Personal Fave Black Bear to-date

[NorthernFocus]

Mind I said personal favorite, not necessarily best. I worked for this one. Saw these bears from a long way off. Paddled several hundred meters to get in camera range then stalked/observed them for several minutes until they got close enough together to fit both in the frame and did something interesting. Beatiful male and female still in their fluffy winter coats. I think this is the bear version of foreplay. Soon after they wandered off into the shadows together.

Nikon D850/1.2x crop mode, 200-500mm f5.6@500mm(600mm EFL), 1/500s, f5.6, ISO360, handheld w/VR on

[Shadowman]

Nice effort.

[Donald]

What a wonderful thing to capture. Well worth the effort, which you very helpfully set out for us (it's not just sitting around and waiting).

I don't know if the image has been cropped already, but I do wonder if removing (or otherwise hiding by burning) the highlighted part of that log running diagonal at the top right hand corner. And perhaps a crop at the left so that we retain something that shows us of the environment that this is happening in, but stops taking up so much of the image.

These are two thoughts about the image.

But the main subject matter is just wonderful.

[Tom Barry]

I can see why it's your personal favorite. A wonderful shot.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for commenting, folks. Here's an edit per Donald's suggestions. Much improved though the stick at bottom is still annoying. PP being done roughly on my laptop.

[Donald]

What software are you using? I know you say it was being completed roughly on a laptop, but if you have something that has a content aware tool, that should be able to get rid of that stick.

[JBW]

Exceptional. May I suggest you keep working at the pp?

[NorthernFocus]

For goodness sake. Just so you know I'm a fundamentally lazy individual. But here's another go at it with ON1. The content aware tool needed some help but we got rid of the stick. Also hopefully pulled some richness back into the bears' fur.

[Donald]

Well worth all that extra toil, Dan

A beauty.

[tbob]

Outstanding

[Manfred M]

The image keeps on getting better Dan. With enough of us nagging, we'll turn that shot into a prize winner...

[joebranko]

Mind I said personal favorite, not necessarily best. I worked for this one. Saw these bears from a long way off. Paddled several hundred meters to get in camera range then stalked/observed them for several minutes until they got close enough together to fit both in the frame and did something interesting. Beatiful male and female still in their fluffy winter coats. I think this is the bear version of foreplay. Soon after they wandered off into the shadows together.

Nikon D850/1.2x crop mode, 200-500mm f5.6@500mm(600mm EFL), 1/500s, f5.6, ISO360, handheld w/VR on

Great capture! These years can outrun a man, correct? Glad you stayed out of their range!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Digital]

Dan, a very nice photograph. Bears are really very beautiful animals IMHO.


Bruce

[JBW]

no one repeat no one who enjoys the outdoors in Alaska is fundamentally lazy And if I may: Your favourite is quickly turning into one of your best.

[FootLoose]

Great shot, Dan. Just how close were you? Is there a saint that watches over intrepid photographers?

[skitterbug]

Wonderful photo.
Somehow you have the female (?) bear's back leg completely restored in the final pic. It had the stick over it originally so redoing that area would be tricky (for me at least) and your results are definitely well done!

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the additional comments, folks.

...Just how close were you? Is there a saint that watches over intrepid photographers?

Judging by the FOV of the uncropped image I'd estimate that I was about 250ft(75-80m) away. I'd have moved closer but the water was getting too shallow. I'm confident of three things when I'm in the kayak. I can paddle faster than a bear can swim. And I can NOT paddle faster than they can run. And there is NO saint watching over me. So when the water gets less than three feet deep or so I start getting cautious. These two were pre-occupied with each other and I likely could have gotten significantly closer but wasn't about to try it in knee deep water.

[JBW]

Thanks for the additional comments, folks.


Judging by the FOV of the uncropped image I'd estimate that I was about 250ft(75-80m) away. I'd have moved closer but the water was getting too shallow. I'm confident of three things when I'm in the kayak. I can paddle faster than a bear can swim. And I can NOT paddle faster than they can run. And there is NO saint watching over me. So when the water gets less than three feet deep or so I start getting cautious. These two were pre-occupied with each other and I likely could have gotten significantly closer but wasn't about to try it in knee deep water.

one of the premier thoughts i came away with from an abundance of philosophy courses was; Prudence has it's place.

[mugge]

Dan, 'they' will nag until it is right. It's actually worth it.
Cheers Ole

[teton]

I just spent several minutes registering for this forum. From what I see here, I am not sure I want to stay. A little news for you indoor folks, bears live where sticks and stones abide, and I'd rather see an honest bear pictures, sticks, stones and all, than some doctored up picture with the reality removed.
Nature photography, in my world, is documenting nature, not playing in Photoshop.