In the Field

Sly Eye - From "The Guy". Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary, northern BC coast, Canada, BC, Canada. May 29, 2015.

The spring of 2015 saw a changing of the guard and overall social order in the Khutzyemateen Grizzly Sanctuary. For over a decade a single very large dominant bear (who many called Brutus) ruled the region. And, it appeared as though most of the other bears in the area accepted his dominance and there was relative peace in the Khutzeymateen. From what we could tell Brutus did the "lion's share" of the mating, and definitely chased other large males out of the area. But even during the spring of 2014 we rarely saw Brutus, and it appeared as though the influence of this 30-something year old bear was waning. As an example, the male bear pictured here starting acting very dominant and cantankerous - in fact in the summer of 2014 he killed a female grizzly who had two very cute and photogenic cubs (which didn't win him any popularity contests among the humans who regularly visit the area). And, both the longtime bear guide in the Khutzeymateen (Tom Ellison) and I had picked this guy as the new "alpha dog". And we nicknamed him simply "The Guy".

Fast forward to spring 2015. No sign of Brutus. And The Guy is fighting fit. But, very interestingly, it seems like several other bigger bears (including ones we had never seen) are coming out of the woodwork and are far MORE fit. Tom and I were dead-wrong! Turns out "The Guy" didn't do too well in his quest for supreme dominance and has the scars and scabs to show it. And he even pretty much even stopped acting aggressively and belligerent. So much for our predictions! ;-)

I captured this image of The Guy giving me this "sly eye" look using a Nikon D750 camera and with my favourite go-to wildlife lens - the Nikkor 400mm f2.8E VR. And, in this case, it was paired up with the TC-20EIII (2x) teleconverter - meaning the image was shot at 800mm. To date I haven't found another lens that pairs up as well with teleconverters as the 400mm f2.8E VR - and that's one of many reasons I consider it the most versatile (and, for me, most valuable) of Nikon's super-telephotos. Shoot it native (sans teleconverters) and it is unbelievably sharp and with unmatched bokeh (out of focus zones). Pair it up with the TC-14EIII (1.4x) teleconverter and you have a 550mm f4 lens that can produce output as good as the 600mm f4 VR (even when carefully upsized to match the exact magnification of the 600mm lens). And, pair it up with the TC-20EIII (2.0x) teleconverter and you have a high-quality 800mm f5.6 lens that can produce output good enough for virtually any use.

For the pixel-peepers...hey...the makeshift 800mm f5.6 looks good at any resolution! Here's a 2400-pixel version for your perusal:

• Sly Eye - From "The Guy" Download 2400 pixel image (JPEG: 2.3 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. 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!

2. Like all wildlife images on this website, the subject(s) is/are fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants (including vocalizations and other sounds).

3. This image was captured during one of my two spring "Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen" photo tours in May/June of 2015. Each year I offer trips into two different parts of the Great Bear Rainforest as well as one to photograph aquatic mammals and oceanscapes near the northern tip of Vancouver Island. And, in selected years, I also offer photo tours to locations to capture other highly sought-after subjects, such as various boreal owl species and wildlife of Canada's Arctic. Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

Sly Eye - From "The Guy". Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary, northern BC coast, Canada, BC, Canada. May 29, 2015.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 1400.

Nikon D750 paired with Nikkor 400mm f2.8E VR plus TC-20EIII (2x) teleconverter (800mm total focal length). Hand-held from floating Zodiac, VR on and in "Sport" mode.

1/800s @ f7.1; no compensation from "recommended" matrix-metered exposure setting

At the Computer

Sly Eye - From "The Guy". Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary, northern BC coast, Canada, BC, Canada. May 29, 2015.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF using Phase One's Capture One Pro 8. Four raw variants (different versions of a single raw capture) processed, differing by a total of 1.25 stops in exposure (as well as differences in highlight and shadow retrieval between the variants).

Further digital corrections on resulting 16-bit TIFF files using Adobe's Photoshop CC 2015 and Light Crafts Lightzone. Photoshop adjustments included compositing (blending) of the four output files from the raw converter, selective colour desaturation, and selective sharpening for web output. Final tone-tweaking performed using LightZone's "tonemapper" tool.

Conservation

Sly Eye - From "The Guy". Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary, northern BC coast, Canada, BC, Canada. May 29, 2015.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Raincoast*.

Species Status in Canada**: Special Concern (May 2002).

While Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) are not technically listed as "Endangered" in Canada, they have been extirpated from most of their historical range. Grizzly Bears are far more sensitive to intrusion/disturbance in their habitat than are Black Bears and are being increasingly forced into marginal habitat by human encroachment. The Great Bear Rainforest along the central and northern coast of British Columbia is one of the last strongholds of the Grizzly Bear in Canada, and even this population is coming under increasing pressure.

On December 18, 2017 the government of British Columbia banned grizzly hunting across the entire province. This major conservation victory came after decades of tireless work by many dedicated conservationists and ecologists and, most importantly, it reflects the opinion of the vast majority of British Columbians. And, it means that AT LEAST while the current government remains in power grizzlies are finally "safe" in British Columbia.

Now that we've at least temporarily won the battle to save grizzlies in BC, it's time to re-focus our efforts toward protecting ALL of BC's carnivores, including Gray Wolves, Black Bears, Cougars, Wolverines, and more! Simply put, there are no ecological, economic, or ethical arguments supporting the trophy hunting of carnivores.

In a great first step towards ending the hunting of carnivores throughout BC the Raincoast Conservation Foundation has developed a program designed to protect ALL carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest. Details about this program can be found on this page on Raincoast's website. Check it out and, better yet, make a donation to help Raincoast purchase the remaining commercial hunting tenures in the Great Bear!

*The Raincoast Conservation Society (and Foundation) is an effective and efficient organization that has been fighting for protection of this unique habitat. If you are looking for a meaningful way to contribute to the conservation of this amazing ecosystem, Raincoast will provide maximal "bang" for your conservation dollars.

**as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada