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Kermode “Spirit” Bear
Photo: © Paul Burwell
I have always felt a special connection
with bears, and recently with “spirit”
bears in particular. I first learned of
these special bears, which exist only in
a tiny portion of western Canada, during
the mid 1990s. From that point forward,
I made it a goal to one day photograph
these extraordinary and mythical
creatures.
I love the story from the First Nations
peoples that describes how Raven created
these unique white bears and the
reason for their creation: to remind the
world of the time when their earth was
white and frozen in ice. As a wildlife
photographer, I was anxious to observe
and experience these bears myself and
finally, in the fall of 2009, that goal was
achieved.
The opportunity to make this image
occurred when a spirit bear began
sauntering down the river toward me
through a light rain under heavily overcast
conditions. Where previous bears
had simply ducked under a fallen tree
spanning the river to continue their
search for salmon, this bear climbed
up onto the tree and proceeded across
the river on it. When the bear reached
the opposite side it was kind enough
to amble toward me along a wonderful,
mossy fallen log.
When I reviewed the images of the
bear walking down the log toward me, I
knew I had some images emblematic of
this special bear and its environment.
My image was made with my Canon 5D
Mark II camera, set to ISO 3200, with
my 500mm lens wide open at ƒ4 allowing
for a shutter speed of 1/400th of a
second.
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