Bears of the Finnish Taiga

Back in June I got to spend some time in the forests of Finland, experiencing my first wild bears. This was at Martinselkosen Eräkeskus, an old border guard station a few miles from the border with Russia, and about 100 miles short of the Arctic circle. These photos were taken over the course of four nights, from hides at various locations where the bears come to eat.

Hardware was a 7D, a rented 500mm f/4 and a 70-200 f/2.8.

Despite the fact this was back in the middle of June, I've only now just started to sort through them. Hopefully there's a load more keepers waiting for me!

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Stunning series.

really great series

Thanks for posting these ....... great captures!

Great images. These look like grizzly bears, what are they?
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Yup, brown bears.

Absolutely wonderful images. I especially like the way you captured the interesting contrast on the face of the bear in the 2nd image - that is a beautifully marked bear.

Image #3 is also particularly pleasing to me - you were able to capture the trees in such a way as to showcase both their stature and beauty. It really helps that the bear was (more or less) on the same plane of focus as the two tree trunks on either side of the composition.

Wonderful series!

All very nice, like how the eyes pop in the last one. Really gets your attention.

fantastic photos! you did an excellent job capturing those bears.

Great captures. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful series

I like them all.. fantastic photographs. I do have to say, I'm partial to the 4th one: Through the mist.

Stunning series! Hope to see more when you get them processed.
Mike

awesome photos!!!

Great shots. In the first two, the bear looks almost like he is smiling.