Joey doesn't share food

Okay, his name is not Joey, nor is this photo 'tack sharp', but you get the idea. Last night a new kid was on the block, although we suspect this is a much older male than the regular male Aulis. The previous night an English photographer had heard a fierce confrontation between these two massive males, and as a result the two were not present at the same time in the same place last night.

Aulis let the 'new' male emerge first from the Russian forest and explore the surroundings, he seemed constantly on edge and weary, a sort of confirmation of the the dispute between the two big males. He also appeared quite aggressive which was not the most comfortable emotion for me to see displayed, but fortunately enough he seemed more concerned by the hooded crows than by my awkwardly loud shutter. 

Without coincidence, Aulis moved forward onto his lookout post, whilst other male retreated back towards the trees guarding his carrion. The size difference between the two males was clearly evident; Aulis stood larger at the shoulder, and in muscular proportion the two males couldn't be further apart. He lightly picked his route down the rock face and onto the valley floor, where he began to taste the air. The scent from the older male must have been overwhelming, however, it did not take long before mine too drifted towards him. His gaze slowly fixed onto me and through my binoculars or the 300mm lens, it felt as though he could see right into my pupils. Naturally I hid behind the camera and captured the moment. 

I dusted off my beloved 40D and set up my time-lapse rig. It was around 5pm and I knew that with the added chill in the air, the bears could arrive earlier than expected. This capture was over 2 hours, and shows the males moving through the area and changing light on the Finnish taiga. I have named it 'speedy bears'. 

Sigma 300mm F2.8

Big skies and late night drives

Last evening, one of the photographers and I explored the surrounding area, trying to find some nice compositions to use as the foreground for the sunset. The vast majority of open water is currently still beneath thick ice and the view out across many of the huge lakes looks quite similar to the photograph above. Due to this we were both pleasantly surprised to come across this small back-country bridge, which had a small open river flowing underneath. 

The light was dropping close to the horizon, and as a result the suns rays hitting the far bank were extremely rich in colour. A mixture of yellow and magenta light reflecting in the icy water created a great image, I quickly shot two exposures to balance the natural light between the sun and shadow regions and then masked them in post later on.

On our return leg we spotted two giant Capercaillie displaying seasonal mating rituals, and although we had on hand Canon's latest sensor technology, the light was far to poor to get a shot worth exhibiting. This will be a month of firsts I am sure.    

Day 3-4 - Fresh tracks

After a long night in the hides, activities were exchanged for sleep and re-cooperation, this gave me time to work through my raw files, which seems to be an ongoing operation for me, as I always have a backlog of images that I have taken and not reviewed.

Sunday began early with a fresh inch of snow that had fallen overnight, completely transforming the landscape once again. A local Finnish photographer had spent the night in the hides and would be returning for breakfast, where we were eager to hear of what the night had brought.  

He told us that the same bear had returned a total of 4 times throughout the night, twice in the evening, once in the night and the fourth in the early hours of the morning. Despite the bear being spooked once by a patrolling White-Tailed Eagle, he said that he had a great chance to photograph the bear with a light covering of snow on its hide, a image many will never see.

< Due to the fresh snow covering, it was a perfect opportunity to hike down to the hides and check for fresh tracks. I led the German photographer down, passing fresh Arctic Hare tracks on the way. As the cloud cover had been minimal over the night, the temperature was well below freezing and and the trees were covered with a layer of ice crystals, shimmering in the morning light. As we approached the hides we saw a fresh set of tracks, most probably originating from the bear which had passed through just hours before.

The rare combination of recent bear tracks, bright sun and the frosty thin layer of new snow, enabled us to really appreciate the size of this bear. The paw prints were roughly twice the width of my size 12 boots and about a length and a half long. Apart from being a terrifying size, these paws allow the mammal to move more easily on the snow and spreads the weight evenly, this allows the bear to also cover large distances comfortably, a necessity in the winter months as forage is scarce. >