Shot of the Month – June 2024

“Wow”

“Whoah”

Audible gasp.

When I show this photo to someone these are some of the “typical” responses.  And I have to be honest, they are sweet, sweet music to this photographer’s ear.  These exclamations are the audible clue that we have an image that is perhaps a bit special.  An aural sign that I have captured an image that gives a hint of the awe-inspiring beauty that can be found in nature.

Not surprisingly the dramatic impact of side lighting helped transform this shot to gasp-worthy stuff.  The spectacular water highlights convey a sense of action and give this static shot a sense of motion and chaos.  Even though we can’t see much of the brown bear as he shakes off the water after a recent dive for a fish, the shot is a visual winner.

I photographed this Brown Bear at Katmai National Park in Alaska.  You can read more about brown bears here:

Brown Bear?

Keystone Krisis

When the action started I managed to take 12 shots in quick succession but I liked the first one best, as shown above.  The next frame in the sequence is ok, but I prefer the head tilt in the first shot:

After the shake-off the bear continued to walk across the river and the backlighting produced this nice rim-lit shot:

Perhaps I have stumbled across my “signature” shot – the “Spin Cycle” as I originally captured with this moose years ago:

Click the button to read about how this shot happened Spin Cycle

It is always fun catching Mother Nature working her magic alchemy with a bit of water, dramatic lighting, and a charismatic beast.

Until next month….michael

Click here to see my post about the power of backlighting:  Back for the Drama

Nikon Z9, Nikon 80-400mm (@350 mm), f/5.6, 1/1600 sec, ISO 900, EV -0.333