ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Each year around early August, large concentrations of brown bears congregate on the rivers and creeks of Katmai National Park in Alaska waiting for the annual run of sockeye salmon from the coast. It's one of nature's greatest migrations, filled with lots of action as bears swim, jump and dive for spawning fish.

I had planned to spend a week in the area, knowing that each fishing bear has a distinct strategy for catching fish which takes time to capture on camera. This particular bear was one of those repeatedly chasing and diving after any fish that swam too close allowing for ample opportunity to capture unique behavior. Having set my shutter speed for the desired result, I wanted to photograph the shake immediately after the bear came up from a dive. I lay down on the ground to get the lowest angle possible and used a high speed burst to capture the moment in the shake when the bear's eyes were in focus.

The motion of the head shake and water droplets contrasts nicely with the intent stare of the bear while the low angle allowed for a simple background.

AUTHOR
Born in London but now living in Boston in the United States, I'm passionate about taking photographs of the world's wild places and the people, cultures and animals that reside within them. Much of my portfolio has a particular focus on the amazing continent of Africa where I have been lucky enough to study, live for a time and spend many treasured days exploring.

I am President of a private family foundation dedicated to supporting the long-term protection of at-risk wildlife and ecosystems around the world called the Preservation of At-Risk Wildlife (PAW) Foundation.

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