Grizzly bear walking in a salmon River, Katmai National Park, Alaska. — A young brown bear (Ursus arctos) walks through a stream hunting for spawning Sockeye Salmon. Grizzly bear, or coastal brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Hey folks

Won’t be long until the bears are running around the woods again!!!

I’ll be in the woods for the coming week, but I thought I’d post a brown bear photo, and schedule a couple of other blog posts for while I’m gone.

Catching this young blonde colored brown bear in some nice light was quite a treat. That’s the benefit of spending time in the field. Most wildlife photography, it seems, is done in places where the subject is pretty much a given; places like Homer for bald eagles, Yellowstone for elk, Churchill for polar bears, and Katmai National Park and Preserve for grizzly bears, or brown bears.

So what makes the difference?

Light.

The bears are there and perfectly photographable (unless you happen to go during the month of, say March). So really, the only thing to worry about is the light. And that comes with time. Even the gnarliest of storms dissipate. So sit out the rain and the wind and the sleet. Bring a good book to read (or 3), some warm clothes, and plenty of patience. Because regardless how hard you try in the flat grey light of a Katmai Storm, bears look better with some light shining on them – particularly if the bear is in or around water.

A 2 week trip is better than a 1 week trip, and a 3 week trip is better than a 2 week trip. The more time you give yourself in the field, the more chances you give yourself of being there at that moment, when cool things happen.

It’s hard for anyone to really score great bear photos on their first trip to a place like this. Any photo is better than no photo, so it’s tempting to shoot, shoot and shoot some more. But I think it’s better to sit and wait, save some creative juices for when things really happen. And then schedule a trip back again later. It doesn’t matter how many times you might have been to a place like Katmai; the bears are there, so that’s where the photos are. Go back, and go back again. And sooner or later, a nice young blond bear might walk into some sunshine.

Oh, and just to plug it one more time, I’ll be leading a brown bear photo tour this fall that you shouldn’t miss! Come on along.

Same Bear, Different Light

A young brown bear, blondish in color, stands in Brooks River as it stalks a salmon, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Here’s the same bear above that was chasing the salmon. If it looks noticeably different in this picture (and it should), you can thank Nikon .. and stay tuned to a forthcoming post about that. As I said in that post, this bear was simply beautiful .. amazingly beautiful. What a treat life is to grant us the opportunities to see such creatures. I’ve only been back from my trip 2 weeks, and I already can’t wait to get back to the bears next year; I wish I hadn’t left. If you’re interested in a trip next fall to photograph these bears, drop me a note, and keep an eye on my guiding website, Expeditions Alaska for more information. It’ll definitely be a great trip.

Brown bear, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Grizzly bears. Art, and Life

” What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is only related to objects, and not to individuals, or to life. That art is something which is specialized or which is done by experts who artists. But couldn’t everyone’s life become a work of art? Why should the lamp or the house be an art object, but not your life?” – Michael Foucault

What a great sentiment! Foucault wrote some great stuff.

An examination of what ‘art’ is could well be an artful endeavor itself. What are your thoughts? Is life art?

Brown Bear and a Big Landscape

I had hoped to try some different kinds of images this trip, and really worked to catch some of those big landscape shots. Here’s another brown bear in the landscape photo.

Brown bear silhouette, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. — Brown bear, Ursus arctos, standing on a sand spit, at the shore of Naknek Lake. Mount La Gorce rises in the background, catching the last of the sun’s rays. The bear is silhouetted against the massive Alaska landscape. Grizzly bear, or brown bear, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

Grizzly bear and nice Fall Color

Grizzly bear adult, fall, Katmai National Park, Alaska. — A grizzly bear (brown bear, Ursus arctos), stands on the edge of a salmon stream in Katmai National Park and Preserve. Grizzly bears can range in color from dark brown and black, as this one is, to a blond, almost white color. Fall foliage, Grizzly bear, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

Here’s a photo from the first morning out on my recent trip to Katmai. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I was able to get out and shoot before returning to camp to meet the folks coming out for the first week’s photo tour. I’d also walked and photographed the river the previous evening, and it gave me a great opportunity to scout around a bit and get a head’s up on things like the river level (which fluctuates greatly year to year, even week to week), which bears were hanging where, where the best fall colors were, etc, etc.

The bear population this year was even higher than last year, with over 70 bears in the area. I recognized many from previous trips I’ve made here, but this beautiful dark bear was one I hadn’t seen before.

Even in a place like Katmai National Park and Preserve, with one of the highest grizzly bear (or brown bear) population densities in the world, the more familiar the photographer is with both the location and the subject/s, the more productive his/her time there will be. Shooting a place over and over allows me to know better where to be when, which bears are more active, more shy or aggressive, etc, and return home afterward with higher quality photos than I otherwise might.

I think each year my photographic trips to Katmai have produced stronger portfolios than previous trips, which is a good feeling. Hopefully this also helps me encourage and assist the folks on the photo tour to produce better and better images themselves. I’ve seen a few of the images some of the folks made, and some of them were definitely impressive. I’ll try to post a page in the near future with some photos made by the various people who came out this year.

I also hope this pattern of ‘better photos’ continues for a long time to come.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to mum – love ya!

The Great Bear – Grizzly Bears

Grizzly bear sow photo, Katmai National Park, Alaska. — A large adult grizzly bear sow (female) walks along the edge of Naknek Lake, fall coors behind her, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

A grizzly bear photo from this trip to Katmai National Park and Preserve last fall. This grizzly old sow is one of the larger females I’ve seen …. most folks think she’s a boar. It’s a real treat to be able to return to a place like Katmai and see the same individual animals I’ve seen and photographed before. I’m hoping this big bear has some young cubs when I return there in September this year.

‘The Great Bear’ is just one of the names commonly given to the grizzly bear by Native Americans. A closeup look at this sow suggests why. She’s awesome.

Fattest of the Fat Bears

Brown bear, or grizzly bear, Katmai National Park, Alaska.

It’s been a good time in the backcountry, and very little time at the computer – which is just how I like it. I’m still traveling, in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, at the moment, riding ’round with my parents for a few weeks, before I return to Alaska.

I won’t go thru all the details of my travels for this last few months, other than to say it’s been awesome. The weather has been very nice this summer, for the most part, and the hiking second to none.

This photo above is of a bear we call “Evander”, because he lost an ear in a fight a few years back. He’s one of the largest bears I’ve seen, and here he is in his prime, fat and ready for the winter. I’ve been fortunate to photograph him a number of times now, and every time I’ve run across him it’s been an awesome experience for me. Thanks Evander, for being such a cool bear!

I’ll try to write some more along the way here, and add some updates of my trips during the summer, and a few notes about what I’m up to.

Skolai Images

Nature, Travel, and Adventure Photography by Carl Donohue

Brown Bear Photos, Katmai National Park, Alaska