“Don’t get between a mother bear and her cubs” is good advice for sure but this doesn’t mean you can’t be amongst them as they go about their daily travels. The tides on Kodiak Island rule all activity, bears and human. The grass flats in which we are standing in about another thirty minutes would all be underwater. Bears have no problem swimming. Photographers with long glass, yeah they need a boat. We’d been with this family for quite a while, the rising tide slowly moving them in our direction. We didn’t approach them one foot, they came to us. That means they were doing it on their terms so they were comfortable with our being there. The most important thing, I realized the path they wanted to take to leave the flats and go up the hill during high tide. We left that path clear so they could comfortably do just that. And that’s what that look is all about. The ears are forward, the eyes wide open, the gate was slowly and easy. Mom was saying basically, “all good, we’re walking past, stay where you are and all will be good.” And so it was. You can see at the top of the landing page the video of their passing. They were fifteen feet or so away when they slid into the river and moved over to the other side and up the hillside. That was a que to get in the boats and float back to the lodge. We got the shots, the cub were nursed high and dry and life moved forward. That’s what that look meant.

They were there last year. They were there the year before. They were this year and as soon as I saw them the trigger flipped in my mind. I am often asked if there are species I want to photograph that I hadn’t yet. The Harlequin Duck is one I have photographed but not very well (suckie actually) and not for a very long time. They are incredibly shy and take either a water approach or time to make the shot. And if you don’t catch them in their spring finery, then what’s the point. As you can see, the drake is a spectacular bird!

A couple of weeks back when I was on Kodiak I saw a pair in this one location below camp the first morning. Birds and bees were in the air which gave me a fighting chance to get close physically. When love is in the air, birds tend to ignore us. The first morning they didn’t show up. The second morning it was gray skies and I settled for Black Oystercatchers (ok, they are a cool bird too!). The third morning the light was decent but there were no birds. I waited there on the shore with the Z 8 / Z600f4 in hand for twenty minutes or so (I shot all handheld). Then the pair splashed in right in front of me. Within another fifteen minutes there were twenty of them and I was in heaven making some shots I long waited for. It was one of those moments when until I had them in the viewfinder I had forgotten just how much I wanted to photograph them. One of many long lost personal desires.

What about the old “don’t get between a mom and her cubs” thing? There are lots of really bad myths about bears that I think were started with one simple thought in mind, be respectful of them! Obviously after spending a week in the field with these giants, I’m safe and sharing their story with you (with more to come). The one thing I want to impress on you right now is this very simple thought which will keep the bears and you safe and bringing back the stories. When in their world, all critters for that matter, remember you are a guest in their home so act like a great guest. You’d be surprised how welcomed they will make you feel, over and over again!

Bighorn sheep are one of my favorite critters to spend time with and photographing having spent decades with them. I know their world really well but most think of them as living in one place. High up on a cliff. And while that is where they feel safest, that’s not the only place they live. We found them last week on a knoll in Yellowstone amongst the bison and pronghorn. It was as far from a cliff as you can imagine. They weren’t up high but rather, out in the open on the flats. The photo below is how most saw (it was your basic Yellowstone car jam) them at that time and while there is nothing wrong with that click below, the stage wasn’t really set for this regal critter.

Above you can see the photo I desired and one I couldn’t get until the last moment. I saw the stage but had no star! The entire herd had moved through, none going up to the edge of the knoll where there was an opening in the pines with the distant mountains in view. I was hoping for an animal in that aperture to give a sense of space, height, wilderness. Finally, literally, the last ewe ventured to that spot I wanted for the star, it was the perfect stage. No, it doesn’t show it living on its vertical world but it does show them to be at the top of it. Being picky about the background can make an impact in your photograph. Because the background is the stage.

I’ve seen it a hundred times but it never gets old. All wet and shivering, its up and going and following mom right after birth. Probably the onl times its cute, there is nothing like a baby Bison. They have just started to drop and this week I’m hopng to get a whole bunch more time with them. Will be a challenge with all the magic that is Yellowstone but it will be great fun in the process!

With the biggest challenges being overcome it left just one, the light. The creepers were keeping to the dark recesses of the forest, not ideal for photographs at all. Luckily I had my own light with me, the Profoto A10 attached to the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 rig. I just kissed the Brown Creeper with light, just enough to bring out its color, not enough to even create a shadow and that’s all it took to bring it out of the shadows. As it turned out there were a pair of Brown Creepers. I thought chasing the one at The Ranch was a challenge, I never tried photographing a mating pair. I was greedy and wanted that frame with two creepers in it. I never got it but I had a ton of fun as they ran me ragged!