Visiting the polar bears

 Like the Newfoundland trip, I'm thinking about the blog, and a book. I wasn't sure how many bear photos I'd get out of the trip. Linda and I were joking that while we've done several whale watching tours, we've never seen a whale from a boat. But the odds are good to see a bear around Churchill before the bay freezes up. The bears are hanging around, waiting for freeze up so they can get out on the ice and hunt seals.

We ended up having a great bear day! There are a ton of photos for the blog, so you'll get the highlights, the inaugural polar bear selection for the Of the Day feature, and a book teaser. Yes, I'm going to do a book about the trip, featuring as many photos of bears as I can fit in. It'll be the big landscape size, but not a layflat, so it will be about the price of other coffee table books. I'm not sure how many photos and pages will be involved, but I'd like to keep the price at about $70 plus shipping to me. If you see the photos below, and want a book of more photos, let me know ASAP. Like, this week. I want to get the order in and take advantage of a discount. 

This was a one day trip. Here's the itinerary. Board the aircraft at 5:45am. Depart Calgary 6:45. Take a bus from Churchill airport out to the tundra buggy base. Tundra buggy out to the bear's waiting grounds for photos and lunch, then back to base. Then bus back to town for a really good banquet style dinner. Fly back to Calgary, and at this point I was beyond caring what time it was. I haven't had such an informal check in since my days flying the Amoco corporate airplane. W got back into Calgary about 11pm, then dodged busy traffic and road construction to get home. Yes, it was a long, long day. Yes, most people slept on the plane, including us.

YES IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

Classic Canadian Tours did the tour, and it was organized and planned out from A to Z. We're already thinking about our next tour with them. Check them out here.

1. Our first bear. We had someone in the buggy that usually spotted bears before the driver or naturalist did. Granted, the driver has to keep his eyes on the "road". Even being told where the bear was I often couldn't spot it for a moment. I'd make a lousy hunter gatherer, and probably bear guard isn't the best choice as my next career.

2. The next bear, snuggled into some grass, mostly snoozing. 

3. Snoozing using a rock for a pillow. Remember this bear, there's a story about him.

4. Do you see the bear? I didn't for a while. This is with the lens at 200mm so consider that you're seeing it with 4x zoom or so over just your eyeballs.

5. This one padded across the ice directly towards us. Gave us this look, then walked through the brush onto the road. We were stopped for lunch when all this happened.

6. After emerging from the brush it walked directly behind the next tundra buggy. It might have rubbed up against the vehicle to scratch, because it moved a bit. Or maybe all the people inside were scrambling for a better view.

7. From there it strolled off the road and sat down at this rock. It's attitude was totally, I'm read to order, waiter.

8. Then this bear sauntered across some ice, through the scrub brush at the side of the road, posed a bit, and then walked right past the back of our tundra buggy. 

9. I'm looking almost straight down at the bear. Where most of the photos are with the lens set for as much distance as it could do (200mm), this is almost as close as it can focus.

10. From there it strolled along, knowing perfectly well this other bear was there. Remember him from photo 3? Our naturalist was gushing with the possibility of doing a play by play analysis and colour commentary about the bears sparring. 

11. Just another bear strolling along.

12. This bear poked it's nose up to watch us go by. I think they're curious about us, but have figured out we're not going to hurt them, or feed them, and they can't get at us. Or maybe they can, but the caloric payoff isn't worth the effort.

There's lots more photos, especially about the bear meetup, including a ptarmigan, some landscapes, and some background stuff. I was thinking about taking a film camera, but I'm glad I didn't. There are some lovely photos to be had, if only they would allow the photographer off the buggy and work the compositions. That's a quick route to becoming dinner. I can easily believe a bear could creep up on a human unless they were keeping a careful eye out.

I was astonished at how hard the bears are to see, even fairly close. They blend into the landscape surprisingly well, and I'm not talking white fur on white snow. It's the yellowish fur against yellowish rocks that are really difficult.

So like I said, more photos will be showing up in the of the day section. If you can't wait and want some of the stories that go with them, let me know you're interested in the book. Email me at loungecatproductions at gmail dot com. Same if you've come here for the polar bear photos, and want to get a notification of when I blog so you get more of what I post.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

One last Driftwood (NL)

There were some nice chunks of driftwook along Hudson's Bay, but alas, they weren't about to stop and let me work the scene. I'm pretty sure I'd have been used for polar bear bait had I suggested any such thing.

Film

First photo in a roll of HP5 purchased for the darkroom course, wondering how the various textures would come out, if I print it.

Linda

2017. We were downtown for something, but I forget what.

Newfoundland

One of the arches of Arches Provincial Park.

Polar bears

Go back and look at photo 1. That was cropped in somewhat. Here's a full sized view, and even then, the lens is zoomed in quite a bit.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

Celina

October Image of the Month

I started a darkroom class at SAIT in September, and have been thinking a lot about film and printing images. For both digital and film images I find myself asking "how would this look in print?"

2nd Runner up.

After several frosts these happy flowers packed it in, yet I love the vibrant colour and droopy shapes.

1st Runner up

I spent much of the last darkroom session working on this image, and I'm still not pleased with how it came out. I like the Linda Hamilton T2 vibe.

Image of the Month

Upper Elk Lake, during a road trip with Sean. The water was perfectly still so it was mountain reflection heaven.

Roll off

So the last of the photos from Newfoundland has rolled off the 90 days folder. 90 days goes quick!

So what's on the top of the list?

