Shake It Off

Upon our seaplane landing in Katmai (not at the popular Brooks Falls), we knew we'd see bears. We could even see them from the boat. I was told by the photo company that we'd get close but I had no idea just how close we'd get. At times, we had bears less than 3 feet away from us with nothing separating us from them. On our first full day photographing in the field, we spent time with a sow and her cub. At one point, the pair even came right up to us while taking a break from fishing for pink salmon. They were so close to us that you could literally see steam coming off their backs – really!! As we laid belly down in the rocky terrain donning our unattractive waders, I saw a bear looking like it was about to shake the excess water off after a failed fishing attempt. Having been unsuccessful in capturing this moment in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest years earlier, capturing an image of a brown bear shaking the water off was at the top of my photographic bucket list. Unfortunately or fortunately for me, I wasn't ready with my settings. I had been experimenting with focal points, getting a feel of what worked and what didn't work being so close to the bears, and my aperture was only set to f/5.6 with auto ISO. The shutter fired at 1/200 which is slower than what I had pictured in my head for so many years. Even so, I was able to focus on the head and achieve a motion shot with water streaks – artsy in its own way. It's a moment I will cherish forever.