Nursing Bears

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought I would share an image that shows just how relaxed these bears are around the people. On more than one occasion we saw moms nursing the cubs. Here the mom of three nurses two of the three. As you can see she was very relaxed as this is certainly a vulnerable pose. Taken before the third cub came in to join and blocked the view. I'm sure some will say the tall grass should go but for me it stays. It was there and is natural.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 234mm
1/1600
f5.6
ISO 800
HH, small crop for comp, luminosity masks, curves, color adjustments, sharpened in PSCC. I have decided that for me posting at 1600px seems to be a good compromise.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Stuart Philpott]

Rachel it's been such a joy to see your bears,really mate they are such special images. Ha ha the pose of mum is wonderful I love her paw. I sort of wish the right cub#s ebow was tucked in a tiny bit so more of mum' face was visible. The grasses stay for me please I agree part of the habitat one might expect to see

Such a special intimate moment Rachel not much to change for me

TFS

stu

[Jonathan Ashton]

Rachel this is another cracker, love the low viewpoint looks like mummy bear was keeping an eye on you. I like the image as is but a little part of me says is the green grass a little anaemic?

[John Mack]

Cool frame. Like the eye contact from the mom. I do not mind the grass.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

IMHO, the top treeline could be cropped off to give just the grassy environment too. It's an option I would consider.
I love the interaction. Very nicely done!

[Rachel Hollander]

Thank you Stu, Jon, John and Akos. Jon - I'll take a look at the greens. I had darkened them, perhaps a little too far. Akos, yes, that would work as an alternate crop.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

A tender moment well captured Rachel. I like the low POV and the colours.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel isn´t this a gorgeous and very intimate scene you captured .
The pose of the three is great and momma bears look is priceless , you got lucky and pressed the shutter at the right time . Congrats Rachel love this frame !!!!!!!
You just need to go in tighter and loose all that dead space .... for emphasizing the super duper emotional thing , just my 2 cents . It is way tooooo wide for my taste .
For me the grass needs to be darker and more color depth .....
But this is for sure a matter of taste .

Thanks a lot for sharing this one

Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Sanjeev and Andreas. Here's a rp with the tighter crop (a much bigger crop than I would normally like to do) and the richer greens.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Yes I prefer the colours, crop purely a matter of taste, maybe slightly looser but I think you tried to avoid the dark band of bushes at the top.

[Rachel Hollander]

Jon, thanks for taking a look at the rp. Yes, for the reason why I went as tight as I did. I prefer a looser comp too.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

For me the RP is an improvement on all counts , i wish you had shot even tighter in the field and went for a pano crop , just my take .The grass does look way better .

Thanks Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Awesome capture Rachel,

This is so special, and not just from a behavioural POV. Delightful pose from mommy and cubs, love the closeness and intimacy here, such a privilege to witness and capture this wonderful scene.
RP works best for me too, great colours and tonality my friend, superb image - thank you so much for sharing

Warmest regards,

[Glenn Pure]

Another really great bear shot, Rachel. The interaction is beautiful and very well captured. As for original versus repost, I would go somewhere between the two on crop (closer to repost) and colour of grass somewhere between the two as well. Detail is superb and not sure what your concern about the crop is as the shot has not suffered at least as shown here.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, I like the POV and in terms of colour I find the RP more pleasing and reflective rather than the OP. With the low ISO the 7D has created a good file, better SS with this body and nice DoF. As a 'capture' I know what the cubs are doing, but sadly the image doesn't really grab me as the only eye contact is from Mom and the cubs faces are all hidden from view and without a title or understanding, a viewer may get the impression of playing, but just my take.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andreas, Gabriela, Glenn and Steve, much appreciated.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, I like the eye contact from Mom, and good DOF on all three Bears. You have brought out their fur coats nicely, and since I saw your OP first, I prefer your OP with regards to comp. IMHO, your RP is too tight.