In the Field

August in the Khutzeymateen Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. August 27, 2026

The Khutzeymateen Inlet is known worldwide for its amazing Grizzly Bears. The inlet itself is located at the extreme northern end of the Great Bear Rainforest on the north coast of British Columbia. Grizzlies are found in many locations in the Great Bear, and most predominantly in the estuaries of long inlets that cut into the mainland of British Columba (as opposed to the many islands in the Great Bear, which tend to be dominated by Black Bears and, to a lesser extent, Spirit Bears). Grizzly activity tends to be the most conspicuous in the Khutzeymateen in the spring and in most years that's when we focus on the Khutzeymateen. However in 2025 we ventured into the Khutzeymateen Inlet in August. And I discovered why locals living in and around the Great Bear refer to this time of year as Fogust!

The Great Bear Rainforest can be misty and moody at any time of year, but if you're into capturing dramatic landscape shots with great - and often rapidly changing - light, I'd recommend going there in August or September. Yep, the absolute best place on the BC coast to photograph grizzlies is the Khutzeymateen in late May or early June...but the best place to shoot dramatic sea- and landscapes is...well...almost anywhere in the Great Bear in August or September!

I captured this image using a Nikon Z 9 camera paired up with a Tamron Z 35-150mm f2-2.8 zoom lens. 2025 was my first season using this lens in the Great Bear and I was extremely pleased with how it performed when shooting wildlife - and when shooting landscapes (and animalscapes, of course). It's a keeper!

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this misty, moody scene for your perusal:

• August in the Khutzeymateen: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 2.1 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Khutzeymateen Summer Explorer Exploratory Photo Adventure in late August of 2025. Each year I offer photo tours into various locations on the amazing BC coast, including the Great Bear Rainforest and, every other year, into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

August in the Khutzeymateen Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. August 27, 2026

High Efficiency* Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 64.

Nikon Z 9 paired with Tamron Z 35-150mm f2-2.8 zoom lens @ 57mm. Hand-held from moving power boat. VR on Sport mode. Single-point AF.

1/640s @ f6.3; No exposure compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

August in the Khutzeymateen Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. August 27, 2026

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .nef (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD2S algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 9.3 Elite (using the appropriate camera/lens module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Capture One Pro (build 16.7). In the case of this image four global adjustments were made - an overall contrast bump using the Levels tool, a tweak to both the highlights and blacks, and a clarity (midtone contrast) adjustment. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 5 separate layers, with the tweaks being associated primarily with “exposure balancing” and highly selective contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to brightness, clarity, highlights, shadows, blacks, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

August in the Khutzeymateen Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. August 27, 2026

IUCN Conservation Status*: Not Applicable.