Alaskan Brown Bears

Great shots. I love the ones of the bear fishing.

Excellent captures. #1,4 & 5 get my vote. Good work.

Thanks for all of the kind comments

Shaun

Nicely done.

I had heard that Brooks was getting way too crowded now days with people crowding the observation decks. Any thoughts on this or other input ? I will be in Katmai next week but am going somewhere else based on a report from Nature Scapes and the pilot I hired. I hope I didn't error. Which service did you hire ? Thanks.

Blue Deuce wrote in post #3506891
Nicely done.

I had heard that Brooks was getting way too crowded now days with people crowding the observation decks. Any thoughts on this or other input ? I will be in Katmai next week but am going somewhere else based on a report from Nature Scapes and the pilot I hired. I hope I didn't error. Which service did you hire ? Thanks.

I went with Bald Mountain Air and would highly recommend them. The pilot was very knowledgeably about bears and the area. I was there on June 28th, we were supposed to go to a coastal area in Katmai but they changed the plans at the last minute because of good bear activity at Brooks Falls. It was not crowded, but the ranger I spoke withe a little said it turns into a zoo after July 1st. So I would say you made the right choice. Where are you going?

Wow, wow, and WOW!!! My goodness, those photos are incredible. We are planning a very last minute trip to the Katmai area. Couldn't pin down dates until now due to some work issues. We are going to be there from 1-5 Aug inclusive.

From what you are saying, the Falls area is a no-go at this time of year? We have looked at a couple of safari-type companies: one's called "Hallo Bay" the other "Alaska Wilderness Safari". Also very keen to photograph otters- from a kayak if necessary. REALLY lost on what to do and trying to do it as cheap as we can. Please give me any advice you can- Do we need to go with one of these nature guide companies? Or should we just pay a pilot to get to Katmai and go to some of these areas ourself?

I've been tossing up between the 100-400 and the Sigma 50-500. Great to see such fantastic images captured on the 100-400, although I'm not sure we'd be as lucky as you with regards to closeness etc. Any advice on lenses, extra equipment etc is greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I'll scour this wonderful forum for more info.

Congrats on your shots!

Excellent, my favorite of course is the one with the fish in the bear's mouth.

KAC

hey highplains
looks like we might be neighbors
i am in pine CO
we may have met at Brooks
I was an Interpretive Ranger there from May thru Sept '07
Certainly a summer I will never forget
i just got home (I drove up and back - three times now)
If anyone wants to chat about Brooks let me know.
I have 19,645 images taken on my days off I am just beginning to sort
i managed to send a few up to my BLOG while there
http://jonnyhorizon.bl​ogspot.com
keep in touch... ranger john

Not to be a stick in the mud, but why not crop and post process a bit to increase contrast and add a bit of pop?

crop - agree
post process - what do you suggest?
...

Great series and wonderful shots. Thanks for sharing.