The Dance

Limited Edition print, image sizes available:

12" x 18" - $726

16" x 24" - $981

24" x 36" - $1395

Black metal frame with white matting

THE DANCE

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA, USA. This image was captured on the last of a 10-day fly in assignment in the heart of one of the most rugged and untouched regions of North America. I flew in on a twin otter with my bear guide, we set up camp, out electric fence, assembled gear and hit the tundra to go be among the bears during the peak of the salmon run. It was a gruelling task, hiking an hour and a half each way to an area on the river the bears congregate and to fill up on salmon before their winter slumber. The hike was done with over 50 lbs of gear on my back, across the tundra, through the willows, criss-crossing streams, rivers and navigating rocky cliff edges. All in the heart of Alaska’s bear country. My days would start before daybreak (5 a.m.) and we would find ourselves back in camp just around sunset (10 p.m.) With nothing but focusing on finding and creating images of brown bears in-between the hikes to and from camp. This image was created just a few hundred feet from camp on our last day there. We had been down river and making our way back to pack up camp when my bear guide spotted this mother and her second-year cub in a friendly sparing match, high atop a cliffs edge on the riverbank. A wonderful way to bring my time in Katami to a close, witnessing a beautiful interaction between this mother and cub as she passed along life lessons critical to her cubs’ survival.