Buddha Bear (image heavy)

[NorthernFocus]

Yes, Buddha, not Buddy. I'll explain...

In my post about Buddy the bear, I explained that I went on this trip with two other togs. We were on-site shooting for six days. During that time we saw at least a couple dozen different bears that came to feed on the spawning salmon in our little creek. Some of the bears made a single appearance, some multiple visits, and a few of them were there every day. Simply to facilitate communications it's only natural to begin assigning names to the bears. Rather than saying something like, "hey, here comes the sub-adult boar with the scar over his left eye", it's easier to say, "hey, here comes Stink Eye (or whatever)". There wasn't any discussion about it. Someone would just say, "here comes Stinkeye" and Stinkeye he'd be thereafter.

The bear that is the subject of this post fished the creek every day while we were there. She's a mature sow though not old. She had a unique fishing style. Most of the bears find a good spot to stand in the creek or walk up and down the bank looking, etc. This particular bear would find a slightly raised spot on the creek bank and sit there staring at the water. For hours. When she spotted fish she'd get up and chase them down then return to her spot and sit back down. Her sitting style and rather rotund waistline earned her the name Buddha, gender not withstanding.

One of Buddha's favorite spots was right across the creek from where we also ended up spending a good bit of our time. Our purpose for being there was because it was near where the moms with cubs tended to come and go. So I ended up with quite a few photos of Buddha over the six days.

1) An early morning shot of Buddha in her favorite spot watching the creek. D4/AF-S 80-400mm@400mm; 1/200s, f5.6, ISO3200



2) Her next favorite spot just downstream a bit. D810/500mm VR; 1/200s, f5.6, ISO1250



3) Watching me watching her. D7200, AF-S 80-400mm@240mm; 1/400s, f5.6, ISO1600



4) Horizontal fishing position. D4/AF-S 80-400@400mm; 1/800s, f8, ISO1000



5) Pouncing. D4/ AF-S 80-400@240mm; 1/800s, f8, ISO1000



6) The taste of success. D4/ AF-S 80-400@360mm; 1/1000s, f8, ISO1250



7) Up close and personal with Buddha. D4/ AF-S 80-400@270mm; 1/1000s, f8, ISO1250



And a couple of backlit shots. D810(1.2x mode)/500mm VR; 1/1250S, F7.1, ISO800

8) Crossing the creek.



9) Zeroed in. Note the fish's tail sticking out of the water just under the paw.

[wilgk]

Absolutely stunning each & every one. What an amazing opportunity for you & your friends.
The one of Buddha looking back at you is my favourite!

[KimC]

I could look at your Bear images all day Dan ~ they are so beautiful!

[purplehaze]

Ditto to Kim. And I greatly appreciate the commentary, as well.

[rpcrowe]

Absolutely GREAT images!!!

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[skitterbug]

You've probably said elsewhere at some time or other, but how close are you to these bears? (yikes) And is it my imagination or is Bhuddha's nose a tad crooked? Excellent work! This amateur (me) really enjoys seeing this animal up close and personal.

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you folks enjoyed the photos. I'm still culling shots from that trip and will no doubt have plenty more to post. Maybe I'll do a post for each of the major players like Buddha.

You've probably said elsewhere at some time or other, but how close are you to these bears?...

You must be new to photography. The subject is always too close for your longest lens you have with you and too far for the next shorter one in the bag

Joking aside, while we set up to try to keep 150ft or so away from the animals, they are the ones who dictate the range. It is much easier to shoot the action of them fishing when they are a good way off. Several times over the course of the shoot we had animals within just a few feet of us. Buddha was fairly respectful and didn't get too close. But after the first couple of days she did get used to us and would pass down the creek bank within 50 feet or so. It can be maddening because when they are really close it's the perfect opportunity for a full frame portrait shot but at close range they almost never look directly at you. That's challenging behavior and for the most part they just want to go about their business of eating fish.

[Mike Buckley]

Maybe I'll do a post for each of the major players like Buddha.

Great idea!

[Wavelength]

Excellent images, again.... Every soul is Buddha in the becoming... so heheheh.....

[skitterbug]

You must be new to photography. The subject is always too close for your longest lens you have with you and too far for the next shorter one in the bag

Thanks for the info Dan and yes, I am rather new to the more serious side of photography. Until recently, I mainly tried getting decent shots of family, etc. but now am delving into the art a bit deeper. Can't say that I've improved a lot but I'm working at it!

I really enjoy your series of bear pictures and the dialog you add. I was thinking when you had absolutely nothing else to do you would make an excellent author of children's books telling real life bear stories. Anyway, thank you for taking time to reply!

[bnnrcn]

Thanks for sharing those stunning images Dan, very enjoyable

[Urbanflyer]

Great images!! Thanks for posting!

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you guys enjoyed the shots. Posting a few is a nice interlude from cleaning/organizing my files

[John 2]

Another spectacular set Dan but 3 (for the pose), 8 (for the light) and 9 (for the moment) are the cream for me.

[Manfred M]

Great shots again, Dan.

Every time you post your bear shots I want to get back to your part of the world to see the bears in action again. Watching them hunt salmon is a lot more interesting than watching them eat sedge grass, earlier on in the year.

[pnodrog]

Another lot of great shots. Do you camp or return every night to a comfortable hotel?
With so many salmon jumping around do you ever try a bit of fishing? When I am traveling in NZ or Australia I keep both the camera and a fishing rod handy.

[IzzieK]

My favourite is #3 -- the pose, the eye contact, those paws!! - and readiness to pounce. Yikes!!!

[Rebel]

Awesome shots, love the bg colours in the last 2!

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting folks and glad you like the photos. The last two are my favorites of this lot due to the backlighting. Most of my backlit shots of the trip were throwaways.

...Watching them hunt salmon is a lot more interesting than watching them eat sedge grass, earlier on in the year.

Each season has its advantages. When they are sedging in June they still have their winter coats and look more like the classic grizzly bear. In July the look pretty ragged, half molted. By August they usually look pretty good again but have much shorter fur. Of course when they are wet it doesn't make a huge difference. I actually want to make a trip in June to try for some full frame portraits with the D810. I want to put enough pixels on them for some life sized metal prints

...Do you camp or return every night to a comfortable hotel?

On this particular trip we were based on a boat anchored in the bay. They took us ashore in a skiff at daylight thirty. If there was little activity at mid-day we called for the skiff and went back aboard for a couple of hours for lunch and downloading photos. All told we spent 10-12 hours a day on the creek bank.

With so many salmon jumping around do you ever try a bit of fishing?...

I do not. In my youth I worked commercial fishing. So I don't fish for pleasure. I harvest protein with the intent of minimum time and cost for maximum harvest. When we do catch salmon, we do so in the ocean before the fish have started suffering the deprivation of the river journey. They stop eating when they enter the rivers and immediately begin to lose weight, particularly oil/fat content. We only eat ocean run fish.