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Thread: The kingdom of the Ice Bear

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Default The kingdom of the Ice Bear

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    So, having got back several weeks ago and only recently spent some time editing, culling and rating I thought I would open with what people have been expecting to see, a Polar Bear, however unlike the last trip which was predominately PB's, this was a real mix which was great.

    We spotted this guy about 800m out on the pack ice, so Magnus stopped the engines and just waited, the curiosity getting the better of the Polar Bear and slowly, but surely he made his way over, intrigued to know what this large item was and the new smells emanating from it. Within 20-25 minutes he was heading straight for us, face heavily covered in blood, probably, a seal kill. Constantly stopping, sniffing, head/nose in the air it wasn't long before he was meters away. The true size was then plain to see, one big unit and for me, the animal I have the upmost respect for, but the most dangerous IMHO on this planet, standing on his back legs he towered a handsome 3.5 - 4m, with front paws through the railings.

    Could not resist the tight head shot here as he looked up, with the whitish body slowly disappearing into the pack ice background. Like Peters chimp face, all I wanted was that eye and let the snout/body tail off. This guy was on all fours as I lent over to capture the image, but you must have your wits about you just in case they make a lunge.

    Thanks for either viewing or commenting on the previous image.

    Steve

    Subject: Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) head shot, face covered in blood
    Location: Svalbard
    Camera: Canon 1DX
    Lens: 500f/4 MKII plus 1.4 MKIII HH
    Exposure: 1/2500s at f/8 ISO1600
    Original format: Portrait, very slight crop
    Processed: LR6 2015 & PS CC2015
    Shot taken: 18.32pm
    Last edited by Steve Kaluski; 08-24-2015 at 02:28 PM.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Steve , great that you start off with your latest Svalbard images .
    A very fine tight opener from my POV , with your usual high technical standards .
    I like the overall nice tones and colors you have extracted . Funny that the tip of the snout is blood free .Have you thought about flipping the image ?
    You picked up Peter´s chimp shot as a kind of reference for targeting the magical eyes of an animal , for me with this frame you cannot compare as there are too many elements in the image that are drawing my eye away from the eyes , and i think one can do nothing about it .
    The elements for me are the blood and the black big nose , if you have not said in your intro it is about the eyes i would have not get the idea .But this is being really picky Steve , so do not take it too serious .
    Another technical aspect , why F8 , don´t you think open aperture would have been better in this case (the eyes) , well just a thought with hindsight from my comfxy chair .

    And 800 mm distance to a PB is close , LOL , i know just a typo

    In the end it is definitely a fine frame , Steve

    TFS Andreas

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    And 800 mm distance to a PB is close , LOL , i know just a typo
    I slip these in Andreas just to see who reads things, LOL, thanks

    Take your point about my reference to Peter, however I was hoping f/8 would have taken the snout in, but probably f/11 may be?

    Will not pepper the Forum with PB's but will post something else towards the end of the week, or in Avian.

    Cheers
    Steve

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Steve i guess not even F11 would have helped , having my head close up´s of the Gemsbok taken in the KTP in mind . Shots were taken with F11 in parts and not all the stuff i wanted to be sharp was in focus , and you were saying if i remember correctly i might have tried F16 , LOL .

    BTW i like peppered PB´s , so please make me sneeze , LOL.

    Cheers Andreas
    Last edited by Andreas Liedmann; 08-24-2015 at 02:49 PM.

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    Hi Steve, glad to see you posting again and I look forward to some amazing pics from your trip. I like this shot, nice look at the eye, the inquisitive look, the blood on the snout etc. nice 3D feel to it. Tight comp works. Agree with Andreas reg more DOF.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Agree with Andreas reg more DOF.
    Thanks Sanjeev, but if we are right, to achieve the DoF and with something like f/16, then the ISO would be way way high, perhaps to the point where I was shooting at ISO25k in some late morning shots, but I'm OK as is.

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    OK Steve, get you point. There is no denying that the image is lovely as is. That red really stands out on the whites and the colours are absolutely spot on! In the given circumstances as you say f/8 was right. Cheers

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    n the given circumstances as you say f/8 was right. Cheers
    Sanjeev, don't get me wrong, yes with more DoF it would have change the whole image and may be better with the snout sharp, but to achieve that then IQ would not be as good, plus I had originally thought f/8 was right/enough, but it goes to show when close, how much DoF you really do need.

  9. Thanks Sanjeev Aurangabadkar thanked for this post
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    Forum Participant christopher galeski's Avatar
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    Love this image Steve,even with the snout soft,the eye is well sharp,like the blood on the muzzle and some nice detail in the fur.I understand what you said in the intro about capturing the eye,and you did it well.TFS.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Steve - I had looked yesterday but then had internet issues. A very fine opening image from your trip. The red of the blood really adds to the image. It's always a trade-off on the dof. You could have shot the image when he was still a bit further away and had more dof without cranking up the ISO but then it probably would not have been a frame filling portrait. Looking forward to more from your trip.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Hi Steve -- WHAT a way to start ! Brilliant image ! f8 works here perfectly it helps the body blend with the BKG , not sure that would have been possible with f 16 . Excellent details and the reds are absolutely adding to the image . TFS !
    Since the eye and the snout are not on the same plane , so if keeping the focus point between the dominant eye and the snout (i guess it was on the eye ) and stopping down to f 11 would tht have helped in getting both the eye and the snout in focus ??

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Love how the red muzzle sets it off.
    Nice frame-filler. Like Peter's chimp, would have liked to have the option of more DOF for comparison, but it does work!

