Brown Bear portrait up close

[Robert O'Toole]

This young bear stopped at the top of a stream bank and paused while he looked us over. This image is from a workshop series I led to Katmai this summer and was only cropped from the left and shows how comfortable the bears were with our workshop group. This is tighter than I would normally photograph but did not have time to grab a shorter zoom so I had to do my best to avoid clipping the nose and mouth.
The opportunities in spring 2009 should be excellent and I cannot wait to get back to Katmai with the 3 groups I will be leading next year.

NIKON D300 and Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR at 1/500 sec @F4, Manual Exposure mode, ISO: 400

Image Copyright 2008: Robert OToole Photography

[Milo Burcham]

Great detail, Robert, and these eyes really make the image

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Lovely details. No problems with the tight crop.
Might only wish for slightly more DOF.

[Robert Amoruso]

Nice work on this portrait Robert. More DOF would have been nice.

[Ramon M. Casares]

This shot is just outstanding, the look on this bear's face is so nice, he/she looks gentle and kind, the light couldn't be better, detail at 100% and colorus are great, Ia like the tight framing, very much. Congratulairons!!!