In the Field: Photo Blog by Richard Wong

Photography field reports by Richard Wong. Richard’s work has been published in magazines, books, advertising, and offers fine art prints of his work. Images may be licensed as rights-managed stock photos by contacting Richard directly at Richard@rwongphoto.com or (626) 422-6151. California stock photography, fine art prints, photo blog: www.rwongphoto.com

Seals and Grizzlies

Posted on | November 22, 2009 | 5 Comments

Seals on Bird Rock at 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, California

Seals on Bird Rock at 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, California

Having been inspired by Mark Graf’s recent trip to Alaska, I have been considering signing up for a grizzly bear photo tour. I’ve only seen one black bear in the wild for a split second in a wilderness park near my house so I’m sure it would be a huge adrenaline rush to be surrounded by grizzlies in Alaska.

Due to the law and for practical safety reasons, you usually can’t get very close to wildlife so telephoto lenses are often the lens of choice for wildlife photographers. I don’t have a telephoto lens and had to rent a 100-400mm IS lens just to shoot this image. It is a horrible lens in my opinion and I’d probably need to acquire a 500mm or a 600mm lens in order to shoot grizzlies.

A good subject to simulate / practice grizzly bear photography in California is the elephant seals on the Central Coast during mating season. Often times you will see large bulls fighting with each other and can get quite bloody. It is one thing to shoot a static subject but when wildlife is in action then you really have to be in tune with your equipment in order to get solid images. Showing up on a wildlife tour or any vacation for that matter without any prior experience with your camera equipment is foolish.

See more of my Monterey Bay photos.

Category: 17 Mile Drive, Furry Critters, wildlife
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Comments

5 Responses to “Seals and Grizzlies”

  1. Mark
    November 22nd, 2009 @ 8:20 am

    Hey Richard, I am glad the images provided some inspiration! You would certainly love such a trip. A few people on our trip were shooting with the 100-400 or something similar. If you are around Katmai, 400 with teleconverters, and sometimes not, is enough to get you quite close if you are patient. Just keep in mind that hiking with a 500/600 can be a bit of a pain.

    It helps to know your equipment well for sure. Practicing on other animals is a good start also. Things happen very fast – no time for fumbling around. At the same time, you will miss a lot of shots – just part of the experience and not something to get discouraged about. Just being there and soaking it all in is amazing in itself.

  2. Ron Niebrugge
    November 22nd, 2009 @ 1:36 pm

    I use the 100-400 all the time, but still hate that piece of junk!

    Having a 500 / 600 is a lot of fun – it opens up all kinds of possibilities no matter where you are photographing.

  3. Richard Wong
    November 22nd, 2009 @ 6:11 pm

    Thanks for the tips guys.

    Mark – I feel sorry for those who only had the 100-400mm because as Ron just said, it is a piece of junk! It is so clunky to use and the image quality ain’t all that great either. Plus, it kept shorting out my 20D when the stabilizer was on.

    I think the 400mm f5.6 might be a good compromise between weight and quality. Not to mention the price tag.

  4. Mark
    November 25th, 2009 @ 7:05 am

    Well, I should also add that our tour leader shot with a 500, and we also had someone along with a 600. There were definitely occasions that those came in handy, don’t get me wrong. For me it was a special situation since I didn’t want to carry both the 200-400 and a 500.

  5. Richard Wong
    November 25th, 2009 @ 11:47 am

    Hey Mark. I have heard that the 200-400 is an amazing lens. I think Frans Lanting uses it too. Too bad that Canon doesn’t make a telephoto zoom of equivalent quality.

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