In the Field

The Great Bear Rainforest - An Animalscape. Great Bear Rainforest (central BC coast), BC, Canada. September 30, 2012.

Like many wildlife photographers I often like coming away from a shooting session with some interesting close-up shots of my "prey". But, I'm always on alert for good animalscape shots - those images where you're trying to get "classic" shots of an animal in the landscape in which it resides. A lot of novice wildlife photographers are captivated and even pre-occupied by the thought of getting "full frame shots" of their subjects. For those of this ilk the biggest challenge they think they face is getting close enough to their subject for a "good" shot. But if one sticks with wildlife photography for any length of time a realization slowly starts to sink in - that good animalscape shots are almost always far tougher to pull off than those "full-frame" wildlife shots. In shooting a strong animalscape you face all the challenges that a landscape photographer faces in "building" a visual interesting image, plus you add in the challenge of incorporating mobile subjects that could care a less where they "should be" in the frame (those selfish beasts!).

I've been traveling into the Great Bear Rainforest on the central and northern BC coast twice a year since 2005. It's a magical, pristine place - National Geographic magazine referred to it as "The Wildest Place in North America" in August of 2011. I've obtained thousands of close-up shots of bears (and humpback whales, and eagles, and more) over the years and find now that I'm looking more and more for scenes that convey the full feeling, look, and essence of the Great Bear Rainforest. I shot this moody image of the Great Bear in September of 2012, but just got around to processing it recently (January of 2013). This shot was captured in a hard-to-access portion of a rarely visited inlet - in any given year only a handful of humans would get to this spot. I think anyone who sees this shot and has been in the Great Bear Rainforest would instantly think "yep, that's what the Great Bear is all about".

Animalscape shots can be tough to present online. They can have so much detail in them that much of it is lost in an image of 1200 pixels (long axis) or less. For instance, this shot contains a total of 17 eagles (both adults and immatures), 6 gulls, and one bear. So...for those dying to find all 17 eagles (and I willing to bet no one can find more than 16) or those who simply want to see the detail revealed in a larger version here...well...here's a 2500 pixel version...

NOTE: This image was captured during one of my photo tours in 2012. Each year I offer trips into two different parts of the Great Bear Rainforest. Each spring we visit the northern portion of the Great Bear Rainforest during my two "Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen" photo tours. And each autumn we travel through the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest during my two 7-day "Into the Great Bear Rainforest" photo tours. Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

The Great Bear Rainforest - An Animalscape. Great Bear Rainforest (central BC coast), BC, Canada. September 30, 2012.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 500

Nikon D4 paired with Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens (@ 135mm). Hand held. VR on and in normal mode.

1/160s @ f8; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

The Great Bear Rainforest - An Animalscape. Great Bear Rainforest (central BC coast), BC, Canada. September 30, 2012.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening, using Capture One Pro Version 7.

Photoshop adjustments included selective minor tweaks to exposure, selective adjustment of midtone contrast (i.e., selective tone curve adjustment), and selective sharpening for web output. Final tone tweaking performed using tonemapper/re-light tool in Lightzone.

Conservation

The Great Bear Rainforest - An Animalscape. Great Bear Rainforest (central BC coast), BC, Canada. September 30, 2012.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Raincoast*.

Species Status in Canada**: Special Concern (May 2002).

While Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) are not technically listed as "Endangered" in Canada, they have been extirpated from most of their historical range. Grizzly Bears are far more sensitive to intrusion/disturbance in their habitat than are Black Bears and are being increasingly forced into marginal habitat by human encroachment. The Great Bear Rainforest along the central and northern coast of British Columbia is one of the last strongholds of the Grizzly Bear in Canada, and even this population is coming under increasing pressure.

The region this image was shot in is, at the time of this writing (January 21, 2013), facing a new and potentially catastrophic threat. There is a proposal to bring oil super-tankers through the narrow and treacherous channels of the Great Bear Rainforest. Any mishap - such as the one that sunk the Queen of the North ferry on March 22, 2006 - could result in an oilspill with disasterous consequences.

*The Raincoast Conservation Society (and Foundation) is an effective and efficient organization that has been fighting for protection of this unique habitat. If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the conservation of this amazing ecosystem, Raincoast will provide maximal "bang" for your conservation dollars.

**as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada