Photographing Brown Bears

To photograph the Alaskan brown bear, you need to go where the salmon spawn. In this video, pro wildlife photographer Doug Gardner shows you how to photograph brown bears at feeding time. He wades into the remote mountain lake but makes sure to advance no closer than 50 yards from the bears. Shooting at a high ISO and a high shutter speed to stop the action, he keeps his aperture at f6.3 to get some depth of field. He captures images of the bears feeding on salmon, swimming in the cold waters, moving in and out of the woods, and standing on the rocks among seagulls. Along the way, Doug interviews his guide and pilot, Glen Alsworth, whose grandparents homesteaded in what is now Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

See all videos in our Uncovering Alaska’s Large Mammals Course:

• Uncovering Alaska’s Large Mammals—Course Preview
• Photographing Brown Bears
• Capturing Caribou
• Photographing More Wildlife