HOW TO photograph Brown Bears
During last 20 years it has been possible to photograph Brown Bears in Finland. There are many places which are offering this possibility, but some of the sites are better than others. For Brown Bear photography I would at the moment recommend Martinselkonen site close to Suomussalmi by the Russian border. We are keeping eye on all of the Bear feeding sites in Finland, so we would know what is happening in each place. Please notice also that if you make your bear hide booking through Finnature you will get the same price than you would get by booking straight with the feeding sites.
In Martinselkonen there can be over 20 bears and 8 cubs on the best nights! Normally Brown Bears wake up from their hibernation around mid-April. Usually there is still plenty of snow at that time, so it is possible to photograph bears in snowy environment until early May.
Local warmer weather conditions in spring effect on bears hibernation. As they are not full hibernators, they can be woken easily. First bears can be seen at feeding site in the end of March. In early May bears forage voraciously. After the long hibernation they have consumed fat considerably, but their furry coats are in excellent shape and they are very photographable in spring.
In the end of May, normally in the last week, bears begin their rutting season. There won´t be that many bears by the feeding sites compared with months outside rutting period, but bears are very active. At feeding sites it is possible to see when adult males assume dominance. These situations can sometimes be led to large aggressions between individuals. This period can offer some excting photography opportunities.
Every year several copulations take place at feeding area and under ideal circumstances it is possible to get astonishing images. As to mating between bears there seem to be individual fluctuations and the latest paring has been seen in the first week of July. What comes to mating season the end of May and the whole June is good time for photography.
After rutting season bears forage again voraciously. There may be occasional aggressions between adult males, but these situations appear less and less during July. At this time of the year there are normally many bears up to 20 individuals or more including cubs during dusk and dawn.
Females with cubs normally show up to feeding sites during June, although there is no specific period of time when cubs emerge to follow their mother in search of food at feeding area. First females and cubs have arrived in the end of May. In some years they have appeared only in the beginning of July. July and Early August seem to be best time to photograph females with small cubs.
Bog hides
The photography site on a bog is located about 200 meters from the main feeding site. The older pro-hide on a small bog area is for max 3 photographers. Another pro-hide is located 100 meters distant from the older one and max 3 photographers fit in this hide as well. There are 6 camera holes in both pro-hides. Here you can take images of bears in a wider open boggy area with old growth forest in the background. As to light conditions this site is better compared with forest location. In early spring boggy area is the last places where snow cover remains longest. This is the best site for Brown Bear images with snow.
Pond hides
There are two more pro-hides located by a small pond is in an open boggy area. At this site you can get nice reflections of bears walking on the side of the pond and bears also swim in the pond fairly regularly. Three photographers can share these new pro-hides. These pro-hides are located along the route that bears use when they come to feeding sites. The distance to the main feeding area is about 1 km. There is only 0,5 km walk from the car to this pond site.
Forest pro-hides
At the main feeding site in the forest there is one pro-hide for max 2 persons and the other one for max 3 photographers. These pro-hides are located about 50 meters distant from main viewing hides in open conifer forest with both pine and spruce trees. In the smaller pro-hide there are 4 camera holes and in the bigger one there are 6 camera holes for photography. The visibility can be up to 40-50 meters, so the forest is fairly open and habitat looks fairly natural. Nowadays dog food is used to feed bears in front of the pro-hides. Food is put out to these locations with pro-hides only when there are photographers in order to preserve terrain around the pro-hides. Dog food will not show in photos. It is possible to change the position of these pro-hides according to photographers wishes.
Lenses
In forest bears come very close to the hides, so there you can use anything from wide angle lenses up to 500 mm tele objective. 70- 200 mm zoom lens is good choice as well. In bog or by the pond hide you probably don´t need wide-angle lens, but 70- 200 mm zoom and longer tele objectives are recommended. There is no need to use tripod. However, you may bring your tripod head with you, which you can attach in board in hides. Also bean bags are available in hides.
Some instructions for Brown Bear photographers
Althought these Bears are wild they are not very shy, but when you communicate with your fellow photographer, try to whisper, never speak loudly. Bears eyesight is fairly poor, but they have incredible senses for smell and noices. Therefore it is best not to put any strong parfumes or mosquito repellents on you before entering the hide for a night. Once you have entered the hide in afternoon, you are not aloud the come out before the next morning when local guide will give you sign that it is ok to come out. It is ok to change lenses during the photography. Please do it when bears are little further away. They might be scared if you do it quickly when they are nearby and especially if there comes some noice from the change.
