Photo of the Week

This is definitely not the greatest picture based on technique but it is one that comes with great emotion.

This mama grizzly and her yearling cub were about 200 yards away when I took this picture. I was standing on a moving bus, shooting across an aisle, and out an open window. I was hand-holding a 600 mm lens and the image is heavily cropped. Not the best recipe for a great image. The reason I love this image has nothing to do with the technical aspects but it’s all about the feelings that come flooding back when I see it.

This photo was taken on my first, of hopefully many, trip to Alaska. It was the first time I had ever seen a grizzly in the wild. Despite the light color, you can tell this is a grizzly by the hump on the back. These two bears continued to walk down this ridge and popped up on the road in front of our bus. I’m not sure who was more excited, me or the two young boys who had been sound asleep before these bears came into site. This was one of many highlights of our trip into Denali National Park. I still get chills every time I see this image. That’s what I hope to provide for all of you with my photography. Give you chills, encourage your curiosity and move you to explore nature. You never know what you will see. Have a great weekend.