More Bears...

Nothing like getting in the way of a head shake!

This spring cub entered the water after watching mama get a bit too far away for comfort. He did protest a bit…

We were able to get out of the boats as we waited for this sow and cub family to cross this rock wall area. The cubs get quite a work out as we watched them walk for miles and miles each day.

A swing and a miss!! I found it fascinating to watch the bears use the backside of their big paws to lift the fish out of the water and towards their mouths.

Someone needs some dental work- LOL

She had two cubs nursing and for a portion of the time they were literally standing on top of her. I am not sure how these giant cubs didn’t hurt her. She was patient even after this cub came back for seconds.

I was too close for this shot! But I still liked the eyes.

I captured all of these images with my Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens. It is much easier to maneuver and handhold.

Bear "Boating" Trip Report

I just returned home from a weeklong photo tour that I led to Alaska. The photography did not disappoint even though our river was running at record high levels for that area we still had more photo opportunities than I could have ever imagined.

Every morning after breakfast we got into small, motorized boats. Three to a boat and we rotated between guests and guides, so that everyone had a chance to be with each of the guides-or at least that was the plan.

Each boat had different sightings and that made it very interesting. I likened it to a safari, where you were in a boat instead of a safari vehicle and your subjects were bears and not cats! It was adventurous and we had to keep our eyes peeled for the bears. Because the river was so high most of the big ole boars had left the area and the younger three- and four-year-old bears and sows with cubs filled the area. That was fine with me because I was excited every time we saw a sow with two or three cubs, which ended up being lots and lots of times!

Our guides were all terrific, each one knew the river extremely well, drove their boats precisely and were able to get us close to our subjects. I used my Sony 200-600mm lens most of the time as it was easy to use especially with that internal zoom. The times I got on land, I shot with my Canon 600mm lens and the Canon R5—it performed very well. I enjoyed shooting with it. I may purchase it and the Sony A1. It makes sense for me since I own the Canon 600mm II lens. By purchasing the R5, I can use my 600 lens for wildlife. My old Canon 5D4, just can’t keep up with the action.

Back to the bears- we had blonde bears and even mixed brown and blonde bears, small spring cubs still with their white collars. We even had a couple of the big ole boars feeding on salmon. It was an excellent location for photography. Our accommodations were not quite as I expected but Alaska is a great big wilderness and creature comforts are not as necessary. We did have a nice Chalet with gorgeous views. My guests were treated to a whopping 8.2 magnitude earthquake, that struck off Alaska's coast while we were there. The chalet wobbled back and forth, and I expect it will slide into the river someday soon…hope not!

With an endless number of images to sort through and emails to catch up on I am only sharing a very small portion of the images I captured. Some are from my day at Brooks Falls too. All of these images were shot with my Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens. I’ll share some of the shots I got with the Canon R5 soon.

I know the image is on the dark side but that was my intention. I also know the bear is looking out of the frame and not into the frame-but the image caught my eye…

In-camera blur @ 1/20 sec.

Alaska’s Bald Eagles in Winter

Alaska’s Bald Eagles in Winter

This trip begins in Homer Alaska. We will be going out to Katchemak Bay and surrounding areas each day to photograph these majestic birds in their natural environment via boat. We will need to flexible to take advantage of local conditions. Snow is always a plus! We will either do (two) 2-hour boat trips or (one) 4-hour boat trip daily, depending on weather, tides and local conditions.

Not included: your airfare to and from Homer, AK through Anchorage and back. Lodging and all personal items. All meals and beverages except breakfast--it is included with your lodging, Tips for the boat captain.

Included: Photo instruction, a short informal meet & greet with slide program to get you acquainted with conditions, camera settings, etc.. All boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to the dock and back to the hotel each day. Five full days of photography from either the boat or on land.

February 14-18, 2022

Five days $4500.00. Limit 5 participants

Workshop Leader-Donna Bourdon

*As always with wildlife photography there are no guarantees but this trip is fantastic and the opportunities are tremendous!  Itinerary is subject to change due to local conditions, weather, etc…A detailed information sheet with gear and travel recommendations will be sent to all participants.

