The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
This bear was spinning his head to dry off. I froze the "spray’ as I wanted. I also wanted to capture at lease one eye, which I managed to do. I like the pinwheel effect of the fur on his lower jaw. The centering of the image is something I don’t normally do, but in this case, I thought it best. Maybe there are other viewpoints.
Creative direction
This large male, named Boss for obvious reasons, had a peculiar way of feeding in the stream. While he did chase and catch salmon, he seemed to prefer diving for salmon eggs. He would find a spot, only he knows how, where the salmon eggs had congregated, possibly due to natural pockets at the bottom of the stream. He would immerse his entire head for extended periods of time and then raise up and shake off the water. After watching this countless times, I knew I wanted to capture him in mid spin with the water flying off in a pinwheel.
Specific Feedback
The crop is probably what is going to be discussed most. Eager to hear all opinions.
Technical Details
I needed a relatively high ISO to give me the shutter speed I needed.
Canon 1DX, Mk II
Canon 200-400
ISO 2000
316mm
f/4.0
1/1250 sec
Description
I spent a whole week and large portions of each day planning and anticipating this very capture. I noticed this large male, had a habit of feeding on salmon eggs at the bottom of the stream. In my mind, I knew the image I wanted to capture. While he repeated this behavior quite often, he was seldom facing me head on. I think it was the last day of a week long trip when it happened. I think I captured most of what I set out to capture.
Although it’s not recommended to center a subject like this, I think it works so well in this shot Jerry. The fact that the bear’s head is spinning and all those droplets are flying off gives me the sense of a circular motion around the bear. This serves your choice of centering the bear in the image very well. What a lucky find too!
Another great shot Jerry. I love the movement of the bear’s head and the flying of the water droplets. I agree that the framing here looks good for the subject.
This works very well, Jerry. You got the bear in a perfect position to get the sense of motion that you derived from taking the picture. Enjoyable to look at.
I agree with all the comments. The circular motion draws you to the center. Love the motion freeze and the water droplets. Glad you had time to think about what you wanted to shoot. Nice, cooperative bear!
What a stunning result, and what patience to see it through. A whole week of watching, anticipating, and willing the bear to please, just once, face the right way. The fact that it finally came together on the last day feels almost narratively perfect, the kind of payoff that makes the previous six days of cold feet and damp gear retroactively worth every minute.
The freeze on the spray is gorgeous. Each droplet sits crisp and individual, suspended like a halo of tiny glass beads, and yet the slight motion blur of the head and that wonderful pinwheel of fur on the lower jaw keeps the energy of the spin perfectly intact. That balance between frozen and fluid is hard to nail, and you got it. The single visible eye does exactly what you hoped: it gives us a foothold, a point of contact in all that delightful chaos, and without it the image would be impressive but emotionally distant. With it, the whole frame suddenly has a soul peeking out from under the spray.
Boss is a wonderful subject too, and the creamy coat against the green and brown backdrop is a quiet stroke of luck on top of everything else. The droplets read beautifully against the darker midtones of the bank, which is doing a lot of compositional work without drawing attention to itself.
On the centering, I think it actually serves the image rather well here. The radial energy of the spin, the symmetry of the spray pattern, and the bear barreling slightly toward camera all push the eye outward from the center, so a more conventional rule of thirds placement might have felt like it was fighting the geometry of the shake itself. If anything, my only small thought would be whether a touch more breathing room above his head could give the upper droplets a little more sky to hang in, but honestly that is a quibble and very much taste dependent.
A genuinely memorable frame. The kind of image that rewards the photographer who refuses to give up on a vision, and it is a pleasure to see the plan and the result line up so beautifully. Thanks for sharing both the photo and the story behind it.
