My Berrypatch

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 12, 2011141 views5 comments

We were returning from a day trip into Kananaskis Country, Alberta, when we observed this grizzly bear feeding on buffaloberries or soapberries (Shepherdia canadensis). At this locale, they were mostly the yellow berries (as seen in the photo), though there were some shrubs with red berries. Kananaskis country is tract of land in the foothills the Alberta Rockies; wildlife is free to come and go as they please.

This was my first outing with the Sigma 150-500. My lucky day. For those who wonder, the photo was taken from inside a stopped vehicle.

Canon 7D, Sigma 150-500 at 340 mm, minor crop for composition, 14.9 m

ISO was 3200 (way too high) and I have lowered it since and set it now to 400 based on feedback from NPN. In the excitement of the moment, I did not select a focal length longer than the 340 mm mentioned. The bear seemed to take the encounter more in stride and continued to feed on the berries while glancing at the photographer every now and then. It's great that my presence did not unduly disturb the bear. I also appreciate the fact that the bear was so kind as to position itself so that I could get a few clear shots through an opening in the shrub ;-)

Comments and critique are welcome, as always.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on March 12, 2011 at 6:02 PM

It's great that the head is in the clearing of the bushes. Being in the bushes and having all of the berries in the picture is a big plus. I'm glad that you were in a car, because it clearly is looking at you.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on March 12, 2011 at 7:02 PM

An exciting encounter for sure Roger. I like the view through the bush and of the head through the opening in the bush, and the berries. The unfortunate thing is, it appears your camera was focused on the leaves above the bear's head as some of those leaves appear to be tack sharp while the bear's head appears soft. Something that happens to me sometimes also in these types of situations. Probably the best way to avoid this from happening again in this type of situation would be to use manual focus and or a smaller aperture setting (Larger f-stop Number) for more DOF. You didn't state your aperture setting but it must have been about wide open as the DOF appears to have been quite narrow. This is no doubt one of those shots you wish you could have over again as I so well know the feeling.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on March 12, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Thanks for the feedback, Mark and Gary. The lens was indeed wide open, which is f/6.3 at this focal length. I think I was perhaps overly concerned about camera shake and had therefore set the high ISO and the wide aperture to get a very short exposure. Not so wise a decision in hindsight. I'll try the manual focus approach, especially for static subjects. Thanks again.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on March 13, 2011 at 3:24 AM

Roger, welcome to NPN

!
Lovely natural framing you managed to make use of here, well done. You already had some very valuable commenst, which I shall not repeat. As you can see including your aperture and shutterspeed used with your image post will help others provide you with more constructive feedback.
I am looking forward to more of your images as well as comments in the Wildlife gallery.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 13, 2011 at 1:08 PM

Nice capture. The bushes frame the bears face nicely but it is definitely OOF as has already been mentioned.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments