A Brown Bear cub nursing from its mom. It is not uncommon to see amazing moments like this on my Alaska Bear Photo Tour.
Since I don’t have anything available in 2013, and I have been getting many inquiries about my 2014 photo tours, we decided we better schedule dates for 2014! I know it seems like a long ways away, but every year they fill earlier and earlier!
So the biggest change is to my Southeast Alaska / Inside Passage Yacht based Photo Tour. Because bears have proven to be so popular, I have decided to position this to be a bear tour as much as it is a whale and amazing landscape photo tour. We are still going to be spending time in some of the best whale viewing areas in Alaska if not the world. We will also still visit some stunning tidewater glaciers – in fact we will be having a jet boat meet us so that we can get extra close to the icebergs and tidewater glacier in LeConte Bay.
But, we are now going to be spending time in some wonderful bear viewing places including the Anan Creek Bear Observatory where we will watch Black and Brown bears fish for salmon in a beautiful rainforest waterfall. We will stop at Neets Bay for a visit to one of the best Black Bear viewing areas in the world! And finally, we will be going to a bit of a secret Brown Bear location that my captain recently discovered. So now, I believe this week long trip gives you a great cross section of many of the amazing photo opportunities Alaska has to offer.
As the first person to charter this wonderful yacht for the 2014 summer season, I had my pick of the liter when it comes to dates, and I believe we will be going at the absolutely perfect time at the end of July – an extremely popular time here in Alaska! Follow this link to read more about my Bear and Whale Photo Tour.
Of course I’m also offering my two Alaska Bear Photo Tours to Lake Clark National Park. The 2014 season will be my 5th year offering this wonderful photo tour. I could go on and on about this amazing experience. Being up close to such magnificent animals is hard to describe with words it really is. That said, you can read far more about it here: Alaska Bear Photo Tour. You can also see a video preview I filmed during the August trip my first year of the tour.
Of course if you have more questions, please feel free to email or call.
We may offer some photo tours outside Alaska including my annual Anza-Borrego workshop – stay tuned.
An unexpected career change has just lead to a sudden opening into my most popular photo tour – this trip was sold out by last October! I already have a list forming of people interested in 2014!
Plus, thanks to an airfare war – I’m seeing some of the cheapest airfares to and from the Lower 48 then I have seen in years! So if you don’t already have summer plans, this just might be the perfect time to come to Alaska and experience these amazing animals up-close! To learn more go to: Alaska Bear Photo Tour.
by Ron on November 29, 2012
This was very early in the morning during my June Alaska bear photo tour.
Not only did this location have some of the best lupine, but it almost always had at least one bear – except of course for this morning! 
It is still a pretty spot even without a bear feeding in the meadow – maybe next year we will see it all!
Details: Canon 5D II, tripod with 24-105 lens at 40, ISO 100, f/16 and 1/6th of a second. I believe I used a two stop graduated neutral density filter.
by Ron on November 16, 2012
Seeing bears stand on their hind legs is another human like behavior that never gets old! Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
by Ron on November 15, 2012
A brown bear feeding on grass sedges in the first light of the morning this past August, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Image was with a Canon 5D Mark II, and a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens at f/5.6, 1/30 of a second at ISO 600.
by Ron on November 13, 2012
by Ron on November 1, 2012
A brown bear works its way along the coast, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
by Ron on October 31, 2012
A beautiful brown bear in the first light of morning in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska this past August.
by Ron on October 3, 2012
A brown bear chasing after a salmon this past August in Lake Clark National Park.
by Ron on October 2, 2012
Wounded Warriors visiting, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
During one of my bear tours, a group of Wounded Warriors visited the lodge thanks to the generous donation of flight time from numerous air charter operators, along with meals and guiding from the lodge. I thought this scene of them emerging from the fog added to the mystic of these American heroes who have sacrificed so much for my country.
by Ron on September 28, 2012
A Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
I feel that by laying down on the sand and looking up at this Brown Bear helps to emphasis the bears size and power – and it helps to throw the background out of focus.
I gotta say, bears do seem to give you an extra look when they see someone laying on the ground – can be a bit intimidating, especially while looking through a telephoto lens which gives the impression that the bear is much closer to you then it really is!
This was from my Alaska bear photo tour this past June.
by Ron on September 4, 2012
Sow with cub, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Well I’m back from a good trip to Southeast Alaska, but more on that tomorrow. First I have some great news for my 2013 Alaska Bear Photo Tour!
I typically would have promoted my 2013 trips right after my visit in June. Because the location I utilize has become so popular, I was only able to obtain one week – and with 5 of the 6 people in June signings up for next year, combined with a standby person, I was full before I could even promote the trip! Nice problem to have!
