Travel photographer Chris McLennan recalls a thrilling encounter with two angry grizzly bears in the wilds of Alaska.
Here are some facts: 1. An adult grizzly bear in Alaska can weigh up to 800kg – about the same as the entire Wallaby forward pack; 2. During the summer, at the height of the salmon run, these bears eat around 40kg of salmon a day; 3. I weigh less than 80kg (not even twice their daily consumption) and can only eat about 200grams of salmon in a sitting.
After months of planning I was finally in Alaska – in the thick of the salmon run and surrounded by a feeding frenzy of grizzly bears. This was my first trip to photograph the grizzlies and at first I didn’t really know what to expect. It soon became clear that during the salmon run the bears aren’t really interested in much else, and as long as you follow the common sense instructions of the local guides, you can wander around fairly freely to photograph these amazing creatures.
To get this shot, I decided to do what all good wildlife photographer’s do; pick a spot and wait. Plenty of salmon were making their way laboriously upstream, and a number of bears were enjoying the bounty and jealously guarding their fishing territories. Skirmishes like this one would occasionally break out between the bears, and it was a matter of being quick on the draw and ready to catch the action at the right moment.
This is one of my favorite shots from that day, with the bear’s claws raking through the water adding some real drama to the image. I used a large aperture which gave me a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. It also created a shallow depth of field allowing me to isolate the bears and the water droplets from the background elements in the image.
CANON EOS 1DS MK III. Canon 400 2.8L. EXPOSURE: 1/3200S @ F2.8, ISO 250.
Chris McLennan lives in New Zealand and roams the globe on photographic assignments for his travel and tourism clients. He also hosts specialised photo tours to destinations including Africa, Alaska, Italy, Fiji and New Zealand.
Article first published in Australian Photography + digital (October, 2012).