Advertisement
Advertisement
Read Next
Photo Of The Day By Jody Partin
Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Lolo...Photo Of The Day By David Shield
Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Black...Patterns Of Winter Assignment Winner Gary Fua
Congratulations to Gary Fua for winning...Photo Of The Day By Bob Faucher
Happy World Wildlife Day! Today’s...Advertisement
Featured Articles
Read More
Visualize, Plan, Shoot!
How to use maps and apps to plan the images you imagine.
Read More
How To Use Hyperfocal Focusing
Understand and use hyperfocal focusing to create sharper images and enhanced depth of field.
To access this content, you must purchase Outdoor Photographer Membership.
Read More
Challenge Accepted
Tips and techniques for getting started in adventure sports photography.
Read More
Bonsai Rock
Photographing this iconic feature of Lake Tahoe.
To access this content, you must purchase Outdoor Photographer Membership.
Read More
No Low-Pass Filter on Photography Cameras?
In 2012, Nikon introduced the D800 and the D800E, which were identical, but the D800E had the effects of its anti-aliasing (AA) filter removed.
Read More
Trillium Lake
Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon.
To access this content, you must purchase Outdoor Photographer Membership.
Big and Small
Polar Bear on pack ice, 90 degrees N.
This polar bear approached our ship and stayed with us for nearly an hour. During that time, I took dozens of shots with my long lenses, straining for close-ups, as if full-frame bears were somehow the gold standard. I had to force myself, in fact, to put away the big glass and try and capture the world this bear inhabits – the vast, featureless, expanse of floating sea ice.
We all have a tendency to shoot visual trophies, I suppose: big, in-your-face portraits that reward those photographers with the longest lenses. But story-telling demands more than simply an endless series of close-ups. Confident that I had plenty of those, I slapped on a wider lens to show the bear pacing the ice: alone, confident and eternally on the hunt.
The ice in Svalbard had retreated early this year, and this bear was riding it north. But food is scarce in late summer and seals few and far between. Not a conventional portrait, this image is a glimpse into the challenges that confront bears in the face of a changing arctic. That’s the story I wanted to tell.
Nikon D3, 70-200mm lens