The good news is – I recently was able to obtain a second week for next year. After contacting the rest of my standby list I still have 3 spots! Two of them are for June, and one for August. I should point out that the June dates are one night shorter and correspondingly cheaper. You can find more information here: Alaska bear photo tours or feel free to call or email. This is such an amazing and popular trip that I don’t expect these spots to be around for long.
by Ron on August 27, 2012
A bear looks for clams at sunrise, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Tired of bears? Well, I’m taking a quick week long trip to Southeast Alaska where I will be renting a small boat for whale and landscape photography. I threw this trip together with short notice based partly on a favorable weather forecast. I’m not traveling with a laptop, so I won’t post again for a week – see you then!
by Ron on August 24, 2012
Three brown bears cubs, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
These three were so much fun to watch and photograph!
by Ron on August 23, 2012
Horned Puffin, Alaska.
During my recent bear photo tour we did take photos of things besides bears including these puffin. But, we mostly just spent time with bears because bears are awesome!
by Ron on August 22, 2012
A brown bear reflection in sunrise light, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
This is a brown bear searching for clams at sunrise earlier this month.
by Ron on August 21, 2012
Brown bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Here I chose a very low perspective (lying on my stomach) to help thrown the foreground and background out of focus to help isolate just the bear. I like looking up at the bear as well as I think he emphasis their intimidating size.
This was with a Canon 5D II, with a 600 f/4 lens plus 1.4 converter, shutter speed of 1/640 @ f/5.6 at ISO 400.
by Ron on August 17, 2012
Brown bear feeds in a meadow at sunrise, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Hard to believe I have been doing this photo blog for six years now! It had been over a year since I looked at my stats, so I took a quick peak today and see the blog alone receives on average over 2,500 unique visitors a day, and some months averages over 3.000 per day. That is pretty good! So I wanted to take a minute to say thanks for following me over the years! Whether you drop by and comment, receive this via email, or just lurk in anonymity, I appreciate it!
Seeing those numbers reminds me that I need to go back to the long list of topics I have intended to write about but haven’t had the time. At this point, I don’t think we will take an extended trip this Autumn, choosing to stay in Alaska to chase the Northern Lights instead – this should give me the extra time to dive into some of these topics.
I find it interesting how the interaction has changed over the years thanks to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Any photos or posts I do here get shared simultaneously on those social networks. Take my last post for example of the cute spring cub triplets. Four years ago it might have received 20 comments here on the blog, yesterday it garnered just a couple along with a few emails. But, on Facebook it received over 50 comments and on Google + it went viral reaching the maximum limit of 500 comments in just a few hours!
So I mention that in part to say if you participate in one of the other networks but don’t follow me there you might consider it. The extra interaction can be valuable as I respond to follow up questions about camera settings, techniques, etc.
by Ron on August 15, 2012
Triplets, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
These three cubs were one of the highlights from last week! I have a version with all three standing, but I like how the two cubs are looking at their mom in this version. The cubs were looking at their mom out of concern as another sow had moved into the meadow. After some tense interaction that included some jaw popping and stomping, the other sow finally moved on and all were fine.
by Ron on August 14, 2012
A Brown Bear appears to be looking at the rising sun as it searches for clams, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Just got back from leading another bear photo tour to Lake Clark National Park. We had an awesome time! Lots of bears including three spring cubs! And to top it off, a whole week a warm sunshine. Pretty amazing considering how wet and cold this summer has been.
A brown bear cools off by laying in the water this past June, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
This morning I’m heading back to Lake Clark National Park for a week to lead another bear tour – can’t wait to get back!
Brown bear looking for clams, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
We had one morning during my spring bear tour that I thought could be perfect since the tide corresponded perfectly with the sunrise. I had an epic morning given the similar conditions last August, so a group of us made the painful decision to get up at 3:15 to give it a try. We didn’t have the amazing light I was hoping for, but it was still a beautiful morning. Although I don’t like get up in the morning, I’m always glad when I do.
Chocolate lilies, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
I was amazed at the thick fields of Chocolate Lilies I found during my recent bear photo tour – I have never seen anything close to it!
Now I must admit, the rest of the group did not share my enthusiasm for this wildflower – especially in light of the other bountiful subject matter, namely wonderful brown bears! So I received a fair amount of well deserved ribbing. But I did manage to break away for a couple of minutes to grab a few images of these interesting wildflowers.
Brown bear cub, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Brown bear cubs are sure cute! This is another new image from my recent tour.