Deposit Information:
A non-refundable deposit of $2,000 due now to hold your spot. Final payments are due November 15, 2021 via check or wire transfer only, fees on both ends are the responsibility of the participant. Credit cards will not be accepted for any payment other than deposit. Full payments are always welcomed via check or wire transfer . All checks made payable to: Denise Ippolito LLC.

Please be sure to check your calendar carefully and to check out my Workshop Policy Page.

Note: Purchasing travel insurance is strongly recommended.

SIGN UP HERE.

Image copyright Donna Bourdon

Image copyright Donna Bourdon

Image copyright Donna Bourdon

Image copyright Donna Bourdon

Image copyright Donna Bourdon

Meet Donna Bourdon, click here.

Canon R5…

My friends at B&H are loaning me the Canon R5 mirrorless camera body to use during my upcoming Alaska trip. They did this for me, as a last minute request—many thanks. It’s one of the benefits to having their link on my site and I am truly grateful for the working relationship that I have with B&H Photo. If you need any gear please consider using my B&H affiliate link so that I can keep borrowing gear and share my experiences with you.

I also had to buy (from e-Bay) the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R so that I can use my Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens -now replaced by the version III- but I paid $13,999.00 for the version II and don’t intend to buy another if I don’t have to <smile>.

I found that the initial set-up for the camera was very familiar and easy. Most of the menu items are similar to the 5D Mark IV so I set it up in no time. The camera has a fully articulating screen-which I love! With 45MP, I will be a happy camper. It’s similar in size to the 5D Mark IV and feels comfortable in my hands. I did need to get a CFexpress Type B memory card so I contacted my good friends and sponsors at Delkin Devices and they sent me a rush order with two cards -thank you! I am anxious to give you a full report on how I like the camera and if it will make it into my arsenal. I have had my eye on the Sony a1 but since I have not been able to travel, my business does not need an additional expense of $6500.00-that said, I really, really want one!!

Nickerson Beach Trip Report

I just finished up my series of workshops and private clients at Nickerson Beach in NY. I met up with old and new friends and we all had some wonderful photo opportunities. We also dealt with difficult lighting conditions on some of the days, but our adventures were all filled with great fun.

I will be working with the groups on Sunday sharing lots of my Photoshop techniques and reviewing their images. I have found that doing the Photoshop sessions via Zoom after the workshop allows the clients to look through their images and find the photos they want to share and/or ask questions about.. And best of all, everyone has a ring side seat <wink>.

Here are just a few from my time at Nickerson. All photographed handheld with the Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera and the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens.

Above is a Black Skimmer family, showing off the first of the season skimmer chick. The proud parents took turns watching after the young chick. Thanks to a nice woman on the beach for sharing the location with me and my clients so that we were able to see and photograph it. I also captured the entire bodies of both skimmers, but liked the more intimate crop of this one.

This American Oystercatcher was brooding it’s young chick, if you look closely you can see the head and bill of the chick peeking through the back feathers, trying to stay close to mom’s touch. This image was captured just before sunset and the lighting was lovely. Two juvenile Common Terns are resting in the background.

This American Oystercatcher and young chick were one of our favorites to photograph. This young curious chick was a hoot. I liked the intimate moment here even though I clipped the tail of the adult the image still had some merit.

This Common Tern chick came out from behind the grasses with it’s beak fully open, guns a blazin’ looking to be fed. I’m always amazed at how they can recognize the sound of their parent through all the ruckus going on in the colony. We had some beautiful early morning light that cast a lovely, pale-pink tone on the sand. I had to reduce the saturation of the beak and feet as they were practically glowing! With early morning light I often move slightly to the side to eliminate my shadow from hitting the bird; I am careful not to over expose the chests of the birds.

As I mentioned before we had some flat light due to clouds and even slight rain. Eventually the sun started to come out which created a nice soft box. This lighting made it easy to capture some of the chicks in assorted poses; you didn’t need to worry about working on sun angle as they moved all about the colony.

I wasn’t really working on flight shots when I captured this one but the grasses at the base made it hard to resist. On average, I like to use shutter speeds upwards of 1/1250 second for flight.