Bear With Me Please: I don't normally post my photos here, but I have been learning from the forum for a few years. My money shots are usually in my studio shooting commercial product...

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

I don't normally post my photos here, but I have been learning from the forum for a few years. My money shots are usually in my studio shooting commercial product photography. I just returned from about a week visiting my home turf in Montana. Fly fishing is my favorite reason to go back home these days since there aren't many relatives or friends left to visit. This trip resulted in a very disappointing fly fishing experience. Water was running pretty low this late in the year and my go to stream was suffering from an earlier blowout of an old mine that polluted the water causing warnings about not eating the fish for awhile. The bottom line is fishing was not good. I decided to wander a little farther afield in the hopes of finding some fishing excitement. During one of those excursions I found myself on a small gravel road near a creek that had some promise for trout. My son was driving and he suddenly came to a stop and asked if "that was a bear". I looked and confirmed that he had spotted a bear in tall grass at about 30 yards adjacent to the road. I rolled down my window and began shooting with my Canon 28-300 L lens. I took a few shots and then mounted my Tamron 150-600mm lens on the 5DMK4 and continued shooting. I was surprised that the bear didn't beat a path away from us, but she rather just held her ground and gave us a serious look. My son then spotted the reason for her focus on us. She had two cubs high in a large tree about 10 yards away from her. The position of the cubs and momma was lateral to us and the gravel road. I told my son to keep an eye on momma while I shot a few frames of the cubs and then her. I also suggested that we keep the motor running because momma was quite capable of covering the 30 yards between her and us rather quickly if she objected to our being there. Shooting hand-held in RAW, I was able to get a number of shots before she summoned the kids to come down and she hustled them off into the woods. I'm quite aware of some failings in my technique, however, I thought I would share what I thought was a rare opportunity to capture a mother bear and cubs in a wild setting from a short distance. Suggestions for what I could have done to improve the results are welcome, but I am pleased with the results of the experience. I admit to a bit of what we used to call buck fever and, in hindsight, I would have done some things differently. I hope you find these enjoyable.

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fbeaston Loc: Vermont

Nice images ... & quite an experience. Thanks for sharing them. Sorry about the fishing though it looks like you "recovered" nicely.

flyguy Loc: Las Cruces, New Mexico

Very nice!

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Excellent set (pictures and narration)!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Very nice and good narrative.
--Bob

dkguill wrote:

I don't normally post my photos here, but I have been learning from the forum for a few years. My money shots are usually in my studio shooting commercial product photography. I just returned from about a week visiting my home turf in Montana. Fly fishing is my favorite reason to go back home these days since there aren't many relatives or friends left to visit. This trip resulted in a very disappointing fly fishing experience. Water was running pretty low this late in the year and my go to stream was suffering from an earlier blowout of an old mine that polluted the water causing warnings about not eating the fish for awhile. The bottom line is fishing was not good. I decided to wander a little farther afield in the hopes of finding some fishing excitement. During one of those excursions I found myself on a small gravel road near a creek that had some promise for trout. My son was driving and he suddenly came to a stop and asked if "that was a bear". I looked and confirmed that he had spotted a bear in tall grass at about 30 yards adjacent to the road. I rolled down my window and began shooting with my Canon 28-300 L lens. I took a few shots and then mounted my Tamron 150-600mm lens on the 5DMK4 and continued shooting. I was surprised that the bear didn't beat a path away from us, but she rather just held her ground and gave us a serious look. My son then spotted the reason for her focus on us. She had two cubs high in a large tree about 10 yards away from her. The position of the cubs and momma was lateral to us and the gravel road. I told my son to keep an eye on momma while I shot a few frames of the cubs and then her. I also suggested that we keep the motor running because momma was quite capable of covering the 30 yards between her and us rather quickly if she objected to our being there. Shooting hand-held in RAW, I was able to get a number of shots before she summoned the kids to come down and she hustled them off into the woods. I'm quite aware of some failings in my technique, however, I thought I would share what I thought was a rare opportunity to capture a mother bear and cubs in a wild setting from a short distance. Suggestions for what I could have done to improve the results are welcome, but I am pleased with the results of the experience. I admit to a bit of what we used to call buck fever and, in hindsight, I would have done some things differently. I hope you find these enjoyable.

I don't normally post my photos here, but I have b... (show quote)

dd lee Loc: Michigan

Awesome set, glad you took advantage of a great opportunity! Almost makes up for the poor fishing, thanks for sharing!

