Bear Family in Tree, Yosemite. Yosemite National Park, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A mother black bear and her two cubs practice their tree-climbing skills in Yosemite National Park, California.
I confess that I participated in a full-scale “Yosemite tourist experience” in order to get this photograph. Despite the fact that I’ve encountered California black bears many times in the high country while car camping and while backpacking – and I respect but do not fear these bears – this photograph was made during a less wild experience. I was driving back down Tioga Pass Road from Tuolumne and as I approached the right turn to pick up the main road out of the park I suddenly came upon many cars parked at odd angles along the road. I slowed, rolled my window down, and asked, “Hey, what is everyone stopped for?” The breathless reply was “a mother bear and her cubs are in the trees!”
Not having any decent bear photographs in my collection I decided to stop and see what I could get. I found a spot to park off the roadway, grabbed a camera and the longest lens, and walked back up the road to where others were staring intently across a small clearing toward trees far beyond – but I couldn’t spot a darn thing. Finally someone pointed out where the mother bear had last been seen, and I thought I spotted her head – in very poor light and crouched down low in the brush. I flipped on the image-stabilization on my 100-400mm lens, increased camera ISO to 400 (wanting to minimize blur when I hand held the camera) and got “mama” framed up. She was not a very photogenic subject, prone on the forest floor beyond some plants – but I was patient. Before long she began to move, walking among the trees, and soon her two small cubs appeared. I thought they might just be within range of the lens I had so I began to track their movements with my camera and shoot photos whenever something interesting happened. (Basically, I like to photograph wildlife – at least mammals – in much the same way that I might photograph people: I want the critter to look in a direction such that I can see its face, and if the animal is actively engaged in doing something, all the better.)
It seemed to me that “mom” was perhaps showing the cubs how to climb trees. She would edge them over to a tree and then they would start to climb. Before long both of the small cubs were scampering many feet up into the trees, and mom followed at least partway.
This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
keywords: black, bear, mother, sow, cubs, climb, tree, trunk, moss, ascent, forest, grove, wildlife, animal., nature, yosemite, national park, california, usa, travel, adventure, tioga, road, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock
Opportunity of a lifetime Dan. Really a stunning shot both in material, and in technique (though no surprise there). Didn’t read the description carefully enough probably, but is this the original framing, or did you have to crop in any (am guessing ‘not’)
Yes, this really fell together in so many ways – and is, yet again, evidence of the importance of being prepared to work quickly and the tremendous role that good fortune often plays in this kind of photography. These bears were in an area of Yosemite where bears are frequently seen, so it wasn’t a giant surprise to find them here. What was special was that the mother and two cubs were far enough away to not be much affected by people with cameras, yet not so far that I couldn’t photograph them – so I had time to observe them and wait for something really interesting to happen. They had sort of “hung out” for quite a while, doing little and mostly hunkered down in the brush where a good photograph would have been a challenge. Then the family got up and moved to these trees and the cubs began to climb trees. One was more hesitant than the other, and before long “mama” moved them to a tree that seemed a bit easier and up they went!
I shot this on a full frame camera using a 400mm focal length… but the bears were, as they should be, far enough away that I did crop to get the composition you see here.
Dan
The majestic giant having a tender moment of slumber… might make a good photo too… through your magical lens ;)
Steff, ironically I thought I was going to have another chance to photograph bears in precisely the same location yesterday. There was a bear in this area in Yosemite… but it was more or less taking a nap in the sun… for about 20 minutes. I finally gave up, feeling that telephoto shots of sleeping bears might not be quite what I wanted!
This is an excellent shot. These bears are so cute!
Dan,
thanks for the tips, I finally used my tripod yesterday during a hail shower, my ISO was set at 800 used manual focus and I got one shot that is fair. On Wednesday I used ISO 1600. I did not wait long enough yesterday due to the hail coming down hard. Also, I don’t think my hands are steady enough to keep very still when using the 100-400 lens. I got better shots with the G10 using the preset for kids/pets, but it only zooms so far….
Inge
Great stories, Inge. Thanks for sharing.
Of course, one lesson from this is that having a small high quality camera like the G10 on hand is probably a very good idea! In quite a few cases you could probably get the shot with that camera while I’d still be looking for my lens!
There are a few things to consider that will help when shooting wildlife with the long lens:
Also, just like when shooting birds in flight, expect to get a rather low “keeper” rate – I might shoot 30-50 frames to get one that I think is really good.
Dan
Dan, I love this shot. Please forgive me if I tell you my story here…..I was coming back from the Tioga Pass on Wednesday in my Corolla, after I encountered snow right before the exit to the east. Same spot, same thing cars were parked all over, but no mama or cubs – two cinamon colored bears – one pretty big. A ranger did traffic control. So I remembered your comments about the 100-400, ISO and IS. Did all that but non of my shots taken with the 100-400 turned out all blurry. I got one good shot with the G10 that I set to sports….BTW I told others about this shot and pointed them to your flickr site.
I tried to learn from my mistakes – had mirrow lock up on……
So I went back to Bishop on Saturday (had it planned for about a week) and on my way back the same scenario, two bears in the meadow tons of cars a ranger making sure some crazy people don’t try to get too close. So I changed ISO, turned on IS, turned off mirrow lock-up, changed to Av and AGAIN all shots are blurry. I had the autofocus on…..Again my G10 gave me a few good shots. The ranger told me that these bears are here every evening….
The moral of my story is that I am lousy at hand holding a camera with a 100-400 lens and you are excellent! I had two opportunities and I screwed up.
Thanks, Ivan. It was a great opportunity and the bears hung around for a good long time – probably because they were quite a ways from the road and from people. I actually have perhaps another 40 or 50 frames of them to go through!
Dan
Absolutely love this shot, Dan. Framing is perfect, and they’re all looking at you. Very nice.