Leavenworth, WA
Leavenworth, WA
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at our home in Leavenworth, WA. It is where I grew up. We have almost 22 acres of land surrounding the house - all undeveloped. We have a lot of wildlife coming through our yard such as this beauty, other bears, deer, elk, cougar, etc. This bear was sitting about 20 feet outside our living room in the yard enjoying the deer blocks we put out so we can watch and enjoy the deer. Bears love deer blocks and roll them around and chew on them for quite a long time and are a lot of fun to watch especially so close up.Time
This photo was taken mid-day in early autumn in 2014.Lighting
The light on this early autumn day was just about perfect for this picture. This bear, to me, has one of the sweetest faces and I somehow imagine it to be a female. I love how she is sitting to enjoy the block with both of her front feet up so you can see her lovely nails. Though she is a black bear, her beautiful cinnamon variation in color makes her even more beautiful.Equipment
This photo was actually taken with a trail camera. I cropped the photo and did quite a bit of editing to bring it up to this point. I had the camera positioned in a southerly direction to avoid interference from the sun and at a height that would capture a photo of the entire animal in this area if they were sitting, laying on the ground, walking through or standing up.Inspiration
We have a lot of wildlife which passes through our yard and have multiple trail cameras in place. We love to see the animals that wander through, especially when we are not there, as this is a second home now and we are not there all of the time. When I am there I take a lot of pictures myself with a Sony Cybershot camera with a 63X zoom and have a large collection of these in my gallery.Editing
As stated above, I did do cropping and some light and color enhancements on this photo as well as a selected focus on the bear to bring it to full potential.In my camera bag
I really am not a high tech person at this point. I am recently retired and I am now really getting interested in photography and have really enjoyed being a member of View Bug and getting feedback on my photos. I have always had a camera along with me when traveling but now I am making trips out from home to specifically take photos. I have recently upgraded my zoom for getting those more distant shots. I have a pretty inexpensive Sony Cybershot camera with the 63X zoom which I really like after recently upgrading from a 26X zoom. As time goes on and I get better and learn more techniques I am sure I will be upgrading to a more sophisticated camera system. Update....I am now shooting with a Sony a6000 mirrorless camera and really enjoying that up grade along with a longer lens of 70-300 for wildlife.Feedback
Always have your camera ready. Though this was pulled from a Trail camera, it is possible to get these shots when using your own camera as I have done many times. You must be in the right place at the right time and must be patient when waiting to get the shot. The long zoom comes in really handy when you are shooting from a safe distance and place to get the shots you want without disturbing the animal or putting yourself in danger.