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

You did well, I think keeping a proper distance is really important. Moms can get a bit defensive when distance gets too close.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

dkguill wrote:

I don't normally post my photos here, but I have been learning from the forum for a few years. My money shots are usually in my studio shooting commercial product photography. I just returned from about a week visiting my home turf in Montana. Fly fishing is my favorite reason to go back home these days since there aren't many relatives or friends left to visit. This trip resulted in a very disappointing fly fishing experience. Water was running pretty low this late in the year and my go to stream was suffering from an earlier blowout of an old mine that polluted the water causing warnings about not eating the fish for awhile. The bottom line is fishing was not good. I decided to wander a little farther afield in the hopes of finding some fishing excitement. During one of those excursions I found myself on a small gravel road near a creek that had some promise for trout. My son was driving and he suddenly came to a stop and asked if "that was a bear". I looked and confirmed that he had spotted a bear in tall grass at about 30 yards adjacent to the road. I rolled down my window and began shooting with my Canon 28-300 L lens. I took a few shots and then mounted my Tamron 150-600mm lens on the 5DMK4 and continued shooting. I was surprised that the bear didn't beat a path away from us, but she rather just held her ground and gave us a serious look. My son then spotted the reason for her focus on us. She had two cubs high in a large tree about 10 yards away from her. The position of the cubs and momma was lateral to us and the gravel road. I told my son to keep an eye on momma while I shot a few frames of the cubs and then her. I also suggested that we keep the motor running because momma was quite capable of covering the 30 yards between her and us rather quickly if she objected to our being there. Shooting hand-held in RAW, I was able to get a number of shots before she summoned the kids to come down and she hustled them off into the woods. I'm quite aware of some failings in my technique, however, I thought I would share what I thought was a rare opportunity to capture a mother bear and cubs in a wild setting from a short distance. Suggestions for what I could have done to improve the results are welcome, but I am pleased with the results of the experience. I admit to a bit of what we used to call buck fever and, in hindsight, I would have done some things differently. I hope you find these enjoyable.

I don't normally post my photos here, but I have b... (show quote)

Nice story and Bear sequence there. I know a wildlife photographer and she usually uses a rented 800mm Canon prime. She often photographs Polar Bears. Yes, that was a good idea to keep the engine running and I would suggest the car doors open as well.

A few years ago I did some teacher training with a high school Biology teacher who was originally from Montana somewhere. He ended up in California after military service some 30+ years earlier. During summer vacations from teaching he would work a couple months back in Montana as a Fly Fishing Guide for wealthy but no so talented wanna be fishermen. He charged a bundle and made in two months more than his Ca Teacher's salary. Or so he claimed. He return at the end of the next school year. And immediately moved back to Montana. Sadly I heard via my wife because she works in accounting for the same school district that Mr. Siemens died only after a couple years of retirement.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I love theses images! Any improvement woud just be a matter of a bit of post-processing for detail.

I'm glad momma bear did not eat your client's favorite product shooter- you woud be missed!

Up here in Ottawa, Canada, one of our local professional photograhers, Michelle Valberg, garnered quite the reputation as a wildlife shooter and is now the photograher in residense at the Canadian Geographic Magazine. Recently, her portraits of bears were selected by the Canada Post Corporation for a commemorative wildlife issue of Canadian Postage stamps. Goole Michelle- I'm sure you will enjoy her images.

I edited one of your images and with tor permission, I will post it!

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

I love theses images! Any improvement woud just b... (show quote)

Absolutely do post your edit. After going through a number of my bear shots, I found that there were some that were soft because I couldn't get comfortable turning sidewise and hand-holding in a Mustang bucket seat. The cinnamon cub is just plain soft because I was moving and I only got a couple of shots, all of which turned out soft..."buck fever". I may post a couple more of momma bear later. She became more relaxed for a short while and there are some shots of her scratching and with tongue expressions. I look forward to your edit and suggestions.

Also,

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Mamma

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

Mamma

OK...got it now. Thanks!

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

dkguill wrote:

OK...got it now. Thanks!

Great edit...do you mind telling me what techniques you used?

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

To all who commented...my sincere thanks for your kind comments and interest in the images. I may post a few more at a later time.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

dkguill wrote:

Great edit...do you mind telling me what techniques you used?

I am working out of my city. So...I did a quick and dirty edit on my phone with a little app called Snapseed. I cropped, dodged the coat of the bear to bring up detail, warmed up the color in white balance, and applied 30% sharpening. I vignetteed the background and increased the saturation slightly. 5 minutes work.

You can do this in Lightroom or PhotoShop.