I'm back from a very productive bear photography trip to Alaska. The best part about shooting up there is you can be in the wide open with the bears, and have them completely ignore you. It means you can sit at eye level with them on the riverbanks, and watch them go after the salmon. They are out in large numbers so you have plenty of subjects to choose from, including cubs. I stayed at a lodge called Bear Haven, and each day we went out by float plane to a few different spots. I went early and also visited the iconic Brooks falls, which was great fun.
Some takeaways:
- The R1 is the most brilliant camera ever. It never missed focus, and the eye-detection worked great on bears.
- I left the frame rate at 40 fps, and kept pre-capture on. So I got 60,000 images in 6 days. Was that a problem? Not at all! With C-RAW, it filled up less than two 512 GB cards. The files are only 15 MB each. On Lightroom, I can zip through them very quickly. I'd much rather have an excess of images, than miss a shot.
- You don't need 45 MP. If you have to crop from the R1, just run the file through Topaz and select Upscale. It's really fantastic.
- I left the highlight tone priority on at the highest level. I have to say that it worked well. Never had a blown highlight, even in harsh light. There were no negative issues other than the minimum ISO level of 200 (which didn't bother me).
- The RF 100-300 f/2.8 is a killer lens. I used a monopod with the setup.
- Forget about raincovers. The R1 with a non-expanding zoom is totally water resistant. Just carry a microfiber cloth to clean your viewfinder when needed.
- Patagonia chest waders are the way to go. They have built-in knee pads! I could drop down on the gravel riverbanks and get eye-level shots without an issue.
Here's a few shots...
Brooks Falls. 40 fps and pre-capture for the win.
Also Brooks Falls. This bear would sit relatively still, so I switched to 1/30 sec and gave it a try.
On the river. This is the type of shot that you're really hoping for. Again, 40 fps and pre-capture! Get that paw in the air or forever regret shooting at a slower rate.
Cubs on the riverbank. Cuteness overload.
Let me know if you have any questions about the trip. Thanks for viewing.
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