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It's probably fair to say that the greatest thrill in outdoor photography is wildlife photography, and further that the greatest thrill in wildlife photography comes from photographing a big carnivore. Somehow capturing an image of something that could have you as a snack adds an element of adventure to the whole photo process.
If all of this is resonating with you, then I'd suggest you are probably a candidate to visit Churchill Manitoba in central Canada for their annual polar bear season. Every year in the late fall (from late October to mid-November, roughly) the western Hudson Bay population of polar bears congregate around (and often in) the little town of Churchill, swelling its normal 800-to-1000 population to four thousand or more. If you want to photograph the only animal known to actually hunt humans for food, this is literally the best spot on earth and (ironically) the safest as well.
A Little About Churchill
Churchill is a town that evolved from a trading fort presence on Hudson Bay, a place where three distinct "First Nation" (as the Canadians call the "Indian" populations) groups came together (Algonquin, Athabascan, and Inuit). The town is located on the bank of the Churchill River, which drains a big chunk of the flatlands of north-central Canada. The outflow of fresh water into Hudson Bay creates an area of reduced salinity, and as the temperature drops in the fall ice in the river forms and is swept along the bay to become "fast ice". This grows as temperatures drop further, taking advantage of the fact that less-salty water freezes first, and becomes the first large ice platform of each fall season.
Polar bears, who hunt ringed seals on the ice and little else, must come ashore along the bay each spring when the ice melts, and they live largely on fat stores through the summer. Naturally they're eager to grab some food as winter approaches, so they move toward that area of fresh-ish water at the mouth of the Churchill River, which just happens to be where the town is located. This gives rise to what is probably one of the largest-scale encounters between humans and an animal that would prey on humans known on earth.
Churchill has, during bear season, an active set of precautions to keep the encounters between the species to a minimum. In the past, bears foraged happily at the town dump and, when food there was scarce or after the dump was closed, converted to breaking into homes. This resulted in a lot of shot bears and a few mauled or killed people. Now the town and Manitoba government have worked to prevent human/bear interaction by setting a protective cordon around the town, created by a combination of traps (culvert traps and some humane snares) and patrols. The latter will scare bears with cracker shells (firecrackers fired from shotguns) and, if necessary, dart them. Caught or darted bears are put into "Polar Bear Jail" where up to about 25 can be kept. If too many are caught, excess can be airlifted by helicopter north away from town.
Once the ice on Hudson Bay forms solidly enough to support seal hunting, the bears all head for the ice and the area quickly empties of bears, though there is a risk of a straggler here and there for just about any time.
When to Go
If you want to see the polar bears in Churchill, it's a bit of a crap-shoot. Bears will begin to arrive in late October, but the numbers will be small as long as the weather is warm. Bears will depart en masse when the ice forms, which is now normally mid-November. The magic good interval is thus from the very end of October to mid-November, or about three total weeks. I've been there in late October and as late as the 10th of November and there are risks at either extreme as well as benefits.
My own experience is that earlier in the season the bears you see are the ones most habituated to Churchill. They often hang out near the tundra lodges, which are mobile-home-like structures on giant tires located in the tundra and home for guests. There may be young adults and some mothers with cubs, but generally fewer large males. If the weather is warmer than usual there will be fewer bears, and bears are also pretty inactive when it's warm.
Very late in the season, you seem to see more adult males at the beaches or even on the "fast ice" that sticks to the beach. They may keep the females with young cubs away; we probably saw fewer of these later on, and those we saw were wary. Bears late in the season are more likely to be active, sparring with each other and playing around, especially if you get a cold snap.
Obviously you'd like to see a bit of both, but the timing is delicate. My only guidance is my own habits; I normally book so that my first day out watching bears is around the 8th to 10th of November. Most trips do only two consecutive days on the tundra.
How to Go
There are always a lot of ways to do wildlife trips, most of which will be at least a hassle and some of which will be crushingly disappointing. It's not so much accommodations (Churchill's are all kind of Econo-Lodge quality or worse) or meals (mostly uninspiring) as the way you'll view the bears.
At the high level there are two choices; stay in a tundra lodge or ride out daily on a vehicle, popularly called a "tundra buggy" though that name is trademarked by one of the two companies that do the majority of the trips. Some like one, others the opposite.
Tundra lodges put you out among the bears 24 hours a day, but obviously you're in one place (you can ride out on their own buggies for part of each day). The food is supposed to be good, and the accommodations are sleeper-car-like.
