A pair of the Wild Brown Bears on the side of one of the lakes captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday

Encounters with Wild Brown Bears – Part 1

Article written by illustrated with images contributed by .

Outward Bound

As a keen wildlife photographer, I am always looking at ways to challenge myself so when Sean Weekly told me of availability on a trip to to photograph the Wild Brown Bears, I jumped at it. I had met Sean on Skomer Island back in 2016 photographing the Atlantic Puffins & learnt so much in that short time I was confident that I would enjoy the trip even though it was my first organised wildlife trip.

An image of one of the Wild Brown Bears captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday

Having managed to select my camera kit & get it packed safely it was off to Heathrow to meet the group & commence the adventure.

It was clear from the start that there was a good group dynamic & that this was going to be a good trip. Flights to Helsinki, with an overnight stop, followed by an onward flight to Kajaani & a coach trip to Kuhmo & the Wild camp completed the seamless travel arrangements. So, time for a quick unpack & freshen up before the fun commenced.

Night 1

Following some food & a safety briefing we were escorted to the hides for the first night. This is where I learned the first lesson of Mosquito Management! – apply as much insect repellant as you can & ensure you have no bare skin! Failure to follow these rules would lead to hours of fun!

Once in the hide you had plenty of time to settle in & get sorted but nothing could prepare you for the first wild brown bear encounter. These creatures are magnificent & the first time you see one for real you forget you have a camera & when you do take pictures they are rubbish!! However, you get plenty of opportunities to practice as they kept coming. One surprise on the first night was the interaction of the gulls chasing the bears off the food! Whilst a surprise it is just another aspect of nature at work providing different opportunities or challenges. Anyway, after a long day of travel & a longer night in the hide Night 1 was over & a well-earned breakfast & some sleep were called for … editing my images could wait!

One of the lighter coated Wild Brown Bears captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday One of the Wild Brown Bears captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday One of the Wild Brown Bears sniffs the air captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday

Night 2

Night 2 started about 3 PM with some coffee & image management making sure backups were made & images were selected. The main meal was taken at around 4 PM & the hide deployment followed a similar pattern as the previous night. Night 2 brought a different hide & different company & a new set of challenges! As well as a young female bear we were treated to our first sighting of a , a strange but captivating creature. During Night 2 I became aware of just how much noise my Nikon cameras make in comparison to Canon! So much so that we coined the phrase ‘Nikon Stare’ which is where the wildlife reacted to my shutter noise & offered the perfect poses for my Canon colleagues!! Thankfully the gull interaction was improving & would virtually disappear by Night 3.

One of the lighter coated young Wild Brown Bears approaches one of the photogaphy hides captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday One of the young Wild Brown Bears looks around cautiously captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday One of the wolverines that was a frequent hide visitor captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday One of the young Wild Brown Bears approaches one of the photogaphy hides captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday

After Night 2 we started to get into a good routine of image management followed by food consumption & we were tolerating those damned mosquitoes!

Night 3

For Night 3 we were allowed to make our own way to the brown bear hides & again settled in for another great session. This time we were treated to seeing two pairs of bears playing & feeding by a lakeside providing opportunities for some great shots. During these periods, you have time to push the camera settings to the extreme & try things you would not normally contemplate all with the support & guidance of the tour leaders & other photographers. Consequently, my knowledge grew & my images improved. By now we had learned that the bears operate during certain times & that typically there was a lull in activity between 0100hrs & 0300hrs so there were opportunities for a nap or for some image editing within the hide. These low activity periods also allowed for more experimentation of the camera settings & yet more eureka moments!

A pair of the Wild Brown Bears on the side of one of the lakes captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday A pair of the Wild Brown Bears on the edges of the Taiga captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday A pair of the Wild Brown Bears on the edges of the forest captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday A rear view of one of the Wild Brown Bears on the edges of the forest captured by NaturesLens guest Trevor during the Wild Brown Bears of Finland Photography Holiday

I have detailed the following nights in a second blog post – you can read ‘Further encounters with the Wild Brown Bear’ here.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO CAPTURE IMAGES OF THE WILD BROWN BEARS FOR YOURSELF?

For 2018, NaturesLens have already announced a return to photograph the Wild of – the trip has been scheduled to start on June 24 & ending on July 2, 2018.

The Wild of Finland Photography Holiday costs £1099 each participant, this price excludes air travel to Kajaani itself – all ground transportation from Kajaani & back, food, accommodation & guidance/tuition is included.

To hold a place on the trip, we only require a 20{c9c0a4696b7ac54bf73bcd0427c793d03ee76447581a2309f1c89b3325d12acb} deposit from you, with the balance due 12 weeks prior to the trip taking place.

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