    Great to see you post some recent images, Steve - please DO pepper the forum with PB shots!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Yes please, pepper the Forum with Polar Bears!!!

    Hello Steve:)

    I love close-ups anyway, but the first thing I noticed here was the dominant colour being white and so many nuances of it - very well exposed and the frame overall has this arty feel, lends itself to a very big print IMO. And whew, you were pretty close to this big fellow, I am told they are not too polite with new arrivals, especially those of a human kind:) Or maybe I have been watching too many documentaries on DSTV?!

    Well you certainly possessed this moment so well, fugitive as it may have been... You then took it back home and gave it weight. A little crop perhaps, some adjustments here and there, I am now thinking of those moments when you pressed the shutter and wonder what went through your mind at the time. A precious moment like this would cause me a degree of anxiety about losing the scene, although every click of the shutter would reassure me that I have everything under control. I have known you for some time now as a Master of Detail and so alive to the smallest individual features of your subjects, this image does not dissapoint and when I look at your exif I believe you took the right decisions under the circumstances.

    Not sure what I would have done if I were in your place...But I have learnt from you to notice and not just look, there's always more in a scene than an ordinary being can see, so important for the photographer to move from a position of observing the subject to acquiring an understanding of its features and behaviour, and therefore secure good "memories", or images of it. Interesting enough, I did not really learn from you how to do my PP work, but how to see and interpret things. Right now, what is important to me when it comes to photography, is thought and sight, and making others see what I see:). Which is something you do so well - thank you for sharing this image, thought provoking and somewhat challenging too. Some say technology has made it easier to reach beauty, but it has not simplified the process of possessing or appreciating it

    I so enjoyed this, thank you Steve:)

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Morkel/Gabriela, sadly running out of time again before packing, so I might squeeze one more PB in before I'm off again.

    FYI the deck was covered with my kit and I even had a helper constantly changing lenses on both bodies for me, even if I had another body it would not have been enough, just trying to cover a variety of angles, but always very conscious where my feet/lens was in relation to the PB and his access to me.

    Would I have shot this differently with hindsight, perhaps, but not by much. A lot was shooting on auto pilot and think what the PB was going to do, mindful of slow movements and with MINIMAL noise, they spook very easily! However I was constantly looking at the histogram & SS and not thinking about the ISO, I'll worry about that in PP, even got to ISO25k too, but that was at 2.00am!

    I think it's key we all shoot differently, as we see things differently, funny I was taking to a very good friend yesterday about the image, as he had never seen it, his first comment was, go hi key B/W. I kept below f/9, however he has gone to f/16 on a previous image and looking at a different image, I can only wonder what would it have looked like at f/16?

    And to answer your question, I was 8m away and looked at where the FP was, if I had dropped down by one FP square the nose may have been sharp?.

    Thanks again folks.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    8m...Canon 500mm F4...Big Bear...Not sure the nose would have been sharp even at F 16, a tad sharper maybe but not super-sharp, err...my hands would be shaking a little...all I can think of right now is those sharp teeth...

    Any support, by the way? Hand-held?

    Love it as it is, Steve.

    Happy packing, safe travels, let us have more Bears please:)
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Any support, by the way? Hand-held?
    Lens: 500f/4 MKII plus 1.4 MKIII HH (HH - Handheld)

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    Lifetime Member Ákos Lumnitzer's Avatar
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    Great portrait mate.
    Why don't you think IQ would be good if you had stopped down and reduced the SS?
    I think it would've been fine.
    Thanks for sharing. The blood is awesome.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Why don't you think IQ would be good if you had stopped down and reduced the SS?
    Hi Akos, over the last year I have change a fair % of how I shoot and with modern camera bodies i.e. 5D, 1DX, D4, going for a higher SS and not worrying about ISO is, I think, the way to go, as a missed capture, is a wasted capture. Even switching off the IS, oh yes, that too can also effect the system. Also just breaking the conventional old rule of thumb too, of 500mm lens = 1/500s. Also these guys are not 'static', the are constantly moving around, well most of the time, two decided to have a siesta next to the ship, but...

    At the time, as I said, I thought f/8 was OK, think NOT, so really I could have upped the DoF without too much to worry about i.e. ISO6400 say, but with a moving subject, albeit slowly, a slightly rolling small ship, HH I was keen to find a happy balance.

    I'll post something later for you to show that I can go low, but it's not something I like to do now unless really braced, or rock solid support, getting an old man.

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    Hi Steve, I am a little late to the party, I just wanted to say an image filled with wonder. Having never seen a Polar Bear close up (in zoos one does not see them this close) my eyes wander the image, absorbing, ingesting. The blood stained face tells a story... I have just fed and leaves the viewing to wonder what was the prey. Thank you for sharing, very enjoyable viewing.
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

    www.amazinglight.smugmug.com

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Steve, a bit late to this party, but seems like you had a party of sightings - just love the blood covered face, and good focus on the eye. Looking forward to more.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    have just fed and leaves the viewing to wonder what was the prey.
    Hi Joe, great to see you over here, you are most welcome!

    Their main diet is seal, they will either crash through the pack ice with their immense power, wait at a seals blow hole to pull a surfacing seal out, or just go for any scraps. A fair guess was that he had been chomping on a seal kill, something we could not get too, or warranted. Their smell is I think, 100 better than a Blood hound, it's claimed they can smell a seal from over 25km away, so I doubt any deodorant would shield you from this guy .

    Hey Stu, no one should worry about being late to the party, if members comment on threads as and when then so be it, there are no time limits to my knowledge, thanks for the kind words.

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