In the Field

The Khutzeymateen - Land of Ursus. Khutzeymateen Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC. May 30, 2009.

While I always appreciate a good landscape image, I don't shoot too many of them. But, when Photeus (that ancient Greek pagan goddess of digital photography) presented me with this scene I simply couldn't resist! THIS is the Khutzeymateen - any wonder why I go there so often?

I'm far from an expert on landscape shots, but I do know what appeals to me. I love scenes with multiple layers and great depth and, interestingly, my own taste tends towards scenes that are dominated by midtowns - like this one. And, fog and/or haze often helps reduce a high-contrast scene to more pleasing (to me) mid-tones - so a lot of my landscape shots contain fog and/or haze. And, of course, given my obvious predisposition for photographing bears, I don't mind scenes that contain a dozen or so bears within them - can you count them all? ;-)

This image was captured during my annual "Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen" Instructional Photo Tour in the spring of 2009. If you're interested in joining me on one of my photo tours into the Great Bear Rainforest, check out the details on my "Seminars and Workshops" page. My Instructional Photo Tours into the Great Bear Rainforest are run in conjunction with Ocean Light II Adventures - they offer a number of amazing adventure tours (including top-notch bear-viewing tours as well as tours of exploration of the Queen Charlotte Islands) and I highly recommend them!

Behind the Camera

The Khutzeymateen - Land of Ursus. Khutzeymateen Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC. May 30, 2009.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 200.

Nikon D3 with Nikon 24-70 mm f/2.8 ED-IF FX lens @ 55 mm - handheld.

1/125s @ f5; no compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting of camera.

At the Computer

The Khutzeymateen - Land of Ursus. Khutzeymateen Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC. May 30, 2009.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening using Phase One's Capture One Pro 4.8. Two RAW conversions at different exposure settings. Exposure settings of -1.0 stops (to extract white-on-white detail in background clouds and to darken reflection) and -0.3 stops (on rest of image).

Further digital corrections on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS4 and Light Craft's LightZone. Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of 2 exposure versions, selective saturation and de-saturation of colours, and selective sharpening for web output. Final tonemapping, balancing and tweaking performed using the Tonemapper/Re-light tool in Lightzone.

Conservation

The Khutzeymateen - Land of Ursus. Khutzeymateen Inlet (Great Bear Rainforest), BC. May 30, 2009.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Pacific Wild*

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

This image was captured in the Khutzeymateen Inlet - Canada's only Grizzly Bear sanctuary. The majority of the Great Bear Rainforest remains unprotected, and 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.

*Pacific Wild is a non-profit conservation organization that is committed to:

1. Defending wildlife and their habitat on CanadaÕs Pacific coast by developing and implementing solution-based conservation strategies. Pacific Wild supports innovative research, public education, community outreach and awareness to achieve the goal of lasting environmental protection in the lands and waters of the Great Bear Rainforest.

2. Working with a diverse array of communities, First Nations, groups and individuals to ensure that biodiversity protection is at the forefront of land and marine use decisions.

3. Mobilizing a concerned global citizenry to achieve large-scale wildlife protection.

Natural Art Images supports the efforts of Pacific Wild and encourages you to do the same.

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