Alaskan Brown Bear
This image is a survivor from a recent culling of my brown bear photos from my Alaska trip so long ago ago now. I have developed sufficient detachment from many of these images that I can edit rather ruthlessly. Yeah, I still have a lot to delete. Many still remain in picture purgatory.
I particularly liked the rim lighting on this bear that accentuated the characteristic grizzly hump. In fact, the lighting on the bear is what I liked the most, not necessarily the surroundings. So I began to play with this image in Lightroom a bit to see if I could maintain what I liked the most, while reducing the impact of the rest. I ended up going with a monochrome image. But a pure black and white image just seemed too cold to me given the warm color of the bear’s fur. So I added a little warm toning that resulted in this final verison.
Oh my! I would have been shaking all over if I were you. That bear looks like it’s ready to pounce! Cheers to bravery for the sake of an awesome shot!
I like how the bear seems to be making eye contact here. Pretty scary, if you think about it, to be eye to eye with a grizzly.
Took a quick tour of your blog and I found lots of amazing photos. I’m a fan! 🙂
Great shots
Beautifully conveys grace of animal – congratulations
Hey Mark, I really love how you crafted this image. I like the background in that it really makes the bear standout as nothing is competing with him.
I have a mass of images on one external hard drive that I need to go through! Whew!!! I dread it.
Thanks a lot Boyd!
Incredible shot! We are used to think that a bear is a fearful animal. But how beautiful he is on that image!
Thank you Arnold!
@ Charles – for sure, it can be a very tough thing to do, which is why I often wait a bit for the really harsh editing, to lose some of that emotional attachment.
@ Earl – thanks! The larger version does seem more appropriate for the subject eh? 🙂
@ Ove – thanks a lot, many of the aspects you point out is why I also liked this shot.
This is an amazing image. The light that falls over the bear, the eyes, even the background. I rather think the background adds a bit excitement to the image. It frames the bear, leaving it one way less to go, still having your way as an option.
Mark, you did a great job on this image. At it’s larger size in the home page slider it absolutely pops! You can feel the strength, energy and more then a little danger.
Editing my gallery is one of the hardest things for me to do. There are images that I’m emotionally attached to – some that are *this* close to perfect – that I’ve struggled with.
Ultimately, the portfolio must contain only the best of the best, but it’s a hard road getting there sometimes.
Charlie MacPherson
http://www.TheAmazingImage.com
http://www.TheWildInFocus.com
Thanks guys. (and I mean ‘guys’ generically Anita!) I was a bit unsure about the tongue in this one. 🙂 I am not sure what the general “rule” is for wildlife photography and tongues showing!
When it comes to bears, the ‘rule’ is whatever the bear decides to do.
Great shot Mark.
pj – good point! 🙂
The warm tone is perfect for this image, Mark. Beautiful, even lighting captures every detail. Really nice.
This is fantastic, Mark! I agree with Monte above that the eyes very quickly pull you into this one, but once you break from the stare its great to take in the details of its wet fur and the beautiful shape of its form.
The power of this image is those eyes. I agree the rim light is great and in the smaller image I could really see that rim light. Once I saw the larger image the first thing to catch my attention was the eye contact. Did I mention I liked the eye contact?
How lovely that you are back into your Alaska files. As usual, I am always delighted by the larger version of the picture. In the smaller image, I couldn’t begin to get the impact of the detail in the bear’s fur, nor could I fully appreciate the expression. That face is marvelous. The toning works beautifully. That touch of warmth feels just right for the subject.