Brown bears have been one of my favorite photo subjects. I lead hikes into bear country in Southeast Alaska, although most of my photo opportunities come from being in a zodiac or a kayak, where I can get a little closer, safely. All of the these photos were taken with a Canon 5d mark ii and a Canon L series 400mm lens.
And just for everyone's knowledge, grizzly bears are a subtype of brown bears. If you find brown bears near the coast in places like Canada, Alaska, and Russia then they are considered coastal brown bears. If they are in the interior with no access to coastal foods in places like Yellowstone and Denali National Parks then they are considered grizzly bears.
All of these photos are of coastal brown bears. They get much bigger than their grizzly bear cousins, probably because of all the yummy salmon they get to eat, plus all of food available at low tide.
When the salmon run you can see dozens of brown bears sharing the same river. But they don't always play nice.
One of a kind photo of a brown bear sniffing the air in front of a tumbling Alaskan waterfall.
I watched this bear catch three salmon and throw them back before settling on this one. The difference was this fish was filled with delicious eggs...all the others were males. Check out the claws...they can be 5 inches long on these coastal brown bears.
Brown bears have an extremely varied diet. This one was eating the sedge grass along the shoreline. The photo makes it look like he was stalking me, but I was safe in a zodiac during this encounter.
Fish on!
Three bear cubs as cute as can be, waiting for mom to return from the river with a fresh catch.
This photo is of three cubs with their mom. Brown bear cubs stay with their mom for about two and a half years. When they are this big it can be a little hard to tell them apart. Can you?
I was actually on land, next to the salmon stream when this bear fight broke out. It is a bit unnerving but they usually don't last long. Luckily they have pretty thick hides to help protect against those huge canines and 5 inch claws. Injuries do happen.
This is a classic Alaskan scene. A family of brown bears fishing on a river in front of a cascading waterfall. If you haven't visited the Alaskan wilderness yet...do it.
Hopefully that fish is worth it! Alaskan wild caught salmon..mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
This is a young brown bear, but old enough to be off on its own. It was extreme low tide and all of the wet algae provides an otherwordly background.
I always try to get wildlife photos with the animal looking towards me. I like the detail in the fur on this shot.
I had to paddle backwards in between shots as this brown bear started climbing towards my kayak.
Brown bear and waterfall.
Stalking those salmon.
It looks like this bear is about to start charging me...but don't worry, I'm fine.
I hope you enjoyed all of these encounters with brown bears, captured in photos.
-Dai Mar