In the Field

Those Darned Flies! Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast), Canada. September 12, 2005.

This image is extremely similar to Contemplating Life Without Flies, and differs only in that in this image I managed to catch the bear in mid-drool (as well as staring at the flies). I personally find the image above more compelling but suspected some folks might not like the messiness implied by the drooling. When I showed the two images to a large group of friends (my impromptu "focus group"!), the favoured image was almost always Contemplating Life Without Flies rather than this image of the drooling bear. The end result? Contemplating Life Without Flies is now in my collection of Limited Edition Prints and selling well! Good thing I didn't go with my favourite!

Behind the Camera

Those Darned Flies! Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast), Canada. September 12, 2005.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 200.

Nikon D2X with Nikon 200-400 mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR lens @ 400 mm (600 mm equivalent with digital conversion factor) supported on Gitzo 1348 carbon fibre tripod with Wimberley head.

1/125s @ f5; -1 stop exposure compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Those Darned Flies! Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast), Canada. September 12, 2005.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass sharpening, using Phase One's C1 Pro. Multiple RAW conversions (at different exposure settings) to retrieve over-exposed highlights, in this case the bird droppings in the foreground. Exposure correction (to compensate for deliberate shutter-speed-enhancing under-exposure while shooting) during RAW conversion.

All further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS2, including compositing and masking of various exposure versions, selective saturation enhancement and selective sharpening for web output.

Conservation

Those Darned Flies! Great Bear Rainforest (northern BC coast), Canada. September 12, 2005.

Ten percent of the selling price of this image (Limited Edition Print and Rights-managed Stock) 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 Grizzly Bears in Canada, go to: http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca and search under "Grizzly Bears".

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