Night Night Time

Oct 6, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Kodiak Brown Bear captured by Z 9 / Z400f2.8

The day the calendar changed to October, life got a whole lot more charged for the Kodiak Brown Bears. October brings for most hibernation and that pressure puts the bears on a mission to eat everything they can to have the fat stores to see April. Females, either those that are pregnant or with cubs especially feel the extreme need to eat. That’s why you will never find me looking for Browns or Griz to photograph in October in Alaska. That feeding pressure they feel makes them do the unpredictable and that’s where folks get hurt. I will miss them during the winter, but I have a few images and stories to entertain me until I’m with them again next year. They are a brilliant critter and I wish them sweet dreams. It’s night nighttime.

Other Colors for Fall Color

Oct 5, 2023 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Philmont Scout Ranch captured by Z 30 / Z16-50

Fall color is a seasonal splendor that many, myself included, look forward to celebrating in our photography. We often travel great distances for those reds, oranges, yellows and the patterns they creat in the distance and up close. The mellow fall light and polarizer helps us bring romance to this last salute to spring as it goes out in a blaze of color. It’s that time right now but are there other colors we can use to celebrate fall?

As you can see, I think there are and they include black, white, gray and all the colors those colors combined can produce! Walking one of the canyons in the spectacular Philmont Ranch (great workshop BTW) I went simply armed looking at its oaks for their glory. The sun had yet found its way down inside the canyon but the leafs of the oaks were already a blaze. Their trunks though were still draped in the darkness of the morning. That made the entire click an easy one to make. Simply switched the Z 30 to monochrome and the photograph was done. Not every swath of fall color looks celebratory in B&W, but when I find one that does it is obvious there are others color for fall color.

1200lbs Teddy Bear!

Sep 27, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Kodiak Brown Bear captured by Z 9 / Z400f2.8

Every afternoon for four days, we found this female doing what these bears do best, nothing! Biologically speaking, if you wanna put on a ton of fat (ok, half ton) you eat a lot and then do nothin. This female has this down pat! An eight or nine old female, she is most likely pregnant and will give birth in the den over winter. You don’t get this old nor this size being a light weight, she has earned the respect of other bears by being a heavy hitter. She walks with an attitude and with a glance clears out the other bears from where she wants to feed. But with us, well, this is as much attitude we would receive from her. Floating by, I was leaning back as far as I could to get the framing you see with the 400mm. As the current took us down the river, she got bigger and bigger in the frame until I could no longer focus on her. We were just an arm’s length away when we passed her by which time she was board with us and had put her head down and closed her eyes. A prime example of a 1200lbs teddy bear!

“I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!”

Sep 21, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

Kodiak Brown Bear captured by Z 9 / Z400f2.8

Having spent a couple of hours on the river fishing myself this day, I can understand how it tuckers ya out. But I didn’t eat anything I caught (at least not right then) like these Bears do who at times, seem to inhale them. It’s late September and it’s time to put on as much easy fat as they can. They eat and eat and then to make sure it turns into fat for the winter, they go to sleep. Some go up in the hills into a nice day den and others flop where they are on the wet beach. We were literally floating down near sunset last night shootin from the boat handheld, watching the action when we spotted this individual. We watched this bear pulllllll itself up this small rise overlooking the river, its eyes roll back in its head and then, flop over the outcrop! Out cold! The whole scene unfolding as if to say, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!

Hills of the Giants

Sep 20, 2023 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography

Kodiak hills captured by Z 9 / Z400f2.8

When the tide is out, all one sees across the flats are gulls, kittiwakes and some ducks. Then the tide shift and the water starts to flow back to land and with the water, life. The salmon runs are in full force and as the salmon swell the river, the Kodiak Brown Bears seemingly come out of nowhere to appear. Once quiet flats have 15-30 bears roaming the flooded landscape chasing salmon and eating spent ones. They emerge from the hillsides that line the valley, hidden in that world until they want to appear. And when the tide goes back out, the bears retreat to their sanctuary to sleep, get fatter on what they just ate and wait the ten hours for the next high tide. I never go up in those hills looking for the bears, the advantage is all there’s. I respect their home, the hills of the giants!

Back in the Neighborhood!

Sep 19, 2023 | Wildlife Photography

3yr old Kodiak Brown cub captured by Z 9 / Z400f2.8

With amazing skill and total calm, Willy got us flown into bear camp just in time as the wind cam back up so we just had to hunker down by the fire and eat killer lodge food. Oh darn! With the breaking of the day, after another killer hot breakie we headed up the river to find out old friends from May, a little denser coat and a whole lot fatter! The salmon run is going and they are cleaning up, literally! The family group started off with us where we left off in May so there was no time wasting, great photography as soon as our feet it the water.

It was soooo entertaining watching the kid imitate mom chasing the salmon up and down the shallows. Mom (12-13yr old) slowly strolled the shallows picking the best salmon to eat as she went. The three “panic attacks” have yet to master mom’s skills. Which is fine to us as it makes capturing them splashing shots like shooting fish in a barrel (get it?!)! It’s going to be a mighty fine week, always special to be back in the neighborhood!!!!

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