Spirit Bear

We've seen a lot of nice spirit bear shots these last couple weeks from Jerry.  I figured I'd share my own spirit bear encounter from my recent trip to the Great Bear Rainforest, since it's a little different.  The last couple years during my trips, we've avoided the viewing platforms and the creek that's so popular among photo groups and have spent more time searching the coastline for bears.  It's certainly more of a challenge, but sometimes affords opportunities to see these beautiful animals in a different setting.

During my tour last month, we spent four rainy days in different spots looking for the white bear before we were finally rewarded with a wonderful encounter.  This young spirit bear emerged from the forest and explored the shore three separate times over the course of the morning.  It was raining and quite dark early on (ISOs of 6400-8000), but by the end of the session we had some "okay" light which made shooting easier for everyone.  I switched off shooting tight and wide, and liked getting a few of these images that included some of the gorgeous scenery in the frame.

Canon 1DX
Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS
ISO 2000
1/250th
f/2.8

Max