Breathing Room

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 9, 20151,270 views9 comments

Breathing Room

These are the rare type of scenes that I just love to see - and love to photograph! This image was captured in a rarely visited inlet in the Great Bear Rainforest and along one of my all-time favourite stretches of coastal shoreline. I've been into this inlet quite a few times in the last decade and I've long "envisioned" seeing a bear on this point, but until 2015 it never happened!

Subject: Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) enjoying a little breathing room...
Location: Great Bear Rainforest (central BC Coast), Canada
Camera: Nikon D750
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8E VR. Hand-held from moving Zodiac. VR on and in "Sport" mode.
Exposure: 1/320s @ f5.6; ISO 1600. -0.67 stop compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: None - this is full-frame

A lot more info about this shot - including a 2400 pixel version of the shot - can be found here on my website...

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Cheers...

Brad

PS: Like all wildlife images on my website and that I post on NPN, the subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants (including vocalizations)

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on November 10, 2015 at 1:49 AM

Brad,

I am fully with you, since I like to make this type of images as well, in which one can see also the habitat of the animal. Well done devil

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on November 10, 2015 at 10:16 AM

Brad: all the elements of an excellent photo are there: light, subject and composition. Not much more need be said, except why didn't you take me to that spot?? devil

Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on November 10, 2015 at 4:30 PM

I really like the environment in this shot. It really works for me because it makes me wish I was in the boat watching the scene. Fine shot.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on November 11, 2015 at 11:15 AM

A beautiful picture, framed precisely in a masterly manner!
The Goose makes it more interesting.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 11, 2015 at 11:21 AM

Hey Jagdeep,

Thanks very much. I wondered how long it would be before someone commented on the goose! Actually, there are 4 in the frame, but the other 3 are very hard to see. I have another shot that is very similar to this one, but the bear's head is more level (as opposed to looking slightly downward). I like (and posted) this one because it appears the bear is looking at the goose (and it may well be).

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on November 12, 2015 at 5:43 AM

VERY pleasing grizzly-scape, Brad! Love the tones, textures and layers, and the apparent focus of the bear on the goose adds a very cool element of interest/drama. But seriously...4 geese? I even broke out the reading glasses on this one and sheepishly confess to be missing the others, unless they are in the rocks at the VERY leftmost edge of the bottom. In any event, this is a beautiful scene.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 12, 2015 at 9:18 AM

Hey John,

I told you the other 3 are very hard to see! They're in flight very close to the left edge of the frame, about 3/4 the way up. Visible (but JUST) in the standard-sized version of the image, more visible on the larger version, most visible on the 2400-pixel version posted on my website (at the end of the link above in my commentary).

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on November 14, 2015 at 5:04 AM

Ha! Definitely missed those...my mind interpreted them as part of the forest foliage. Cool bonus! laugh

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on November 15, 2015 at 11:51 AM

Hello Brad ... Beautiful , with rugged shoreline, like how the lower left side shoreline extends right, forming a triangle and leads the eye into the well positioned Bear!

looks to me like a Khutze place! I too think the most outstanding inlet I have visited!

Bill
WWW.Billbickle.com

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments