I got back last week from the Great Bear Rainforest, and as I have mentioned in other posts, the thing I like the most about visiting the Great Bear Rainforest is that the trips are never the same, and 2016 was no exception.

Each day of the trip seemed to have a different highlight, from Humpback Whales, Black Bears, Spirit Bears, Grizzly Bears, and Bald Eagles, this year’s trip did not disappoint with the amount of diversity, and great photographic opportunities. We had a Humpback Whale bubble-netting by himself, and even created one of his bubble nets right under the bow of the boat, luckily the skipper moved the boat so the whale was still able to come up, and it came up right next to the boat.

On the trip we usually visit land twice to areas where Spirit Bears will frequent to feast upon the salmon that come during the fall. The first location did not provide us a Spirit Bear, however we had the opportunity to photograph a few different Black Bears, and I got some of the best Black Bear photos that I have taken so far.

Spirit & Salmon

The second time we visited land we were able to get a few more Black Bear shots, along with the rare Spirit (or White) Bear.

Having the opportunity to visit the Great Bear Rainforest for the last three years, I have had the opportunity to see some of the same bears each year. The Spirit Bear we saw was the same Spirit Bear that I saw on my first trip two years ago. Also the Grizzly Bears that we saw, I also saw the last two years that I went to the Great Bear Rainforest. It’s nice to see the little cubs from two years ago, grow, and to still see the different personalities with one always sticking closer to mom, and the other wandering further away.

This trip was also a great opportunity to test my new gear including my 1DX Mark II and 5D Mark IV. Both require a bit more stringent testing before I post too much more on their performance, however there were a couple things that I noticed on this trip. The 1DX Mark II performs well at ISO 12,800, which with the 1DX I was always hesitant to take any higher than 6400. I also found that the 5D Mark IV performs quite well at ISO 6400, however one downside is that you need the shutter speeds to be higher than ether the 1DX or 1DX Mark II, this is due to the smaller pixel size packed into the same sensor, so therefore any shake tends to be a bit more noticeable.

Look for my images as I continue to add them to my Recent Photos, and Great Bear Rainforest Gallery, but I am already looking forward to my trip next year.