399 + Spirit

November 27, 2023 • Leave a Comment

Now that the bears are all safe inside their winter dens, it's time for me to look at the large amount of pictures taken this past year.

I left Wyoming and am at my winter home in New Mexico, next to the Rio Grande river and home to thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese who spend winter here. Even though it does get cold here, it's nothing compared to temperatures in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where the bears are sleeping in their snug dens.

Here's a picture from a rainy encounter with 399 and her COY in early summer. Once the bears do pose for a picture, you have no control of the surroundings nor of the lighting conditions, nor of the pose they strike. That's what makes wildlife photography such a challenge.

On this occasion, inside Grand Teton National Park, 399 and Spirit (her record-setting cub of the year), grazed on the protein-rich clover.

It was dreary, overcast, raining ... Not the perfect set of conditions.

And, the bears didn't cooperate. Heads down most of the time grazing. Mostly butts pointed towards the camera.

So, what do you do? Well, I have a lot of pictures with one bear's face visible, next to the butt of the other.

While my goal is always to document nature as it happened, I merged 399 and Spirit in this composite image from two pictures taken a second apart, so they at least both have their heads up. Scroll down for other pictures taken on this occasion.

Wildlife fine art prints available in my Etsy shop starting at $45 with FREE shipping

399 and Spirit earlier this summer: fine art print available on Etsy starting at $51

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