This is from the Waterton ramble with Sean. That was a fun day, and included these waterfall photos that are about to roll off that folder. The first two are the little creek leading to Cameron Falls in town, that have been photographed to death and beyond. The three are Lundbreck Falls, which are pretty heavily photographed as well.

You can see other photos from that trip here. 

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Different angles for the same piece of wood. 

Driftwood (NL)

Film

Taken for a specific reason relating to the current darkroom course. There is a digital version of this, and a funky printed version that looks entirely different. If I'd been on the ball there'd be a photo of the print, but that might give people entirely the wrong idea because I was being creative. 

Linda

Newfoundland

Just a guy in a boat getting too close to a whale. And a puffin.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

The bedsteads of death, as I think of them. These used to guard the bike paths to keep motorized vehicles out. Or something. They've been gradually taken out, as they were a menace. The people that put them in thought that cyclists would dismount and walk their bikes through. Not, and, as if. 

There used to be a set at the bottom of a steep hill in Eagle Ridge, near the hospital. That one thing pushed me to ride around the reservoir clockwise, so I was going downhill to meet the bedsteads, as opposed to navigating them and having to then pedal hard uphill. I trusted my brakes. One time I had to detour around them, since an ambulance crew was untangling someone and their bike from bedsteads. Evidently they were riding down the hill and panicked. Oops. At least it wasn't far to the hospital.

The other place I remember them being is at the top of the Hill of Death in Fish Creek, near bridge one. There was the formal "Steep Hill" sign on them, but there was also a nicely painted, but unauthorized sign wired to it, saying "Walk bike, it's scary steep." Which it was. And is. I'd thought they were going to change the path what with some of the work related to the ring road, but no.

Two surprise visitors

Those of you following along with Linda's gardening exploits know that she has spucked a bazillion bulbs into the ground. (Yes that's a real word, a highly technical and exact gardening term.) There were a few volunteer crocuses, so she put them where they'd get pretty good light. She said they were fall crocus and might bloom, but I have to admit to being dubious. And yet, here they are today, perking up and sending out a cheerful hello.

In other news, I had an adventure earlier this year with my 70-200 mm lens. After a repair it seemed to work fine, until the trip with Sean to Elk Lakes, where part way I noticed it had stopped focussing right. Back at home I did some more tests and determined that while it would focus for close up objects, it wouldn't focus to infinity, not even close. The estimated repair costs were probably at least half the value of the lens itself, kinda sorta, and what with shipping and insurance added in could well be more than what it was worth in full working order. Or, about half the cost of the new version of that lens, giving me better optics, and better image stabilization, in what I think is a lighter lens. Plus a 6 year warranty.

The old one was the workhorse of my lens collection, with about 80K images put through it, and the motor making focus adjustments for almost everyone one of them, back and forth. Plus zooming from 70 to 200 and back again a lot. No real surprise it's tired.

What made me anxious is that we've got a trip to Churchill to visit the polar bears coming up soon, and that was the planned lens to take. I ordered the new version, and crossed fingers it would arrive in time, and put a rental lens on hold, just in case.

They called last night to say it was in, and I went to get it in evening rush hour. Holy Doodle! I'm not even out of the neighbourhood, stopping at a red light near the old Husky site, and the guy in the next lane hits the gas to speed through not just the red light, but the cross light had turned green and the waiting car was moving into the intersection. Good thing that driver was paying attention. During the rest of the drive, it seemed like the traffic lights were merely a guideline, not rules. I watched several people blowing through red lights, pedestrians walking across busy streets in random places, cyclists pretending they were a car and riding very slowly down the middle of the lane, and an outright road rage thing happening with a delivery driver trying to cut off another driver who wasn't having any of it.

Sigh. Yet I made it home in one piece. Of course I popped the lens on the camera right away, and here's the first photo.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NL)

Film

There's a story here. The owner of the AirBnB in Chance cove gave us a small framed version of this photo as a thank you. You can see more of her work here. That view is a nice walk from the house and I was hoping to get a film version for myself. When we got there, that boat was just coming into the little cove to the left of the rock. They went back and forth totally screwing up the lovely reflections. I waited, wanting to take a break from the steep parts of the path. They puttered about, and I waited. Then they went around the rock, and I was waiting for the ripples to die down. Then they reappeared near where you see the boat now. I waited more. Then they tossed out the anchor and broke out the fishing rods. I gave up and clicked the shutter. It was about a 20 minute walk back to the house, and damned if I didn't see the same boat heading back into the harbour. If I'd waited the 10 minutes, they never would have left. I thought about going back, but instead I cracked into a bottle of wine. Such is the life of a photographer.

Linda

In New Zealand in 2020.

Newfoundland

The boat we did the Western Brook Pond tour in Gros Morne Park.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

Actually, I'm quite sure I have published it already, but it's totally an example of good luck pressing the shutter button at exactly the right time.

Semi-random Newfoundland

Semi-random in the sense they have bubbled up to the top of the 'not blogged in 90 days' folder. Meaning 3 months ago, we were walking along the point near Bay Roberts, and eventually found the three sisters. I was hoping for reflections, but no.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. I just loved the light on this rock! The texture was this smooth cream that's hard to describe.

6.

The first snow of the season has come and gone. There will be many more, I'm sure.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NL)

Film

Cox's Cove swimming hole waterfall in real camera time, not the long exposures.

Linda

A film image from an inland beach near Port Saunders. I still think something weird happened either during development or my digitizing to give this particular look, but I love it for this photo.

Newfoundland

The little town of Crow Head, near Twillingate. We had an amazing lunch there, getting in just before a big crowd.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

Fish Creek near bridge 9.