KATMAI NATIONAL PARK: The Bears of Brooks Falls

These are just a few of my favorite photographs taken from the Brooks Falls Viewing deck.

Again, just entering this deck makes you feel like a scene from "Jurassic Park", as you walk down a long boardwalk, suspended over 8ft above the ground, while opening and closing a series of very heavy metal gates. Sure, if the Bear's wanted too, they could easily climb and over run the viewing platforms, but they're currently so fat on salmon, they don't pay much attention to the parade of photographers and bear watchers observing their eating habits...

I nickname this one "Grumpy Bear". The park service actually numbers all bears observed within the Brooks Range area, giving most of them nicknames as well. This more easily helps the biologists catalogue their habits and daily on-doings.

All photographs were taken with my Nikon D80, using either the 15-55mm lens, or 70-300mm telephoto lens. Each shot is different, I have spared putting the photo data here, but I don't use a tripod or remote.

I really like the way using a slower shutter speed in this shot makes the water appear as more of a white blanket, while keeping the bears profile vivid.

This was the first time, after hundreds of tries, I was able to capture a Salmon in mid flight.
Mom fishing for her two cubs...
So I really love this photograph, it sort of epitomizes what amateur and professional photographers come to the falls to capture. Nature, at its most raw; Bears, doing what they do.

It also signifies what I think is the most important aspect of photography, being in the right place at the time, forever capturing the image on film.
On any given day during peak season (July and September) during the height of the Salmon run you can have anywhere from 5 - 22 bears at the falls. I give those numbers because that is what we saw over the course of our time here.

Got em!
As all living creatures, Bears don't always get along. The have the say guilty desires to covet they neighbors fish. Here a hungry bear thinks he might be able to win over another Bear's fish, ha, he was wrong.

It wasn't uncommon to see the bears "sparring" or play/fighting, these bouts last from 2-3 minutes, dancing back and forth, while growling and flaring chests.
The photo's above are sort of deceiving with a telephoto lens, making the bears appear closer then they actually are, but here you can see, the bears really are very close.