Dsrapa Loc: Outside of nyc

Anyone have experience photographing polar bears in Churchill Manitoba in Oct? We’re going this year. Any advice? Lens length? Lighting issues? Thanks

Bull Schmidt

stay as far away as possible

Dave Sr Loc: Nazareth, Pennsylvania

I used the Olympus 12-40 and 40-150mm (effectively 24-300mm) about equally. Also had a Nikon 70-300mm on a D800. Those were fine for just about all that we saw.

Hip Coyote

This is going to be an interesting post to follow. Lots of variables.

Spitballing in that I’ve not done this trip. But been on other wildlife and cold weather trips I have an rough idea of some possibilities.

I’d be prepared for significant battery drain due to cold. Suggest looking up how to maintain power such as hand warmers, keeping batteries charged in-vehicle, jacket pockets.

As far as shooting I’d preplan the lenses for shooting environments such as from vehicle, a protective cage, etc. unlike grizzly bears you won’t be on some creek side to see the bears. Maybe consider two cameras? During safari I had two cameras to shoot from 24 to 800 FF equivalent. It worked well. If you just have some super zoom you might miss shots.

The shooting settings might be tough because of the whiteness of it all. Id consider setting up for bracketing a lot of shots and getting very used to dealing with the histogram to ETTR settings so there are no blown highlights.

RAW all the way to be able to save shots if badly exposed.

Are you there when northern lights are happening? I detest tripods but would get prepared for the lights should you have an opportunity to do it. I’d consider a photo guide. I’d bring a tripod if I were there during this phenomenon.

Is mess around with some high key shots as well. Might be cool. I did it with some zebra in the desert and it looks ok.

Circular polarizing filter a must. Lots of reflections in snow. And maybe even ND filters should it get crazy bright there.

Again, no direct experience but this is off top of head.

Lastly, to avoid being eaten, I suggest rubbing travel mate with seal blubber. That way the bear take him/her first and ignores you.

Enjoy and report back. Safe travels.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

We took a tour in 2013 to Churchill and stayed out on a Tundra lodge. I highly recommend staying out in the Tundra lodges rather than the hotels in town. It takes over an hour to get out to where there’s bear activity from town and only about 15 minutes from the lodges. More expensive but well worth the price to be able to look out the window at night from your bunk and seeing the bears hanging about. Plus there are two tours a day out on the tundra instead of only one from the town. Your feet never touch the ground when you’re out there and the tundra buggy’s are tall enough that the bears can’t get to you unless you’re hanging out the window.
As for lenses, I used an 18-200 and got lots of decent shots. If I’d had the 100-400 canon L then I would have found it to be even better.

From the window of the Tundra Lodge.

(Download)

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Burt Reynolds as a polar bear ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

In there world. An exquisite composition
🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

I was there in 2018.

It all depends on the bears, so the widest range of focal lengths you can comfortably take will give you the best opportunities.

Sometimes we had a bear right along side the tundra buggy and other times they were way off in the distance.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

pmorin that is a seriously fantastic photo!

Chicago312 Loc: Western suburb, Chicago

I’ve never been, but it’s on my list of places to visit (for the polar bears as well). I agree with Hip Coyote - it's basically a safari in cold weather. Your batteries will drain much more quickly in the cold, so plan accordingly. 2 cameras and lenses to cover everything - wide to super telephoto. Post some photos when you return. Have a great trip!

rcarol

Will you be on a tundra buggy during this trip? The tundra buggy is the safe way to observe these magnificent creatures.

BrianFF

Would help if you said which tour you are taking. If you are going to be doing the Tundra buggies you'll be getting up close. This might be sacrilege on this site but we got great shots from the buggy with a simple point and shoot with a 10x optical. If you are in the buggy it will be warm so you won't have to worry about the cold running down your batteries but, of course, always bring extra DOH. Expect some great videos of the bears jousting. Your coldest day will probably be on the dogsled run, stills and videos. And if you are out at CNSC (Churchill Northern Studies Centre, btw, the best bang for your buck) they have a bear-proof deck and if the weather cooperates you'll be able to get aurora shots - so bring a fast wide lens, manual exposure, tripod, and first focus on a distant star or planet (extremely important). Many tourists, for the auroras, bring a point and shoot that isn't adequate especially with the ISO and manual exposure parameters and they usually don't bring a tripod (I've left a number of them at CNSC over the years but probably all broken by now; we would go up in Feb/Mar for the auroras, much colder than you'll experience)(If you are at CNSC say Hi to Kim and Sharon for me). If you want more info get in touch. It's an incredible experience (CNSC usually gives a helicopter tour lasting about 20 minutes, not sure if that still happens in Covid times).

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Polar bears love humans. Be safe.

stuparr935 Loc: Dallas, Texas area

You’ll need as long a zoom as you got, but also need no more than 70 mm on the short end of your zoom for when zee bears come close or right up to your tundra buggy. Tripods and sand bags are useless as some one is always moving around in the buggy and rocking it. I know as I tried the sandbag stabilizing trick and gave up using it on the next bear shots…. Good hunting!

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

The Tundra Buggies are well heated with a back deck exposed to the weather. I took 2 cameras D7200 and D500 with a 18-300 and a 150-600 lens. When on the back deeck if a bear stands you'll be within 4-5 ft from their head. When shooting from the buggie a sand bag on the window works well.