Erik Rosengren, FPSA, PPSA
About the Image(s)
How I did it-After 14 Months of the Pandemic and all it’s hassles, it was time to hit the road again on May 8th. Betty Sue, a PSA friend and yours truly spent our second night in North Carolina at the Henry River Mill Village, where part 1 of the Hunger Games trilogy was filmed. It was a good historical photo find. We then headed to Townson, TN to shoot Cates Cove and surrounding area. We were blessed with overcast skies to make images of water falls, and soft lit skies for making images of old homes, barns and a Grist Mill, located along the Wildlife Dr. in Cates Cove. We hade many photo ops of White Tail Deer, Elk, Eastern Turkeys during the mating season and Black Bears, their cubs and a beautiful array of wild flowers. One of my favorite images of the trip was “Front and Center-Black Bear”. When a good Wildlife siting takes place all traffic on the 12 mile Wildlife one way drive located in Cates Cove, all traffic comes to a halt. This bear was on the side of the road trying to dig out a snack. His head was down for 10 + minutes with his continued digging. Finally raising his head, I squeezed the shudder button making a series of shots. At that point he turned and walked back into the meadow. My tools for the day were an Olympus E-M1 Mark 111 body and an f 2.8 40 to 150 mm lens that included a 2X extender. The image was made at 80 mm, hand held, from the drivers seat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach my Canon with an f4 24 to 105mm lens in the back seat. The shorter lens would have allowed me to include more background. My settings were f7.1, Auto ISO @ 1250th of a second. If you enjoy wildlife and history, the Smoky Mtn’s are a great place to spend some time.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
To me opening up the shadows slightly to further enhance the bear's beautiful fur might bring a bit more depth to the image. I have tried this in the VF.
We are making a trip through this area in October and you have really whet my appetite for this adventure. Thanks!   Posted: 06/12/2021 07:41:58
You for me have so captured the moment,love the softness of the background it gives so much detail to the main subject I really love the way the light is just lightly highlighting the lighter fur on the bears shoulders and flank,it is a shame you could not get all the bear but for me I am just so taken by the detail it does not bother me.
If I came across a bear I would not want to be close enough to capture it with a 150mm lens 2x extender or not I would prefer to be at the safe end of a large telescope.   Posted: 06/17/2021 13:40:19