In the Field

Venturing into the Belly of the Great Bear. Southern Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. 12 May 2019.

Throughout this website I commonly mention that a camera's ISO performance is particularly important to me (and that it may be more important to me than for the "average" wildlife photographer, if such a thing exists). Why? Well...that's the reason I'm posting this shot...it nicely shows the dark environment of the Great Bear Rainforest that I have spent a whole lot of time shooting wildlife in over the past decade or so.

And there's another variable that isn't instantly obvious from this shot that increases the importance of ISO performance (and lens and/or sensor image stabilization) for me. This shot - like the bulk of shots captured in the Great Bear Rainforest and the Khutzeymateen - was captured from a Zodiac inflatable boat. Which, in turn, means it was hand-held from an unstable surface.

So...if you're considering a photo tour into the Great Bear Rainforest keep in mind that you may very well end up needing to shoot at ISO values higher than you're normally comfortable with. Or...you may end up REALLY relying on your lens's or camera's stabilization system. Or both! ;-)

Here's a larger (2400 pixel) version of this very "Great Bearish" forest scene for your perusal:

• Venturing into the Belly of the Great Bear: Download 2400 pixel image (JPEG: 3.7 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. This image was captured during our "Spring in the Southern Great Bear" photo tour in May of 2019. Each year I offer photo tours into several different parts of the Great Bear Rainforest as well trips to photograph marine mammals and oceanscapes in locations on Vancouver Island. And, in selected years, I also offer photo tours to locations to capture other highly sought-after subjects, such as Dall Sheep, Bald Eagles, and more. Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

2. This image - in all resolutions - is protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

3. Like all wildlife photographs on this website, this image was captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. I encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

Behind the Camera

Venturing into the Belly of the Great Bear. Southern Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. 12 May 2019.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 64.

Nikon Z7 mirrorless body paired (using the FTZ mount adapter) with Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens. Hand-held from Zodiac. Z7 AF system set to AF-S and and "Pinpoint" AF area mode. VR On.

1/40s @ f6.3; no compensation from "recommended" matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Venturing into the Belly of the Great Bear. Southern Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. 12 May 2019.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including all global and selective adjustments, using Phase One's Capture One Pro 12. Global adjustments to this shot included modifications to exposure and colour desaturation. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case adjustments were made on 6 separate layers and included local/selective editing of (or adjustment of) shadow detail, exposure (balancing), clarity, saturation, brightness, sharpening, and noise reduction (increase in "details").

Photoshop adjustments were limited to image re-sizing, conversion of Prophoto RGB colour gamut (to sRGB), final sharpening for online display, and insertion of watermark.

Conservation

Venturing into the Belly of the Great Bear. Southern Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. 12 May 2019.

Species Status in Canada*: Not applicable.