This shot is a combination of 5 years of trying and a lot of luck. I have been going to Lake Clark National Park for the last 5 years. This is a very well known bear, known as Crimp and I have have been photographing her for quite some time now as she is a regular in the lake Clark area and probably my favorite bear! For years I have been trying to get a wide angle photo of an Alaskan grizzly bear and a lot of factors play into getting a shot like this. The camera is triggered remotely but in order to get the photo you have to place it in a spot where you hope the bear goes by, in this case it was right along the river. After years of studying her patterns and behavior I felt pretty confident that she wouldn’t wreck the camera. Her first year cubs showed interest at first but were then weary of it and left it alone. Other bears I have tried this on have tried to knock the camera over and nibble on the front of the lens. Crimp usually doesn’t cooperate and tends to walk away from the camera with little to no interest, but luckily for this shot she just happened to walk straight up to it, look straight into the lens and than proceeded around the camera carrying on what she was doing. It’s one of those photos where things just went right, the bear was in the right spot, the right focal length was chosen, the settings were spot on, the angle the camera was positioned was good and the light was awesome! My guide just had a hunch she would go down the side of the river and sure enough with some patience she did, as the sun was setting behind us.
