Photographing Bear’s in Alaska (Page 3): You definitely have that right…but the most expensive diesel we bought was in upper Yukon…about 8 bucks a gallon IIRC.

neillaubenthal

capmike wrote:

FYI, Nothing is cheap in Alaska. You need to have a complete mind reset.

You definitely have that right…but the most expensive diesel we bought was in upper Yukon…about 8 bucks a gallon IIRC.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Carl rl wrote:

My wife & I are wanting to take a trip to photograph Bear’s in Alaska. Any recommendations or experience? Best locations, tours, time of year, etc.

Best bear watching - book a Bear Watching cruise on a small boat out of Kodiak. My wife and I did this a few years ago. We ate and slept on the boat and went out in the skiff for bear watching. Our best viewing was at Afognak Island. The bears there hunting, so they did not see us as threats. Our guides were long-time licensed Alaska guides and were very good at reading the bears' signals so we were able to get up close without making them nervous. The guide I went with and I counted 77 different bears that we had photographed, some from very close distances. One, an old blond sow even nursed her cubs while we were only 10 yards away.

Stan Wieg Loc: Fair Oaks, CA

Katmai is a classic location IF the salmon are running. Brooks Falls there is where the iconic picture of the salmon leaping into the bears mouth was taken.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Best bear watching - book a Bear Watching cruise on a small boat out of Kodiak. My wife and I did this a few years ago. We ate and slept on the boat and went out in the skiff for bear watching. Our best viewing was at Afognak Island. The bears there hunting, so they did not see us as threats. Our guides were long-time licensed Alaska guides and were very good at reading the bears' signals so we were able to get up close without making them nervous. The guide I went with and I counted 77 different bears that we had photographed, some from very close distances. One, an old blond sow even nursed her cubs while we were only 10 yards away. These bears were of the Kodiak subspecies of the brown bears - the largest land predator in the world. They are only found on 5 islands of the Kodiak Archipelago.

The Grizzlies are a smaller subspecies of the Brown Bear. The Browns of Katmai are a subspecies that is larger than the Grizzly but smaller than the Kodiak.

Carl S

I suspect you flew into Lake Clark around the Silver Salmon Creek area, where we usually stay, and landed on the beach. We have counted as many as ten aircraft on the beach at one time. Oddly, the bears don't seem to mind the airplane traffic, and usually continue to do whatever they were doing. There has been a spotting of an occasional black bear in that area, along with a resident fox, and lots of moose tracks, just few moose on the fields. If conditions are right, you can get bears clamming for razor clams on the mud flats since some tides in that area can exceed twenty-four feet between high and low tide. Most of the airplane tourists miss that opportunity to get the bears clamming in that early morning or evening light, but it does make for some spectacular photography.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

Bill_de wrote:

I spent a week at Hallo Bay Bear Camp a number of years ago. We flew in and landed on the beach. We were 2 groups of 4 or 5, and lived 2 to a tent. This is not for casual tourists. At the time I was shooting with a Nikon D1x w/500mm F/4.0 AFS.

I did not take the last picture. But I'm in it.
Great shots Bill especially like #1. Encountered black bears many times
while camping and that’s enough excitement for me.
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JFCoupe Loc: Kent, Washington

A google search will yield a number of potential guides, and specifically focused on photography. A few that come to mind right off are Back Country Journeys, Muench Workshops, Art Wofe and Aaron Baggenstoes and Natural Habitat Adventures.
I suspect you will find most of these fully booked for 2021 and probably wait lists for 2022. I have done Alaska Polar Bears with BCJ and British Columbia Brown Bears with Muench. Both did a good job, and are not cheap, but when you go for the first time, they take care of all the details for you.

Best of luck getting lodging scheduled for 2021. It is tough will all the carry over from 2020.

sailfree

Carl rl wrote:

My wife & I are wanting to take a trip to photograph Bear’s in Alaska. Any recommendations or experience? Best locations, tours, time of year, etc.

I went to family owned Quartz Creek Lodge on Kodiak Island. It's a short float plane trip from Kodiak on Uganik Bay. Bears, birds, sea life, etc.

http://www.quartzcreeklodge.com/quartz-creeklodge.htm

Bill_de Loc: US

jno wrote:

Charles Glatzer at Shootthelight.com is the best guide/instructor for bear photography.

If you go to my post on the first page and look at the last picture, the one I didn't take, you will see Chas assisting a workshop member.

I didn't know him at the time, but he was sitting next to me at a camera club competition when my squirrel won 1st place in B&W prints. We struck up a conversation and a friendship. In addition to shooting with him quite a few times locally before we both moved from Long Island, I took a few of his workshops including the one at Hallo Bay.

I agree he is top notch as a photographer and workshop leader. Probably why Canon selected him as an Explorer of Light.

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nervous2 Loc: Provo, Utah

pshane wrote:

Park rangers are advising hikers and campers in na... (show quote)

Had to save a copy of these instructions for future forays into the woods. Have my bells at the ready.

Perhaps the best piece of advice is to always hike with a friend whom you can outrun.

Bill_de Loc: US

Carl S wrote:

Oddly, the bears don't seem to mind the airplane traffic,

... even when they crash.

The day before I took this some salmon fisherman were having a very bad day.

Late in the day fishing really picked up and they more than filled their coolers.

They lost track of time and tide and had to attempt a takeoff 'with the wind'...

... in addition to all the extra weight. It was a very bad day.

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Jdh1951 Loc: Los Angeles

Great Alaskan Adventures' Bear Camp, on Cook Inlet. You can spend a night or more in tents at Bear Camp, which you reach from Kenai Peninsular via a plane that lands on the beach. We were there last week in June, as the Alaskan Grizzly sows and their cubs were emerging from winter "hibernation" and there were about 120 of them, all around. We were able to approach with 20-25 feet and some more foolhardy day tourists got even closer (see attached photos). Fortunately, the bears were mainly interested in clam digging and, just in case, our guide was armed with a .457 magnum revolver.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Jdh1951 wrote:

Great Alaskan Adventures' Bear Camp, on Cook Inlet... (show quote)

That's a new handgun caliber I've apparently overlooked. The Bears are Big, Fast, Wild animals of uncertain disposition. The Guide would have had to demonstrate expertise with a heavy rifle before I'd get within 75 yards unarmed. I like Bears, and have no interest in harming one. But at the end of it all the rule is "Get Home Alive".

Josephschmaeling

Brooks Falls - Catch a floatplane from Homer. Expensive but worth it.

oregon don

If your wife still has menstration DON'T TAKE HER!

IF SHE STILL GOES KEEP ALL OF HER PERFUME LOCKED IN THE CAR OR WHAT EVER YOU ARE USING FOR TRANSPORT.

be sure to take the bear bells anything that makes noise so you don't spook the bears

keep all of your smocked food well locked up, bears love ham.

been years since I was in bear country so some more rules could very well be available