The vehicles are like busses on giant tires, built from airport fire truck chassis. They let you ride around high enough above the tundra that bears probably (see below) can't reach you. There are no real roads, only trails that sometimes lead through shallow ponds and over what can be mountainous ruts. I like this approach; it's the only way I go.
On the buggies, viewing is done either from the windows (open or closed) or from a rear open deck. The former offers more comfort since the buggies are heated, but if a lot of windows are open at one time (which will be the case if bears approach) you'll still get chilly. On the rear deck you're in the open. In either case it is very important not to let things dangle down if you lean out or over. The bears cannot reach the deck or windows normally, but they could reach up and snag something that dangled down, pulling the owner out of the vehicle. It's pretty unlikely this would have a happy or even survivable outcome.
If you decide on the buggys, the next question is how to do your deal. You can use a tour company or just go up there and book direct. My view; you're nuts to go to Churchill on your own. Book a tour. Second point; get a recommendation from somebody who's been there. We've seen buggies with 60 people crammed in, and with that kind of crowd people are lucky to see a flash of white fur between the knees and elbows of their companions (both of which they're likely to encounter while trying to get into photo position)!
My recommendation is simple. Go to Natural Habitat Adventures (www.nathab.com) and book through them. I've traveled ten or more times with Nat Hab, three times to Churchill, and there is no better outfit on the planet for this trip. They book no more than 15 travelers in a group, and so there's ample space in the vehicle for everyone to have a window and take pictures, and their guides are knowledgeable and highly experienced.
What to Wear
Gosh, that's a hard one! Over the three-week prime window, temperatures can vary from 45 degrees to minus 65 wind chill. In the sweet week of early November, they still range from plus 20 to minus 20 (all degrees F). To say "layer" is trite, but true. Actually, though, outerwear isn't that tough. You can get a good parka from many of the outfitters on loan (including Nat Hab), and any outdoor store has them for a hundred bucks. Get a mid-weight one large enough for a good down vest or fleece jacket underneath.
The tough issue is hands and feet. Your feet will get cold easily even if it's 20F, and if it gets down to negative digits they get cold really fast. You will need -40 boots (it happens that the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are the same at that temperature) and not just your typical stroll-in-the-park stuff. For your hands, you will need good gloves, and if you're doing photography you'll need mittens with the flaps that expose your fingertips and thumb, and under these wear cotton glove liners. Get those thermal packs that heat when exposed to air and have one to tuck in the palm of each hand. Trust me, on a typical day you'll be unable to stand the cold fingers to take photos if you don't do this.
Photography
Churchill's bears are a photo challenge for a bunch of reasons, some of which relate to conditions and some to more photo-related issues.
Cold has a major impact on batteries and film. If you shoot film you may find your camera rewinds after a few shots because the film is too stiff and it tricks the auto-rewind. Any battery is at risk in the cold, except perhaps the batteries on the high-end digital SLRs. I was able to use the D200 and D2X in Churchill at -20F wind chills (-5F actual) without a problem. The AAs on the Fuji S2 I used on the last trip froze up at about 8F.
The slightest moisture will condense on cold camera surfaces, especially the lens and viewfinder. Don't breath on either one or you'll be cleaning your gear up just when you were hoping for that perfect shot. It's easy to breath on the viewfinder, just lower the camera a bit to see and you're in the perfect position! Same with the lens; turn the camera to see if the cap's on and you've created an ice cap instead. Keep the things that are supposed to be clear away from your face!
Moisture can sometimes collect even in and on the body when coming in from the cold back deck of the buggies, but my own experience is that the air inside them is too dry for that to be a problem. The thing to avoid at all cost is putting the camera inside your parka; your body heat is humid and you'll cause condensation big time.
What lens? No single one is likely to be perfect. Some bears will be too far away to shoot even with a 500mm prime on a digital back, and the next one will stand up and stick his nose close enough to touch, literally. It's best to have two backs, of course, but if you can't have that then a good tele-zoom is the answer. My personal favorite for Churchill is the 80-400mm Nikon VR, which zooms back enough to get somewhat close shots. The only problem is that it won't focus really close, and when the bear rears against the buggy (which is very likely to happen at least once) you'll regret not getting that shot.
Most of the good shots will happen at a distance large enough to justify even an 800 or 1000mm lens, though. Bears interacting with each other rarely do so closer than about 40 yards to a vehicle, and that distance is more than enough to justify a telephoto. The problem is that when they approach close, they get REALLY close, often standing on their hind legs alongside the vehicles or sniffing your feet through the gratings. That's why two bodies, one with a good wide-angle zoom, is the best approach.
For camera support, I've found that the best option is a good beanbag, but you will need to find one that has a tripod quick release mount that holds it to the camera or lens. If you don't you can expect to drop it out of the vehicle at some point in time, and if that happens it's gone. They don't go out onto the tundra for gear, even cameras. That means keeping a good grip on your camera, obviously. I'd recommend keeping a loose strap around your neck all the time. If you don't have a beanbag, then a monopod can be valuable, but you'll have to insure the foot is large because the rear decks are open grating and something small will slip through. Bears often sniff around under the rear deck, and will likely take a liking to anything that goes through the grate (including fingers, so don't be tempted). Keep in mind that people moving around will move the vehicle somewhat, so no camera support will be truly steady. If the vehicle engine is running, you should either hold the camera free or stick the monopod on your shoe to reduce vibration. VR/IS lenses are a really good thing for this trip!
I'm a pure digital guy, and if you are as well then you'll want to set your ISO correctly. Do a test reading when you start out, and periodically through the day, to insure your shutter speed is high enough to give you clean shots. If the day is sunny you can easily get away with ISO 200 or even lower, but be careful of jitter. If it's cloudy, you may find that even ISO 800 won't give you great shutter speeds. Don't take a chance on blur; you can fix noise easier. Adjust ISO often as the lighting changes.
Bear behavior is best photographed by either becoming an expert in bears or by shooting a lot, and the latter approach is probably easier for most of us. Bears do a lot of interesting things, including standing up on their hind legs, pouncing on lemmings in the kelp, or even turning somersaults. Most of the time you will have very little warning of these behaviors, so when bears are moving around and doing stuff, shoot a lot and keep your finger on the shutter at all times. Don't waste time with white balance, composition, etc. in the field. If you have a zoom, keep framing a bit loose to allow you to crop for composition, and use your image software to white balance the scene.
Often the vehicle will approach a bear, fox, or other interesting animal, and the driver intends to get close, stop, and turn the engine off. It's tempting to wait for all of this to happen, and most will do that. Most of the time, those waiters won't get the shots, because the critter won't cooperate and will run or fly off before the vehicle gets close. If there's something interesting coming up, get out on the back deck and start shooting as soon as you have something useful in the viewfinder. If you get close you can always toss any of these early shots, but if you never get close these may be the only pictures that get taken. On my most recent Churchill trip, we approached a nice arctic fox at the den, and I went out and started shooting well away from the fox as we rolled up. It bolted for the den and nobody else got a picture at all. Were these the best shots? No, but they were darn sure the best possible.
The most interesting pictures of any animal are the ones where you can see the eyes/head. Rear-on shots can be OK for special situations, but bears often take a slight turn periodically and swivel their heads to look back at you, so wait for that moment and start shooting when they start to turn. Behavior like standing and pouncing tend to be repeated, so if you miss it the first time be ready to grab a shot later on. If a bear is in the cover of a willow thicket it often stands to check out surroundings, so be especially watchful of those in cover like this.
Smaller animals like foxes, ptarmigan, owls, etc. can often be seen and often offer really nice photo opportunities too, but these creatures are more wary and thus much harder to get close to. You'll need a long lens to shoot one, and you'll need to grab any shot you can get. Some years, foxes will come right up to the buggy; I had that in 2003. Most years they stay well away, and that was the case in 2007. Be prepared.
As a final tip, remember that bears and other creatures are all over the Churchill area and not just out where tundra viewing is organized. I saw more foxes and better fox opportunities off the tundra driving along a road than out in the viewing areas. As soon as you pull out of the hotel, get the camera ready, ISO set, and be prepared to yank down the window and start shooting. Generally you will want to be on the bay side of the vehicles if you have a choice while driving to or from some activity; most of the animals seem to be there.
Now a warning. These are dangerous animals in their home area, and no matter how tame they may look they are capable of very quick movement and very fatal-to-humans interactions. You don't want to ever go out to walk without watching, especially at night, and you never want to approach a bear at ground level. Most places in Churchill keep doors open in bear season to allow people to duck in, so do that immediately if you see something. Stay in the vehicles, and on regular busses and vans DO NOT keep your windows down if a bear approaches. They can reach up ten feet or more, and that's plenty to get a paw into a bus window.
Churchill is a wonderful place, the people are warm and interesting, and there is no better place on earth to photograph the magnificent bears of the north.
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