Black bear and pink salmon

Black bear fishing for pink salmon in a stream in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm, 1/250 sec @ f/4, ISO 800.

In late August the salmon streams of Prince William Sound are filled with pink salmon. To these streams comes a frequent visitor, hungry for abundant meals of fish-the black bear. I watched this bear fish in the stream for about an hour or so. It was obvious he was near satiation, since the only parts of the fish eaten were the belly section. My guess is that the bear was high grading the female salmon eggs. Its belly hung low, a sign of happy feeding. The photographic conditions were challenging. Largely due to the low lying clouds causing a very dark canopy. You will notice that 1/250 sec is marginal for freezing motion, but I was already at ISO 800 and shooting wide open at f/4 on the 500. If I had more light, I would have used a converter more often than I did. I got a handful of good shots but needed a bit more light, since many have a slight blur.

Black bear fishing for pink salmon in a stream in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm, 1/250 sec @ f/4, ISO 800.

Black bear fishing for pink salmon in a stream in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm, 1/250 sec @ f/4, ISO 800.

This was a classic scene where shooting in manual exposure mode was beneficial, since the dark bear and the bright water would send the light meter in great variation. I use manual, aperture and shutter priority exposure modes depending on the situation. There are definite pros and cons to both, and learning to switch quickly and know your dial operations is critical. It can get confusing when moving between different modes.