Sparring Grizzlies and Upgraded Gear

I haven’t posted in a while for a few reasons, first is I was guiding grizzly expeditions for Natural Habitat Adventures for almost 2 months with no internet access, and second I have decided to seriously upgrade my gear.  I was forced to upgrade my camera from 7D to the Mark 2 because all the wear and tear of the elements put the ol’ gal to sleep finally, and my pc laptop also died.  Whenever I push my budget because something breaks I am always frustrated but after I upgrade and learn the replacement tool, I see it as a blessing in disguise.  I spent today installingLightroom on a new Macbook pro, which I can already see has been work well worthwhile- the Macbook is an amazing machine.  I was very happy to learn the incredible improvements on shooting video with the new 7D mark 2 this summer.  The autofocus really helps me keep subjects in sharp focus, even when I am going for a very shallow depth of field.  I edited this clip of some sparring bears and am very happy with the quality!

When bears, especially young males, are together and have some free time, it is only a matter of time before a sparring match breaks out.  I found these two guys sleeping side by side in a sedge meadow on a blustery, rainy day and decided to wait till they woke up in hopes that they would spar, and they did.  Sparring is play which helps bears hone their fighting skills which they need to fight for mates or food.  Click here to read a little more and see some images and videos about Grizzly Combat. 

The season was good, and the 7D gave me lots of material to practice Lightroom on my new Mac.  Here are a few stills-

two male coastal grizzlies (aka brown bears) on the coast of Katmai National Park spar in a coastal sedge meadow.

I set up our group near some napping young male bears and eventually they woke up and began to spar. Our patience really paid off

While looking for wildlife on a skiff ride on afternoon, we found this young bull moose coming down for a drink of seawater. We don’t see this every day!

A female and her two third summer cubs dig for clams at low tide.

To unwind from the stress of clamming, mom plays with one of the cubs.

Photographing an eagle’s nest with an awesome backdrop!

Longtime Nathab traveler Tish Beach with volcanoes, glaciers and an eagle’s nest behind.