# Grizzly Bears



## Misfit79 (Sep 6, 2010)

Hello all, 



these were taken a few days ago,  mostly in dark, high iso conditions. 
Highwood Pass Kananaskis,  Alberta

Grizzly Cub
1.



Grizzly cub

Mama bear & cub,  sadly I missed the focus on the cub
2.



Mama bear
3.



Another Grizzly that wondered down to the mama and cub - The mother chased him off 
4.



one more of the mama bear - just after she came back from chasing the above Bear
5.



Another grizzly on the other side of the road - shy one, happy to be eating all the berries in site
6. 



7.



I kept a safe distance while taking these,  I made sure I wasn't stressing the Mother,  All the bears here currently have one thing on there mind - get fat off the berries for winter 

Thanks for looking


RJ's Alpine Photography -- Rory McAlduff | SmugMug


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## Eco (Sep 6, 2010)

"a safe distance" = how far away?

Nice photos and congrats for having the nads to take them!  They look like you have the bears trained to pose for you.


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## Texas Photo (Sep 6, 2010)

Looks like that last shot was an invite to join here for dinner. She seems to just have that special twinkle in her eye 

(Texas Photo Workshops |)


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## pbelarge (Sep 6, 2010)

Misfit
Hello and welcome to the forum.

Those are some nice photos of the bears. The clarity and color are really nice.

I also am curious how far you were when shooting. What lens?


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## Misfit79 (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks everyone!

I was about 150-200ft back for the most part,  when closer I was inside a vehicle. 
there was another photographer shooting the Mother and cub,  and he must have been no more then 50ft from her,  I thought for sure she was going to charge him at one point.  but I figured as long as he was in her sights I was pretty safe being where I was  

I was shooting with a sigma 150-500mm @f8 mostly

the general rule of thumb up here at this time of the year is - if the bear is willing to leave its food source to investigate you,  it must be very interested and you might be in trouble. 

I'm more concerned with Bull moose then grizzlies right now - Mating season for the moose.

Rory


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## Eco (Sep 6, 2010)

Misfit79 said:


> I was about 150-200ft back for the most part



Not even enough time to crap your pants if she charges at you  I've toyed with moose in Maine a few times within 30 feet but not during mating season or when they have their young ones still with them.  Other than black bears (cute like little kittens) my a@@ stays away from the big ones and the mothers.

Once again congrats and congrats on keeping the other photo op (photag) in front of you


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## jbmaster (Sep 7, 2010)

Was there a stream there?The mom and cub looks wet,but the male is dry.


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## PenguinPhotoWrx (Sep 7, 2010)

I wanna say they have a blue or cyan cast- I'm in my office now with its green lights, so it's hard to tell.  Just curious if you adjusted the white balance in post.

You know what I say... If we're being chased by a bear, you don't have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun me!


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## Big Mike (Sep 7, 2010)

Sweet pics.  

I was in Kananaskis for a week in August and only caught a quick glimpse of a Grizzly.  My wife missed it and was pissed when I didn't turn around as she really wants to see her first wild grizzly.  There were a few in the area, as evidenced by the park rangers tracking them, but we didn't see them.  We did find a good sized black bear, which was cool, but not as exciting.


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## Misfit79 (Sep 7, 2010)

jbmaster - Its morning dew from the bushes,  by the time the other bear came around things were drying up 
PenguinPhotoWrx - no adjustments to wb,  I don't see any blue or cyan on two different systems,   if anyone else notices this let me know please


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## mooney101 (Sep 7, 2010)

Love number 2 be careful not to become dinner though.


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## Art Photographers (Sep 8, 2010)

Great Snowboarding up there.. I here Canmore is the Grizzly Capitol of the World.


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## Misfit79 (Sep 8, 2010)

Art Photographers this year has been crazy for bears, in the last month virtually All of the common camping spots have been under a bear warning.


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## koalazf (Sep 9, 2010)

great photos!

http://koalazf.wordpress.com


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## ashleyhanetphoto (Sep 13, 2010)

I shoot within only a couple feet from Wild Black Bears... but no Grizzlies here :/ Otherwise I'd be right up there too! Although Black Bears are much nicer than Grizz! [Black Bears graze like cows, and scavenge for dead meat, hardly ever kill anything but fish during Salmon runs! but for some reason people think they'll attack you right off the bat?]

Awesome pics!!


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## Misfit79 (Sep 14, 2010)

ashleyhanetphoto - that's an interesting perspective..   Our grizzlies here pretty much manage on berries and dandelions - but yeah they will kill stuff as well.
Up here the vast majority of human/bear issues are from black bears - they are so curious and numerous that they make up for almost all the bear attacks (usually human fault)
I'm going out to check out some black bears that closed a campground down this morning,  I can honestly say that they make me nervous,  just for the curiosity factor..   unless a grizzly wants to eat you,  he ignores you... black bears will come up to you just to see why you are there!

thanks all for the positive comments!!

Rory


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## michaelleggero (Sep 14, 2010)

great stuff, i spent a week in glacier national park at the end of august and you got much better stuff than i got, very cool  if only they wouldn't stand behind trees and grass, damn nature, ha ha

Mike

http://www.michaelleggero.com


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