Rain, moist air, and wind direction have given Fairbanks residents some reprieve from the forest fire smoke that has in the past few weeks made air quility very bad. Since I have not photographed much recently due to this, I thought I’d make a post from a previous trip to Katmai National Park.
This frame of a young brown bear fishing in Naknek lake at sunrise was taken from the lower bear viewing platform at Brooks Camp.
Brown bear at sunrise in the Brooks river, Katmai National Park, southwest, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 24-105mm IS, (105mm), 1/125 sec @ f/16, ISO 200
The “sunrise” moment is pretty short and quick, and getting clear morning skies, some nice clouds, and a bear doing what you want all at the same time is not an easy grab shot. This bear showed some promise, but never quite moved into the spot I was wishing for. Sunrise is a favorite time for me to shoot, however, it happens quickly and requires some foresight about specific location, in contrast to the sunset hour which gives much more time to survey the situation. Another thing I enjoy about sunrise is that there are generally fewer people up and about-especially with Alaska’s very early summer sunrise hours. I had a few mornings of clear weather, and while the weather was right, the bear activity was lacking at that specific hour.
