Lake Clark Cubs!

I look forward to going to Lake Clark every year! Getting off the beaten path and photographing brown bears is always great! I’ve been going to Lake Clark for many years now, but I’m just as excited going each year as I was previously. On any photo trip, I hope to get it started off well. On our very first shoot we got some decent shots, but on our second time out, we knocked it out of the park! A saw a mother and two cubs from a distance, and we hurried over to where they were. When we got there, the two cubs started playing king of the stump, and played and played and played!! I don’t even know how many photos were taken by my group while they played, but it was a lot, and it was awesome!

            First thing the next morning, that same mom and cubs were actually in the yard as the group prepared to go photographing. It’s always fun to see the bears by the lodge! It was a clear morning, and we waited for the mom and cubs to head out into the sedge flats so we could photograph them. The light was amazing, and the family of bears were so photogenic! We got some great closeups in the sedge flats, and then they headed to the tidal flats to go clamming. With the soft morning light, the mountains out, and a cooperative family of bears, we had a very successful morning! By the time we went in for breakfast, it felt like we had already shot a days worth of photos! In the afternoon we found the other mom and two cubs, and it was great to photograph them too.

            Another highlight of the trip was the other mom and two cubs resting out on the beach. A bear that was nearby startled the cubs, but after mom got them to relax again, the cubs were very cuddly and stayed close to mom. The cubs even climbed over mom at one point, and gave the cutest resting poses!! Every time they moved it seemed to be a cuter photo!

            Throughout the week we saw many other bears, but the moms with cubs were the highlight! New brown bear cubs are so small, and so full of life and energy. And brown bear cubs enjoy playing with each other, so it makes great photos when they are playing. As usual, the trip went by fast, and before we knew it, it was time to fly out and leave Lake Clark. My group was all very happy, which makes me happy, and they couldn’t wait to look through all their photos and the many exciting encounters we had!

Lake Clark Bear Fun!

            Anytime I am photographing bears I am happy! Leading my photo tour to Lake Clark NP is always a good time! I had another great group of clients this year, and the bears gave us many great opportunities! It is really cool when we fly in and there are bears scattered across the tidal flats digging for clams. It gets the group real excited seeing bears immediately and the excitement continues to grow from there.

            We had good opportunities with bears clamming for most days of the trip, and it’s always fun getting to photograph bears on the tidal flats. On day two, while photographing bears clamming, we saw in the distance a mother bear with a small cub. Cubs always get the group very excited, and this was a spring cub, or a first-year cub. They are so small at first and lots of fun to photograph. Getting to spend some time with the cub was great, and then later that evening we saw a mother with 3 spring cubs! Each day we kept seeing more and more bears!

            On the third morning, we woke to the mother and 3 cubs being right out in front of the lodge. What a great way to wake up! They were across a river from us, but after we had been there a while, they decided to swim and come to us! Then the cubs ran around and played and really put on a show for us. In the afternoon it looked like it could be a long day because all the bears we could see were taking a nap. One bear when it woke up, got up and went to a different bear and started to play. They played and played and played for the longest time, and looked to be having so much fun! My group certainly enjoyed getting to spend so much time watching them play, and then one slept on a log in exhaustion. My group almost always gets the chance to photograph a bear sleeping on a log!

            The next couple of days we got to see the mom and 1 cub a number of times, and each time it seemed like the cub was getting more comfortable in its new world. The cub started to show its personality, and it was such a joy to get to watch him run around and entertain us! It liked to run our direction, do a jump and spin, and then run back to mom. It also enjoyed chewing on its paws, which was super cute. Each day of the trip, the photography just got better and better! Spending time in the field around bears is what I look forward to most each year, and Lake Clark never disappoints.

My Kids Book is now published by Scholastic Canada!

I want to give a special thanks to Pili Palm-Leis (author) for her hard work in helping to get our book published!

Keep Up, Katmai is a remarkable up-close view into an inquisitive real grizzly cub's day, with stunning photographs shot by renowned wildlife photographer Barrett Hedges.

In this unique format, photographs give an up-close view into a very important event in a grizzly cub's life - when she learns to fish for salmon with her brothers and sister. Young readers will cheer for Katmai, the smallest of the cubs, as we follow her day. The incredible collection of photos shows how wild bears eat, learn and play, as their mother protects and feeds them. The result? A beautiful introduction to this incredible, endangered species, and a wonderful story celebrating the love between parents and their children.

Back of book material includes a fascinating interview with author Pili Palm-Leis and photographer Barrett Hedges. While anyone would look at these photos and know they are special, an experienced nature photographer would immediately recognize that they also represent a unique shoot. To see a grizzly mom in the wild with four live cubs is almost unheard of. Barrett's shoot captured behaviour that is very hard to get, especially in the same frame. Thanks to his eye and deep knowledge and respect for the wildlife he photographs, young readers will witness magnificent scenes in nature that most of us would never have a chance to experience.

This book is written for kids ages 6-12 years old. My first edition is written for toddlers.