In the Field

Grizzly Shaking in Early Evening Light. Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast). October 9, 2008.

The more some things change, the more they stay the same. Put a grizzly in water and, before long, it will shake the water off. Make a million technical advancements to photography, and creating good images still comes down to the same thing it has for a century or more: good lighting, good tonal range and/or colour, and just being there...

This adult grizzly treated us to an early evening wade - and shake - just as the light was getting close to the horizon. Photeus (the ancient Greek/pagan god of digital photography) was good to us: she gave us warm light, calm water with beautiful deep green tones from the reflections of surrounding trees, and a very cooperative (and gentle) bear! The light was so warm when I shot this image that I had to actually DESATURATE the colours in the final image slightly!

Behind the Camera

Grizzly Shaking in Early Evening Light. Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast). October 9, 2008.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 1100.

Nikon D700 with AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4G IF-ED II VR lens - handheld in floating Zodiac inflatable boat. VR turned to "On" and in "Normal" mode. Autofocus set to M/a mode.

1/250s @ f4.5; -0.3 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Grizzly Shaking in Early Evening Light. Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast). October 9, 2008.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening, exposure compensation, slight shadow/highlight adjustment, and white balance adjustment using Phase One's Capture One Pro 4.5. Multiple RAW conversions (2 at different exposure settings: -1.5 stops as base exposure and -1.0 stops to the bear itself).

Further digital corrections on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS3. Adjustments included compositing and masking of both exposure versions, selective colour satuation and desaturation, and selective sharpening for web output.

Conservation

Grizzly Shaking in Early Evening Light. Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast). October 9, 2008.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to The Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

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 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.

For more information on the status of Brown (Grizzly) Bears in Canada, go to: http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca and search under "Grizzly Bears"

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