Coastal Brown Bear eating fresh salmon

Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Alaska Workshop Update:

Join me for my Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai Adventure from September 17 to 24 for an incredible 8-day/7-night photographic adventure on a private charter along the Katmai Coast of Alaska. We will photograph the numerous Coastal Brown Bears congregating along streams overflowing with salmon as they fatten up for the long and harsh Alaskan winter. Unlike many other tours, our Itinerary starts by flying out to the ship from Kodiak, Alaska, on day 1 (flights from Kodiak to the boat and back are included), and we remain there until we fly back to Kodiak on day 8. We photograph bears from day 1 to day 8, so eight days of epic brown bear photography! There are only two spots left!

Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Cub Eating Fresh Salmon (Ursus arctos, ours brun) from my Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai adventure workshop in Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony 1.4X Tele extender @840mm. ISO 20,000, f/5.6 @ 1/1,000s Manual exposure. Full-frame image.

Brown bear mother with cute spring twins

The significant advantage of using a research vessel for my Ultimate Brown Bears of Katmai Photo Tour is the ability to move around the diverse landscapes and scenery of the Katmai Coast. We can seek flat water anchorage if the wind or waves kick up.

This mother was a dream model with her super cute spring cubs in tow: she was headed down to the flats at low tide to dig up some clams. I love how the cliffs in the background give a sense of scale and how small the spring cubs look.

Bears are opportunistic feeders, and a study has shown that they will also eat vegetation, clams, and seals in addition to salmon. This steady diet of marine resources provides energy for foraging, mating, and nursing and also helps bears pack on the pounds needed to survive winter hibernation.

Coastal Brown Bear with cute spring twins (Ursus arctos or Grizzly Bear) from June 2010. Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, Alaska, from my Ultimate Brown Bear Photo Tour. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. 500mm with 1.4X Teleconverter @700mm ISO 800, f/5.6 @ 1/320s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Katmai Brown Bear Mother and Cubs

Another image from my Ultimate Brown Bears Galore of Alaska Bear Boat Adventure Workshop on the Katmai Coast in June. This image was made with my Sony Alpha 1 and Sony 200-600mm zoom lens set to 478mm. Spending so much quality time with the bears is always such a thrill and a privilege!

Grizzly Coastal Brown Bear Mother and Cub

Another image from my recent ULTIMATE BROWN BEARS OF KATMAI WORKSHOP in Alaska. After another of Melissa’s epic home-cooked meals on our private charter ship, we returned to shore in heavy overcast and foggy conditions and spent a few hours waiting for this mother and cub to wake up from their afternoon nap :)

Coastal Brown Bear Mother with cub

At the end of a very long day hiking around Katmai National Park (Alaska) in the rain knee-deep in mud this mother and cub seemed to look as wet and muddy as I felt - smile. As always in Katmai, we respect the bears from a distance, but they usually tend to gravitate to my group as a trusted shield from the roaming adult males (called boars) and move closer to us. I can see from the timestamps on the images that we spent 44 minutes waiting for both of them to look our way at the same time; we were lucky to have the added bonus of the cub touching mom :)

Since the sky is much brighter than the bears, it was extremely bright and washed-out in the image, so I replaced the background sky to make the scene resemble more closely what my eyes saw.

Bald Eagle Eaglet

Here’s an older image from my Ultimate Brown Bear by boat WORKSHOP in Katmai, Alaska. The Bald Eagle nests are always a nice distraction from the bears. Some years they are plentiful and easily approached from the comfort of our live aboard ship. We returned to the ship after a successful morning in the rain and the captain treated us with a warm and dry Eagle cruise while the rest of the crew spoiled us with an awesome lunch.