Bear-y Cute Portrait!
Getting a portrait of an animal in the wild isn’t the easiest thing. I’ve done it before, but basically it’s a once-a-year type experience. It’s a matter of enough light, the right path, anticipation of their path, quickness behind the camera to get the appropriate focal point & composition, and then on top of all of that, it requires the animal to cooperate with it’s expression.
But, every once in a while, you get a break and all those things come together…
This is from a few weeks ago, take a look:
See more wildlife and fine-art images from 2012 here: http://photos.codyjbennett.com/fine-art/2012/
Steampunk Wedding & Bear, Oh My!
I thought I’d take a moment to post a couple pictures from a wedding I had the chance to attend last weekend. My friend Rhys had a themed wedding, and invited Heather & I to celebrate! It’s a rare occasion that I get to attend a wedding without a role in documenting it, so I was excited to see photos pop up online afterwards. The only time I took my camera out was to take a picture of Heather & I before we left the house, and then a few shots of a bear on the way home!
These 4 photos from the wedding were taken by Anna Miller on her iphone – I really like the instagr.am treatments she applied!
And then of course a keeper bear photo of my own. Nevermind that frumpy rump – it looks like it’s just losing the winter coat now that it’s looking a bit more like summer!
Garbage Bears
I love wildlife and I love people.
I hate it when one side of that duo become so familiar with its surroundings that it creates dangerous situation for the other.
Lately, on the UAS campus, there has been a bear who shows up to peruse the Mourant Building area looking for morsels. It’s a real bummer because now that the bear has visited on multiple occasions this week, the next step will likely be some intervention by some agency. (I presume darting or live capturing the bear to take it to some far-away area.) The bear is simply looking for a food source, and fortunately he didn’t find any on this trip, even after knocking over the bear-proof garbage can and getting up into the box recycling. The bear ambled away without much human interaction (save for my photo-taking)
This isn’t particularly a striking set of photography, but I believe that it is important to share when these things happen so that people can be more aware of the impact of their actions…
And I just noticed that this is a tagged bear (the top image, he has a blue mark near his ear). I don’t think that bodes well for our furry friend… 🙁
Early Mornings
In Juneau, during the summertime, we are blessed with more than 18 hours of daylight at the June solstice. Even now in late July, we get around 17 hours of daylight. I love these summer months for the bright early morning outings to spend time with wildlife. There’s something magical about sharing a look of curiosity with a purely wild creature. And, in the early, early hours of the day, you don’t have to fret as much about the most unpredictable species: humans. I am grateful for my quiet time in the wilderness before most people would even consider being awake.
This morning was another outing for me. There were a couple bears near the glacier this morning. I sat and watched one of them for nearly two hours; here are a few keepers…
And, I’ve been learning to appreciate fences too…
Oh, and there was a visiting eagle too. Man I love Alaska.
Juneau to Haines to Skagway to Juneau or Bust
Heather and I went on a great mini-roadtrip this last weekend. It was three nights away from town and I thoroughly enjoyed the time away from phones and email and other distractions to be able to sit and chat and giggle with my wife. It was our two year anniversary on Monday, and it’s a good reminder that we’re in love, not just the business of living together. Anyhow, I took my camera along for the drive too, expecting the weather to cooperate a bit. Here are my top selections from the images I brought back…
Morning Wildlife
This morning I was up by 3:15 and before the sun was up I had some breakfast and 30 minutes of reading under my belt (appropriately from Wild at Heart). Getting out the door at around 4:15, I headed out to catch up with my friend Bill for some bear searching near the Peterson Creek Meadows. On the way there, I saw four deer and a bear. Here’s a picture of one of the deer.
After my brief stop, we made it out to the meadows and wandered about through the woods hoping for bear, but there wasn’t much more than a single pile of scat. It’s was a beautiful morning, but woefully slim on wildlife save for birds chirping incessantly. Of course, on the way back, there was more wildlife right along the highway… This time, it was two different bears…
You can see more images from the day at http://photos.codyjbennett.com/Other/2011/
