Personally I might have gone a little earlier, but that as I say is my choice.
BTW Neil, Edwin is off doing Bears I think, not sure if it's with DG.
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Yeh Edwin is in some fancy lodge I think, lake Clarke, lucky bagga. He did not mention DG so cannot comment.
I agree Steve, the 200-400 for the bears would have been best, but knowing about the wolves I was not risking missing them. I still have plenty of shots to go through, just need the time.
As for Finland. Would have preferred June/July for the long nights but I go when I can slot it in, unlike you Steve :p . The upside of course is I was alone, in the digs, in the hides, alone... poor me ;) As they have plenty of hides and me being alone, I was able to be in a different place each night. I even managed to pull a different hide that they can only use a certain times of year, so have some completely different shots from the norm. Light was bad though and that was the CF card that corrupted :( and the only one not backed up as I was traveling back...
Budget wise, you cannot do Alaska for the same price ;) but I will try and persuade Her Indoors to let me go :)
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Wildlife Moderator
I agree Steve, the 200-400 for the bears would have been best, but knowing about the wolves I was not risking missing them. I still have plenty of shots to go through, just need the time.
5DMKIII on the 500, 200-400 on the 1DX, simple. 
Budget wise, you cannot do Alaska for the same price ;) but I will try and persuade Her Indoors to let me go :)
Indeed Neil, as you need to build in buffer days, as the weather can change so easily, so a seven day trip is more like ten/eleven days on arrival in Kodiak, LOL, 'her Indoors'
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Not really the issue Steve, carrying a bag weighing 15KG when the limit is 8 on a carrier you never used is a risk, cos it only takes on of them nice ladies to have PMT and your bag is in the hold! (especially with the **** prop plane we had to Kajaani).
Like the Man from Del Monte, I wait for her to say "yes!" :)