Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Does the sequence provide enough information to tell the story of teaching and learning to catch fish?
Other Information
Please leave your feedback before viewing the blurred information below, once you have replied, click to reveal the text and see if your assessment aligns with the photographer. Remember, this if for their benefit to learn what your unbiased reaction is.
Image Description
The larger Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos) appears to be teaching the younger bear how to catch fish, allowing the smaller bear to watch him as he catches salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska. First you must go to where the fish are known to be. Next you catch it in your mouth as it jumps up the falls. Then patience is necessary, to wait until the fish is close enough to catch. Ultimately be ready to grab the fish when it is near enough.
Technical Details
Canon EOS 5D II; Canon EF 200-400mm @ 200mm; f/16 @ 1/160 sec, +1 EV, ISO 400; Gitzo tripod, RRS BH 55, remote trigger
Teaching how to catch fish: Clearly demonstrated.
Learning how to catch fish: Probably, but not clearly, because I don’t know if the smaller bear actually caught the fish. Great series of photos.
Thank you @ Jim Gavin for your comments. Yes, the younger bear did make the catch. I have an image of it but it is a close-up without the older bear in the field. I also have a series of the younger bear approaching the older bear. They must be related—father/son—because the older bear tolerated his approach and he wouldn’t if not.
Hi Bob, nice series showing this feeding behavior. At first look, I did not pick up on the possibility of teaching going on except with your title and the question you asked. I don’t know if bears engage in teaching others to fish so this is intriguing as it raises that question.
Thank you @Allen_Sparks for your comments and question. Yes, most terrestrial and avian species teach their progeny what and where to find food. For bears the mother is solely responsible for the first three years. Then they chase the cubs away so they can breed again. Almost all learning beyond is by observation. The cubs are very careful to stay clear of adult males unless they have identified them as safe kin.
Interesting series but teaching and learning part, not clearly demostrated.
Any particular reason for using f 16 @ 1/160 sec?
Probably you wanted both the bears in focus, but shutter speed is not good enough for critical sharpness.
Thank you @JRajput for your critical analysis. Four images of two animals over a period of time cannot purport to demonstrate everything that is happening during that time. However, I believe there is sufficient information to infer what is occurring.
The viewing platform, elevated rows, much like a sports stadium, can accommodate about 100 people, and each individual is limited to one hour on the platform. It is a very busy platform. The viewing angle then dictates what one will see, and what is obstructed. I chose the settings I used based on anticipated movement of the individual bears. Timing the captures meant viewing the bears through the camera with my left eye and watching the base of the falls for a fish to launch with my right eye, tripping the shutter when the fish launched. My camera will shoot continuously at 6 frames/second. Auto focus was not a practical alternative, as focal point tracking did not exist at the time. Manual refocusing would take too long to capture the moment. The people working for Nature certainly have a distinct advantage with the sophisticated equipment they have.
Interpreting the bears behavior directly allows me to make educated guesses as to what is happening. Bears are not particularly vocal. Like us , they exhibit predictable, often subtle movements and gentle grunts, to deliver their message. A lifetime of studying wildlife and five years of formal education (SDSU) in zoology (all animals) allows me to make better judgements about the animals intent and how to respond appropriately.
I trust my reply is not perceived as anything other than an explanation of my thought and physical processes in this example of wildlife photography.
Bob: this is an excellent series of photos showing the one bear learning by observation. The last photo doesn’t actually make it clear that the fish was caught, but it’s an easy step to imagine that it did. Congrats on your series.
@Bob_Faucher Since you asked this question, others responded, we all try to understand and learn from the photographs, taken by us and others as well. And in photography, there is no right or wrong way of doing things.
BTW if bear catches a fish, it’s a story and if it doesn’t, that’s also a story. So if I take an image and interpret it in a particular way, you have full right to understand and interpret it, your way.
