Kamtchatka Brown Bear in Rain

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks this time a Bear in heavy rain ....
Gear from my companions drowned and stopped working ...i was standing the elements and stayed until the leader stopped me from shooting , because the group was sick of the weather .
I complained .....but had to follow the group .
No Chance of changing the lens ... in that heavy weather . We all got soaking wet ...down to the underpants .

Image was an experiment with slow shutter ....

Canon EOS 1Dx
EF 500 IS L II
Tripod

F 5 ; ISO 200 ; 1/30 sec ; Man exp ; Auto Iso .

Processed with DPP and PSCC 2019 ; Full frame

Thanks for watching and commenting to my previous posting .

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - Curious why you went for the slow ss with so little water in the fg to blur and the rain drops don't seem to be falling/blurred. Just interested in your thinking. Looks like a huge bear and the tightness of the frame and pov work well. I do want more dof for those claws to be sharp.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

With the weather conditions you had no fear on the kit Andreas, its solid and can handle anything, but lesser bodies and the new EOS R would have just stopped as per your group. Why didn't you use/pack a waterproof camera/lens cover?

Not loving the very tight crop (could you not have pulled back?) and I'm at a loss about choice of techs (why?), were you trying to capture the rain to add atmosphere??? Would have liked the claws in focus as they are are key element of the species. Personally I feel the rock FG with the water needs toning down to reduce the HL's.

We all got soaking wet ...down to the underpants

You need to buy proper wet weather gear, if you go to these places you have to be prepared for all weather, irrespective of predicted warmer temps. Grey socks were dry?

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Looks like he has an inflamed left eye - bet its sore. The rain drops do appear blurred to me (?) see the green area. The details in the face look good, wow those whiskers on his chin look superb!
You say full frame but it looks narrow - was there something you needed to exclude? I like the image but I do wish it was a slightly looser composition.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Rachel , Steve and Jon ....for your comments , much appreciated .

Steve - just for info . I had proper rain cover for the kit , still got wet as you grab with wet hands into the tunnel of the cover do work with the kit. After 4 hours in pouring rain all became wet ..... For myself ...i have good clothes but again water was running into my neck, due to the hoodie that disturbed me while taking pictures . I removed the hoodie . So i got wet .....
Tight crop does not bother me ...I was just sitting in one place and waited what the bears offered me ....did not want to change my place due to the slippery environment . So from time to time bears came in too close ....and i was not able to change kit . Hope you get the point.
Regarding the techs ...i thought it would be clear what i wanted to achieve with the slow SS ....just rain streaks !!! Quite easy i think .
I think with hindsight i should have chosen ....gone for more DOF for the rain streaks , not mainly for the claws .

Rachel & John .... sadly the rain streaks did not come out as i wished , was the main target , that is why have chosen the techs .

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

I think with hindsight i should have chosen ....gone for more DOF for the rain streaks , not mainly for the claws .

If you go for more DoF Andreas then the streaks will just get lost within the BKG. 1/30 I feel was too slow, personally 1/60 I think is about the slowest from past experience, but that's just my choice, however all you need to do is fire off a few frames at different settings, ONLY then I feel can you make the right decision to fit the desired effect you wish to convey.

[Andreas Liedmann]

You might be right Steve .... not enough time and options to play around . And sometimes simply forgotten to change the settings ....then the subject moved away .

[Jay Shah]

While the image can be improved as pointed out by others, I do like it as it stands though. I admire your dedication as I would be the first one to take cover..

BTW, Kamtchatka is on my bucket list. I notice several people have been there. Will appreciate if you can share some information about tour operators you are happy with and any other resources. It will be a very far trip from home so better to plan well.