Camera Labs

Got on a couple tonight.
Rather dark and high ISO/noisy.
Managed to get quite close with the help of the girlfriend and momma paying attention to her,or her direction, as neither could see each other.






Can you say...busted?





One huff and the party is over....



Momma above is pushin 300lbs.
This one stepped out a bit later/darker...
This is one big blackbear for around here.
Long distance and freehand with 500mm

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Played with this pic a bit.
I don't usually like to expose locations of critters but I rather like this one,and I believe she is "safe" from the other "locals" on CL's
I also try not to do alot of PP,given this session was high ISO and low light I did some "fiddling" and will readily admit I'm not very good at it.
I gotta say you guys that do it regularly must have a much higher frustration tolerance than me
I couldn't lose the blue haze/tinge on the mntn without the pic going back darker.

Now if this rain would stop I could quit with the PP "fiddling" and get out an take some more pics!!!!



My like for the pic takes a bit of explaining.
People around here are surprised I can get pics of bears.
Some have lived here all their lives and never seen one alive or, at all.
This session there were 4 differant bears within 500yds of town.
The church in the pic has houses either side of it and a main road right in front of it.
I guess thats what makes bears my favourites.
They are all around us and rarely seen,and why I refer to them as "Shadow Ghosts"
Bears...ya gotta love em

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

I had a look at all the posts in this section, great shots. In pic #6, the bear standing, can you guestimate how far you where from it and did you crop these shots. I'm thinking of getting the siggy 150-500mm lens.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

4xxxx,

Pic was not cropped.

Focal Length: 500.0mm (35mm equivalent: 750...
Exposure Time: 0.022 s (1/45)
Aperture: f/6.7
ISO Equiv.: 1600
Whitebalance: Manual

Here same pic same spot at 230mm



I'd guess she was about 7-7.5ft high and 300lbs or a bit better.
Possibly right there she was at 50yds
When she was in the ditch with me I guessed 40yds and paced it off after she left @ 42....it's a bowhunter thing

These are pretty low light pics for the most part through the whole thread.
Duck of the day or Whitetail Deer may be a better place to make a judgement on the quality of the lens,I wouldn't give my camera high marks above 800 ISO
I will say I love my lens,just wish it would focus a bit faster sometimes.

Heres a big fella from tonight really late...@ about 150yds
Timestamp hasn't been corrected for spring ahead yet so 21:21:18

Date/Time: 2010:05:20 20:21:18
Focal Length: 310.0mm (35mm equivalent: 465...
Exposure Time: 1.000 s
Aperture: f/6.7
ISO Equiv.: 1600


Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm...
Exposure Time: 1.500 s
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO Equiv.: 1600

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Thanks for the info, we don’t have bears downunder but we have 30 kilometres of beaches 4 Km down the road and some good surfing spots, that’s why I’m thinking of the 150-500 sigma, my 200 lens is no where long enough even when I’m at the waters edge on rocks.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

The Sigma will certainly shine in that environ.....

Now you do have saltwater crocodiles and I'm not thinking you'd want to get too close to one of them but.....
I can't speak for everyone..... I'D sure love to see some shots

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Well I found "Beartopia" along with about 10 differant cooperative bears I thought I was in heaven for two days.
This week I travelled with a friend...one of the best bearhunting guides in Nova Scotia...down to his camp about 500km away.
Said he thought he could get me on some bears...boy he didn't disappoint.































All above were evening pics I believe.
This one was/is my favourite,the biggest/baddest meanest lookin one of the bunch.
Probably cause it was early morning....not a morning bear.
He had the place all to himself until we arrived,not thinkin the others wanted him cranky at them thats why he was alone.



To give a slight idea of it size...
The girlfriend (also not much for early mornings) in about the same spot.
I had to crop her abit to get the ratio about right...
She is approx 5'6" and 110-120lbs

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

You guys are pretty lucky to see bear.. There are supposed to be TONS of black bear where I live... Been here 5 years and nothing yet. haha

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"If I want a 'snapshot'... i will use my phone.."

My Photos:
http://mistycreek.deviantart.com/

Thats the best thing about bears where they are.
Here especially,they are all around us and rarely seen.
Boreal Shadow Ghosts I call them.
So silent moving through the forest you never know they are there until you see them.
Rarely do they come out in the open especially in numbers like they did there.
It was truly amazing to happen across that session...I feel kinda blessed to have witnessed it really.

You have corn there fallenmember?
Watch those cut fields in spring just coming on dark.

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Wow, those are some fantastic shots!
Several of those bears are HUGE.

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Canon T1i
Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with 498RC2 head.

Thank you yar.
We estimated the big colorphase one,the one eared one and the last one at well over 300lbs.
I can't imagine what they'd look like or wiegh in the fall when they really pack it on.
Love to see them then!

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Been messing with the bears alot.
Have found where they cross a bean field to get to a cornfield.
Aside from getting a pic at close range at near dark in waist high beans,the real trick is getting the bears to stand up...think I got it workin though...
Now if could get the deer in the beans to stop scaring the bears away...
There are more than just this one there,just I have gotten this one the best...it's a "regular" actually.
I can almost set my watch by it arriving.







This lil fella popped out of the corn about 30ft from us tonight.
Not only can we not see in there...they have to come out for a look.
Maybe not so close next time there fella...

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Great shots KPR, I don't know how you do it. How close are you?
Nice idea with the person shot to give an idea of their size...

On the last post of the bear standing in the beans...
Last pic about 30yds the other about 50yds.
The post from July 04 distances ranged from as close as 15ft out to 80+yds in that spot.
The bears there were pre-occupied with each other and I pretty much stood in one place and they moved around myself and the other bears.
Both times I was there I was not alone which allowed me to be busy with taking pics and having someone else watching out for them and me at the same time.

Here is a couple video clips my friend put together of that encounter.
A bit shaky with no tripod but gives an idea of behaviour....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV5YH9QSPes

That first guy was the only one that showed any kind of interest in us.
We were standing in the wide open with nothing around us but my camera and tripod.
It made it to about 35ft from me,I was a bit ahead of the camera to the left.
Once it saw me paying attention to it and then talking to it it decided it wasn't interested anymore and went on its way.
The first time it jumps is when I simply looked up from the camera.
I then had to assert by voice to get it to move off.
Roger talking nicely to it didn't seem to affect it....he was behind me though...lol
They are very fast when they want and 35ft from an "interested" bear is wayyyy too close.
When it licks it lips it was actually popping its jaws,they do this when they are nervous or stressed.

In this video...again shaky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK1fNrwRxT8

We were about 50ft away across the small roadway.
You can see the comfort distance both bears like to keep from each other and us.
They were both quite relaxed and mindful of both each other as well as us.
Their main interest was in eating whatever it was in that grass.
Both videos were taken on the second morning there,they knew we were not a threat,we had encountered all 3 the evening before.
The smaller one that showed interest was unusual and a bit unnerving but they are an inquisitive animal and with that many bears in one spot establishing a pecking order is no doubt why it approached.
It didn't take much to assert our dominance..thankfully and in most instances it doesn't take that much...they run away.
They are not an easy critter to get close to for the most part.

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Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-55mm,Pentax 50-200mm,Sigma 17-70mm,Sigma 70-300mm, Sigma 50-500mm

Great experience... I could hear your pentax shooting.
35 feet is too close, if the bear want's to run over for a hugg it's inda too late to run.
Thank you for sharing and taking the risk for all of us.