OK Jon, this is the very first Polar bear we saw/found on the first day, talk about luck.
He had been resting on a small rocky island, we parked up about 800m away so he got used to our presence, sound and smells, but every now and then he would pop his head up, look around, sniff the air and then go back to sleep. Then after around 3 hours he stirred, got up, had a few stretches, yawns and then abled down to the edge of the island and eased himself into the water, all done with a nice glacier as the backdrop.
Zodiacs deployed, we shadowed him for over and hour, by which time I reckon he swam about 3kms, but we always kept a healthy distance, not crowding or strayed into his comfort zone. He then emerged from the water and proceed to walk along the undulating shore line and placed himself on a point overlooking the bay, us and was also above us too.
500mm with the 1.4 for close up, 100-400 for wider aspects, all shot from a moving zodiac, the zodiac could never be still, just in case...
A little tight at the foot yes, but here, I was thinking more about the texture and trying to emphasise the sheer size of this beast and tried to avoid popping the 1.4 on & off. The BKG is the snow cap mountains. Could the two stones go, yes, but I left them in.
Thanks to those who viewed or commented on the previous posting.
Steve
Subject: Polar bear lying down
Location: Svalbard
Camera: Canon 1DX MKII
Lens: 500 f/4 MKII with 1.4 MKIII
Exposure: 1/2000s at f/8 ISO1600
Original format: Landscape, slight crop from the top FF width
Processed via: LRCC Classic & PSCC2019
The 'Brute'
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