A refreshing dip

[Steve Kaluski]

Again, taken from the ship, but to try and get the angle, this time I was lying flat on deck with the lens resting on a jacket to absorb some of the ships vibrations, as the engine was still running. This guy had just surfaced after a swim to come over and investigate us. You can see the beads of water cascading of his thick coat. By now I was getting used to the roll of the ship and still able to track the bear too.

Steve

Subject: Polar bear surfacing after a swim, walking on pack ice (Ursus maritimus)
Location: Svalbard
Camera: Canon MKIII
Lens: 500f/4 - handheld
Exposure: 1/1000s at f/6.3 ISO400 +0.67 stop compensation
Crop: Almost FF (original capture horizontal)

[Lorant Voros]

Steve,
Nice wet look and you did amazingly well with getting low. Nice head turn you got from the bear. It doesn't feel that cold there by looking at the photo :-)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Lorant, it was around, or just above 0 degrees, so not that cold.

[Brendon Cremer]

Lovely image Steve, well exposed, like the wet look and the water dripping off his belly, maybe a little too much space top and bottom but otherwise a great image

[Dumay de Boulle]

Love your Polar Bear images. The dripping water is great...I really like you sharpening technique.

[Rachel Hollander]

Steve - You're whetting my appetitie for this trip. Nice detail, comp and exp. The dripping water really adds to it.

TFS,
Rachel

[stuart wanuck]

great image

[Andrew Merwin]

I like everything about this image: raised LF leg, LR heel raise, water streaming off the bear's fur, HA, open mouth, techs. Great shot Steve.

[Hilary Hann]

Beautiful polar bear image, love the lower angle you've managed and the slight look towards you from the bear. Great detail, pose and composition makes for an interesting image to view.

Wish there was some way to get a sense of the huge size of these bears!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely image Steve!

Hope to see this species some day in the wild.

Did you shoot most of the time from the ship or did you get into the boats?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks guys.

I really like you sharpening technique.

Dumay I think you and Stu have that down to a fine art now, based based on your images

Rachel have posted in landscapes for you too, 'Just do it!'

Hilary for a moment I thought you were going to suggest putting a grey card down to get the right exposure, LOL. Sadly get too close and you won't see your results, however there might be something I can add to give scale. Need to go back to the files.

Sabyasachi, purely from a safety POV yes and it gave us flexibility too. Where as when we were on the pack ice the guide always carried a rifle as polar bears are too unpredictable, although there were times we shot from a zodiac. As I have mentioned before, all camera straps, well those who used them, were removed until be got back just in case you got too close and the PB made a swipe, pulling both camera and you out.

cheers
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

Hilary not sure if this helps for scale, front & rear paws?

'That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for a polar bear'

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Steve, I was thinking that one of your group could have been standing next to the polar bear!

[Tommy Rodgers]

With the open mouth, exposed claws and hugh stride, you really get a sense of their power in this image. Getting down low was worth the discomfort. Great angle. When and if I get a chance to photography this great animal, I am not going to worry about camera straps and such. I do not intend to be that close. In fact, I am an old navy man, and the ship sounds like a great photographic platform.

[Steve Canuel]

Another excellent shot Steve. Detail is top notch as usual but the color of the bluish gray water really stands out to me on this one. It just looks so perfectly natural to me. The scraggly line it provides behind the bear adds a nice line to the image too.

[Robert Amoruso]

Getting to a lower angle really helped this one Steve.

[Arthur Morris]

Ditto all the pluses above but I would say that the bear is a bit beyond "surfacing."

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely image again Steve...I really enjoy Polar Bear shots and this one is no exception. The wet coat, dripping water and golden light on it really helps, well done on getting a low angle from the boat too!

[DanWalters]

Very cool! Like the surrounding ice and the raised paw. Also like the water coming off the bear as well.