Black Bear Family

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 3, 2011167 views10 comments

This is a picture of a black bear family we saw a couple times this summer in Waterton Lakes National Park. The cubs were SOOO cute! I got some pictures of them up in a tree, too. They wandered down to the river and we were about to leave when they suddenly appeared again and for one second they stopped to check things out and I got this picture.

My dad cloned out a branch in front of one of the cub's faces for me, and a really distracting log in the background.

This is cropped to about 85% of original. Don't worry, I was in the truck when I took this!

Thank you for any comments you want to share.

Nikon D70s
Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6
ISO 400
1/400sec @ f/5.6

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on September 3, 2011 at 12:23 PM

Hi, Marise - great to see you posting !(I've been away and missed your first posts last week). I've been waiting for you to show up!
This is a wonderful shot - you've got the faces of all bears and their eyes too - next to impossible, I've found, since they usually have their heads down.
You have good detail in the blacks. It's very hard to expose blacks well. The bright areas behind the bears are a little distracting, and could be dampened a bit with whatever software you use.
Mom's face is unusual to me - I have never seen a "haircut" like this on a BB with so much skin around the eyes and sides bare. I bet you could make mom's eyes stand out a bit more with some more levels and saturation tweaking.
Really nice shot!!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on September 3, 2011 at 7:35 PM

I really like the alignment of the cubs and the mom, especially the one peeking from under mom. Nice placement of the family in the frame and good catchlights in most of their eyes. I bet you enjoyed this encounter.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on September 4, 2011 at 8:40 AM

Hi Marlise,

Yep, definitely cute cubs! I agree with most of Sandy's comments so won't repeat them. While the cubs are attention-grabblers, what really caught my eye on this shot was the unique face on mom - seems like she's been shaving her face. So unusual!

Thanks for sharing this one - fun to look at!

Cheers....

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Roman Kurywczak on September 4, 2011 at 2:02 PM

Hey Marlise,
tough exposure you had and handled well. As mentioned.....you have some excellent looks and clear shots of the face which isn't easy! I think a bit more toning down of the BG will take this up yet another notch but still very well done!

Registered on November 20, 2009, 56 Posts, 748 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on September 4, 2011 at 4:11 PM

Nice to see another Launstein posting here, Marlise

Lovely subjects and setting as mentioned. I think the suggestion to tone down the background, coupled with some slight work on getting a bit more from the black bears ito detail, will lift this image a notch!

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 4, 2011 at 5:07 PM

I love the way the little one between Mom's front legs is peering out at you and your lens!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on September 4, 2011 at 9:30 PM

Did I hear you say you are 11? The wildlife photographers of future better watch out for the Launstein sisters. You two are amazingly talented (it must also help that you guys have a great coach and teacher).

I would be proud to have this photo in my files. All three bears are sharp, expososed well and have great curious looks on their faces. The background is a little bright, but I'm sure it can be toned down a bit. The sow's face is very unique, which makes this photo even more attractive to me. Makes me wonder what she put her face into? Why is she this way? Perhaps only she knows.
Sweet Photo Marlise

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on September 4, 2011 at 9:53 PM

Way to go getting the cubs with mom, so sweet. The little one looking directly at the camera is priceless. I like the tight crop you put together. I wonder if mom may be suffering from mange? I don't know enough about bears to be sure and you would need a skin scraping and a microscope....not going to happen.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Marlise Launstein on September 5, 2011 at 12:22 AM

Thank you for your comments! And yes I'm 11.

Registered on August 31, 2011, 28 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on September 16, 2011 at 6:16 AM

Great eye-contact on all three Marlise, and again a lovely composition. Keep 'em coming :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments