Home Sweet Home

This is the scene the next morning when we awoke. Typical Alaska fall skies, even though it’s August, they are gray if not falling on you. Knowing this, the one smart thing I did was take our bigger 4 men Kelty backpacking tent. The other tent is Jake’s two men. I took the larger tent because knowing it would be wet, I wanted space to hang and get clothes dry. Also need to have all gear in the tent and I wanted space to work. You can see the large Pelican we shipped up to AK, it contained the 200-400s, tents and other misc gear. Once thing new this trip were the new Therm-a-rest NeoAir pads. My old Therm-a-rest which is 28yrs old and still works great has one issue, a big issue when you camp by plane. And that is it takes up a whole lot of space! Well the new NeoAir rolls up smaller than a water bottle and inflates to nearly four inches tall! Jake & I didn’t think that once we used it, we could roll it up to the same small size but low and behold, we could and it did. Great find, thanks Kevin!

The other thing you might notice is the orange cord going around the tents. That’s an electric bear fence the biologists wanted to test since it was brand new. Working as we were and as the biologists do all over Alaska, these things have become quite popular and many swear by them. Even though there were no bears anywhere near us, it went up anyways. Was it tested you ask? Only by us silly humans who wanted to see if two D batteries actually but out any zap. It was like Homer, we couldn’t stop touching it and going ow, ow, ow, ow.

And that mountain behind you, that’s what we would be climbing shortly.

Photo captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film

Close, But No Cigar!

I’ve received a whole bunch of correspondence asking where on the North Slope did I do to photograph Grizzly Bears. While they are there as you can see here, they are not really common or plentiful. Furthermore, they are interior bears and other than perhaps one or two prime Blueberry patches (and man where they good, did some grazing ourselves), interior bears don’t gather like the coastal griz do at salmon strong holds. Nope, I wasn’t up on the North Slope and in the Arctic for photograph Grizzly or Polar Bears. What we were working on? Ah, not yet, still gotta work up to it.

As far as this little family group, they were on the south side of Atigun Pass eating berries when we came up on them. Eagle eye Jake saw them on his side of the truck (everything was on his side) and brought everything to a halt. This photo was made through the truck cab, around the other two guys in the back seat to the bears. You could tell we were all a little jaded because after asking out loud a couple of biological questions and making some other comments, we drove off to let the bears munch away. Don’t get me wrong, darn cool to see but it wasn’t what we were after and still has a ways to drive. It does show though that even on such a long drive as the Haul Road, traveling with a camera and lens in your lap and ready to go is a must to make the most of every opportunity!

Photo captured by D3x, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film.

How Many Bears Do You See?

The northern bear populations, the Griz & Polar, aren’t doing so well. There are a number of reasons for this, some obvious and some definitely not so obvious. The solution isn’t always obvious and it certainly isn’t easy. It does take the public’s awareness for any change to take place which is where you come in. NPR has posted an excellent podcast on the plight of the grizzly bear in Alberta, Canada that is a great listen. We’re expanding our work with northern bears in 2010 and once you hear this, you might understand why. It is a 18min podcast and well worth the time.

Saying Good-bye Day5

And Ted? He turned out to be a favorite of mine. Last year he was in a fight which left a 12″ piece of skin flapping on his flank. While the scar has healed out externally, we wondered most of the week by his actions if he hadn’t been rattled by the scar. He tended to avoid confrontations to the extreme. The last day, it was good to see him stand up for his spot, his fish and win all the confrontations. I’m looking forward to going back and see how he does. He was the last bear I photographed at the falls, a simple good-bye until next time parting shot.

We walked down to the bridge and just about ready to cross when the family with spring cubs appeared at the marsh. With that, the bridge was closed and we had to go up into the observation platform. We had about 20min with the family as they worked the shoreline and eventually ended up going into the forest right by us. With that, it was clear to cross the bridge.

We no sooner crossed the bridge and it was closed again. A big boy had come down from the falls, walked over to the water as if to make sure we were leaving. After checking us out, he turned around and went for a swim. And with that, our 2009 Brooks Falls adventure came to a close. But it is by no means the end  of the story. The fall issue of the BT Journal will have all the story and all new photos from our adventure between its covers. There is so much more to tell. But I do want to thank Sharon & Jake & Kevin & Janet and the bears for making it one of those weeks you know will always make you smile.

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

The moment I dread Day5

I really do hate the clock! The last day was just a great experience at the falls. It didn’t matter we weren’t taking the classic Brooks bear catching a salmon in the mouth shot. Our last 7hrs at the falls were full of everything else. I have the feeling it’s what goes on when most the tourists go home in late summer. The guy near the end of the day (9PM) just sat down and looked around as if to say, “It’s all over, time to go home.” That’s the last thing I wanted to hear.

As if having a hard day at work and now relaxing in the jacuzzi, this silly bear was totally immersed in the water except for what you see here. He did this for quite a while, almost an hour before standing up and moving around only to end up again in the same spot. He seemed resolved just to let the bubbles in the rapid tickle his butt for just a little longer.

At the end the bears stopped challenging each other for the few salmon left at the falls. They reminded me of the old cartoon which finished at the time clock with the Sam The Sheepdog saying to Ralph the Coyote after a day of being adversaries, “See Ya Tomorrow.” I always hate leaving the bears, I always feel I’m just started to get to know them when the lens cap is put on for the last time, the gear stowed in the photopack. It’s never my favorite moment. Damn clock! mtc

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

Send in the Kids, Day5

Spring cubs (born during the winter) are just the cat’s meow when it comes to Grizzly Bears. They are cute, funny and just a ton of fun to watch. While we had a number of cubs come to the falls during the week, it wasn’t until the last day we had this family of spring cubs.

They appeared in front of the lower platform, we were standing on the upper one. I was going to just be satisfied to just watch them rather than run down to the lower platform. Normally when you do that, you miss something great where you were only to get down and find what you were chasing has gone. But then Kevin grabbed his 200-400VR and headed down there. The peer pressure was just too great (or the competitive nature in me) so I grabbed a camera and headed down. Thank goodness the upper platform was basically empty so we wouldn’t have to worry about our spot there.

Kevin was smart, the cubs were still right next to the lower platform and performing. They were trying to keep up with mom, but their little legs couldn’t rock hop the river quite as well. It was one heck of a lot of fun watching them slip and slide and whine as they did their best to be Grizzly Bears. mtc

Photos captured by D3, 70-300VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

Times Getting tough? Day5

As the salmon left milling around at the base of the falls got fewer and fewer, confrontations started. Grizzly Bears know the harm they can inflict on each other so they so everything they can to avoid it. The signs are pretty obvious, they start with what appears to be a yawn. That progresses on to foaming at the mouth and jaw popping. The ears go back, the eyes move, face narrows, all to avoid coming to blows.

And then the explosion happens. They have the fastest right you’ve ever seen in boxing, exploding from the water and coming down on their opponent. It was that intensity that I wanted to captured with every click. These two images were taken just 4 seconds apart.

We saw more fights this afternoon than in all my years working with griz. This photo is one of my favorites. The fight is over the one thing that is tack sharp, the salmon.

And the outcome of this fight? The bear lost his fish to the bear coming after him. The crowd on the platform was not happy by this turn of events but neither was the bear who lost his fish. That’s how it goes though. Photographically, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of making the images shooting at 1.8fps. It forced me to keep a keen eye on the action and depress the shutter release when the moment was right. I love challenges! mtc

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film

There were salmon, but…day5

Ted’s look just about sums it up, the fishing, she ain’t so hot. At it’s peak, the river is boiling with salmon. For the last few days we could see them patrolling the waters but today, we have to strain to see fish in the water. Ted literally walked a lot of the river trying to find fish.

Is that a spaghetti noodle or salmon he’s got there? It almost doesn’t seem it would be worth the while of a 800lbs bear to be spending energy for such a small thing, yet they do.

Photographically, it was a challenge to make something of such small fish. Graphically speaking, when you used a shorter lens, you could barely see the fish. So that meant getting tight just to see the fish. When you get that tight, you look them right in the eye and there’s the challenge. Catching the look that tells the story. This guy caught fish after fish after fish and as such, was target of other bears like you see below.

Despite their size, fish are fish and with a dimensioning supply each one was sought after. So as the day unfolded the tensions got hotter. This is just the start of one bear trying to find an easy meal from another bear. mtc

Photos captured by D3x, 600VR w/TC-17e (bottom) D3, 70-300VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

The Last Day at the falls Day5

I know it’s silly, it doesn’t work this way, but on the last day of any adventure, I ask for it to be the best day, to finish with a big horrah. It rarely happens. In this case, I was hoping at most for a run of salmon to have come up from the lake, be jumping and bears on top of the falls catching them and at least, some bears to be present.

Ted was present which brought a smile to me. He was always good for a clean click. He was real active this day, moving from his hole and working the entire river using every technique you might imagine for fishing.

He provided me many an opportunity to make some of my favorite clicks of the trip. This is an example of one of them. It’s a real simple photo that works with his body gesture, the light that is bouncing off his coat and the depth of color around him in the swirling water. Clean, simple and speaks so well what it is to be a griz fishing. What I thought would be a slow day and anticlimactic ending to a great week was about to break wide open! mtc

Photos captured by D3, 70-300VR on Lexar UDMA digital film

And now, the Rest of the Story

Joe’s Lighting Seminar was great. I wanted to be there for two reasons, one because Joe’s our dear friend and two, because I wanted to learn some specific things. We accomplished both things with an unique twist.

A number of folks came up to us during the seminar saying, “We thought you were in Alaska photographing Grizzly Bears.” In fact, we were in Alaska, the prior week, at Brooks Falls where there is no cell service, no internet and lots of bears (no way to blog from there). We had planned this months ago to surprise Joe during his Google class that he was conducting the day prior to his San Francisco class. Folks at Google (thanks Mike!) and at NAPP/Kelby Training (thanks Kathy & Jeff!) were in on the surprise, everyone except Joe. The blog postings were all a ruse for Joe, posted a week after the fact. Joe kept reading the blog thinking we were in AK (as did most of the world). He even called me during the week and I took the call and near the end, kept saying I think we’re going to loose the signal, I was in a remote place, then I hung up on him (yes, I’m going to hell).

We then drove from home over to SF and to Google Headquarters (darn cool place) where Joe was teaching. Just prior to lunch, Mike brought us into a hallway and then stuck his head into the classroom and told Joe he had a surprise model for him. It was then that Sharon, Jake & I walked into the room. Surprise! I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve ever seen Joe speechless.

There were a couple of things I wanted to learn from Joe. Yeah, I’ve learned lots from Joe since we do seem to teach a lot together as a team, but there were specific things I wanted to know and he delivered. For example, what the heck is the Honl Honeycomb Speed Grid for. Joe did a killer demo with it so now I know exactly. The other mystery for me was the Beauty Dish. Why didn’t I just ask Joe, because I know if I did he would tell me. Because I wanted to see more his thought process behind using them rather than just how to use them. Joe did a great job talking through his thought process with flash for five hours, it was great and I came away learning what I was seeking.

So now, you know the rest of the story.

Photo captured by D3, 28f1.4AF on Lexar UDMA digital film

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