Im ‘a coming! © Brad Josephs
As the storms of fall begin to pound the coast of South-central Alaska with greater frequency, I have to say I am glad to be home sitting next to the wood stove. But what a summer! My thoughts are not organized, and I have only just begun editing some of the images I collected while guiding bear viewing expeditions. I will start posting a few at a time, every couple of days.
As I mentioned before, wolves have become major characters in the coastal marshes and tidal flats where we observe bears. These wolves are learning how to live by the ocean by watching the bears. Here are a few images of wolves that I took towards the end of the season using a canon 50 D, and a 300mm 4.0 prime lens that I bought used from a photographer. Here we go!
Click the arrow below to begin the slideshow.
22 Comments
Great shots, Brad. We didn’t see the wolves last year but they are clearly moving in on the tidal zone. Are they competing with the bears or merely nibbling around the edges? The fat lady has really been chomping on the salmon. Can’t eat that much grass to get that fat. Keep those photos coming!
Hey Ron! The wolves cant compete with bears when fishing, but they do grab a few now and again, and get any scraps left. They may have an effect on young bear cubs though.
Brad – your photos are amazing. I love em. I think that your photo of the bear biting the fish is wonderful – if you had changed the settings you would have lost the detail of the bloody water droplets arching out from the fish.
One of the last, best places for sure. Nice.
Love the wolf shots, Brad! Very unique in that they’re in such a natural setting.
Great job as usual. Hope to see you next year. Alaska is on my mind.
Great Pictures, Brad, I hope one day I could have a chance to see the wonderful bear world. Take Care! Welcome to China any time you are convenient!
Beautiful shots Brad! It just gets better and better up there. See you soon.
Bonnie
Brad, these are great photos! I’m especially intrigued by the fact that the wolves are now moving in closer to the bears and to the ocean. I’ll also be interest in your future articles to see if the mother bear sitting on the rock looking for fish along with her cub next to her is “Queen.” Keep those photos and article coming!
Brad all your photos really captured the moment. My faves are the fat girl with the sun on her and the cub chasing the eagle. Wonderful and I miss being there.
Great shots…amazing animal antics and behaviors hopefully this will inspire others..
great pictures, wonderful descriptions and very good explanations. Thank you for sharing on facebook.
Margot Schneider
Brad-I greatly appreciate your dedication and voice for wildlife.The pictures are truly amazing and very special.Keep up your outstanding work!
Brad thank you for these. I miss our trips to Alaska so much but Al can no longer travel. Please send more. I photographed tigers in March in India for Al. Went by myself quite an adventure. Perhaps someday I will again be able to photograph bears in Alaska. Bought a 400 lens to photograph wildlife. By the way I am raising a young elk. It follows me allover the ranch.
THIS IS NOT A JOB…..THIS IS AN ADVENTURE !!
Love your photos! Just got home from Alaska late this afternoon (9/18) and already miss it. I soooo want to go back on the Kittiwake when you are there! I didn’t know you knew so much about photography. You are a man of many talents, Brad! Please keep sending the fantastic pictures. Hope to see you in Winnipeg.
Mary Ann
Like the others before me I love your shots. The f/4 DOF and bears out of focus such as the triangular bear shot is a winning composition from my point of view. I often use a teleconverter with my longer lenses to give an even greater blurred effect when warranted. Also love the eagle shot, anytime you can get two species in the same frame it is magical and agree that the blurred foreground object works in this case. Looking forward to joining you next year.
Beautiful, beautiful pictures! I never thought that wolves and bears would be next to each other!
Loved the pics…I am glad there are people like you shooting with a lens instead of a gun…these animals are magnificent creature…thank you for capturing their beauty.
Just wish folks would not say WHERE they take their pictures. The next thing you know someone will shoot the wolves, illegally or otherwise. (It happened a few years back on Naknek Lake in the Heart of Katmai. And also in Denali.) Loathing knows no boundaries. Too much publicityu is always bad for wolves, ala the black wold in Juneau that was poached. Or, some officious government type will decide to “aversive condition” the wolves with rubber bullets and noise makers and then “collar” them for further study. Circumspect should be the byword…
Very cool! Next time I take advantage of the Kittiwake, I will offer you a little bit of image processing help. These look great, but I would definitely do a little bit more to them to make them pop. How come Paul made it in the background or your self-portrait, but not me? 😉
You’re a blessed man Brad! It’s always nice to see someone who use his God given gifts so creatively. Thanks for showing us his wonderful creations. My wife and I fell in love with Alaska 4 years ago. Trip of a life time! YOU ARE LiVING THE DREAM MAN.