Bushwackin'

I took this image in the Yukon, just outside of Kluane National Park. My dad and I had spotted two Grizzlies (this guy and an almost black one!) the day before. They had been digging up roots along a pullout. We woke up before sunrise to go look for them again. Luckily, we spotted them along the road, searching for food again. I quickly got the camera and lens resting on the car window and started to shoot. He was just starting to lift his head to catch our scent when I took this image.

I thought I'd keep some room on top because of the way he had lifted his head. I also needed to keep some room on the bottom to fit in his "virtual body". We thought about toning down the foliage brightness, but this is pretty close to how it was, and I liked the contrast with the bear.

After processing we noticed how similar this bear's look and pose was to the Grizzly cub from Alaska! They're facing opposite directions, so it's almost like a mirror! You can see what I mean here.

Nikon D7000
Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 ED VR @ 400mm
ISO 800
1/1000sec @ f/4
camera and lens resting on car window