Wild Black Bear in the Poconos of PA, 10.19.09 w the 70-200mm F/2.8L IS & 50D.

Wild Black Bear in the Poconos of PA, 10.19.09... w the 70-200mm F/2.8L IS & 50D.

Hiding mainly in the deep mid afternoon shadows of the Maple Oak Pine forest of the Poconos, I tracked this fellow down to approx. 27 yrds... He's heavier than me at around 275-340 lbs...

After enlarging/cropping the captures, I see that he tried to stare me down, and even showed me his teeth.

1.

What a brute. Nice shots.

That first pic is scary. Were you on foot?

Looks like he was ready to charge in the first pic.

Momtothefurmonsters wrote in post #8857985
Looks like he was ready to charge in the first pic.

I was going to say this! Haha..

LionQueen wrote in post #8857249
That first pic is scary. Were you on foot?

Yes... just wearing my low cut duck boots... Thanks for the feedback... Cheers.

Momtothefurmonsters wrote in post #8857985
Looks like he was ready to charge in the first pic.

I didn't see the detail or his eyes till I got the camera home... Yes it does make me wonder why he squared off at me like that... I must have bothered him.

GerVaj08 wrote in post #8858032
I was going to say this! Haha..

He later showed me his teeth too... One bicuspid looked pretty long... Of course, I didn't see any of this till I enlarged the pics at home... I'm kind of glad its over with and I have one good sharp one.

Thanks for the wonderful feed back everybody.

Great captures! That thing is big. I've got a 70-200 and i can honestly say that I wouldn't get that close.

rider1 wrote in post #8866937
Great captures! That thing is big. I've got a 70-200 and i can honestly say that I wouldn't get that close.

Thanks for the positive feedback rider1...
Some of my family and friends have hinted I should cool it with the close shots of wild bears... Perhaps this pic will do for a lifetime.

Nice shots and beautiful animal. This one is really huge, it seems he has prepared very well for the winter.
Last time I saw it was on my hiking to Mt. Tammany. I even didn't get chance to take out my camera.

bdbox wrote in post #8880054
Nice shots and beautiful animal. This one is really huge, it seems he has prepared very well for the winter.
Last time I saw it was on my hiking to Mt. Tammany. I even didn't get chance to take out my camera.

Thanks for the feedback...

We had an 800+ lb. black bear taken out of this vicinity in recent yrs... I'm at 1651 feet altitude, on the Pocono Plateau, as is Hickory Run State Park, Big Boulder Ski Area and Jack Frost Ski Area...

For those not familiar with our area:
Within sight from our highest peaks is Mt. Tammany, in NJ, at 1526 feet elevation, and the Deleware Water Gap (Dealware River) below it...

Unlike the High Sierras (Tahoe - 6,250 feet and upward of 14,000 Mt. Whitney), where I used to live for a while...We have rolling hills here... And primarily an oak, maple, pine forest, with various hardwood nut trees too, that provide great forage and cover for these large bears... The national record for the largest Black Bear came from CA and PA...

The shots are great.
However the bear looks so cuddly, are you certain they are dangerous?
Sorry about that, couldn't resist it.

That bear is well stocked up for hibernation.

P.S.~~~if a bear shows you its teeth as this one is doing, you know you are outstaying your welcome.

Digital Aurora Photography wrote in post #8886633
The shots are great.
However the bear looks so cuddly, are you certain they are dangerous?
Sorry about that, couldn't resist it.

The general consensus is that the coat/fur is fantastic. We all would love to run our fingers through it.... while the stare, has mixed reviews. Some say it's aggressive, others think it's just a plain ol' look.

pj30something wrote in post #8886718
That bear is well stocked up for hibernation.

P.S.~~~if a bear shows you its teeth as this one is doing, you know you are outstaying your welcome.

I neither saw the eyes nor the teeth till I removed the dark shadows off the face in post processing... Had I been able to see all of the definition out in the field, I would have been way too close... And probably getting out of there ASAP.

Thanks for the positive feedback... Cheers.

Oh man... I know it's tough to remove the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS from your camera as I do have a very hard time also... but if you seriously do "dangerous wildlife" shot like these, get a lens with a longer reach!

JVS wrote in post #8888980
Oh man... I know it's tough to remove the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS from your camera as I do have a very hard time also... but if you seriously do "dangerous wildlife" shot like these, get a lens with a longer reach!

I actually had a Canon 10-22mm lens on my 50D for taking fall foliage panoramas... My 30D had the Canon 24-70mm lens for macro and fall foliage too.

My long birding lens, the 400mm F/5.6L was left at home... I usually need to use a tripod with it, cause of the low light and long shadows of the dense forest floor...

I'm reluctant to carry all my "L" glass and $7-8 grand worth of gear into public places... So the my 400mm birding lens stayed in a gun safe at home.

That day I was primarily taking photos of horses on a friends farm and after ward I tried my luck at panoramas at the park lake... On the way home, I made one more stop to take a panorama of some trees, when from a distance, another Canon photographer waved me over, to tell me she had previously spotted a sizable black bear.

After talking to her, I had to walk another 75 yrds. back to my truck to get my longest lens with me at the time... I actually wished that I had a Canon 1.4x or 2.0x doubler... It's small and very functional in these situations...

Now I wish I had already purchased the doublers... so that's how this went down...

Thereafter, I walked toward the last sighting of the bear, while ducking out behind trees... After a while, I spotted him, and walking upwind while hiding behind trees, I got close enough for these snaps...

So to answer your ques., I have a long telephoto lens, It just doesn't fit with all of the other gear, and it often requires my tripod. All, would have been too bulky for panoramas and horses that day.