Rising Above

This was taken on my second trip to Lake Clark National Park. Lake Clark is located about 120 miles south of Anchorage, across the Cook Inlet from Soldotna. The main purpose of this trip was to photograph coastal brown bears. Since we were there in the end of June, we anticipated plenty of bear activity, especially mothers with cubs.

Lake Clark offers a unique experience, as the photographer is not confined to photographing the bears from a viewing stand with 50 other photographers. The photographer has more freedom to explore the coastline along the Cook Inlet, but at all times must observe proper bear etiquette, which includes remaining a safe distance from the bears.

After four days of focusing on bear photography, we took a break to photograph a patch of lupines near the coast. After about an hour on this subject, we heard the call of a nearby bald eagle. Turning around we saw the eagle perched atop of a spruce tree, not more than 50 feet from us. We quickly switched from micro to telephoto lenses watching all the while in hopes that the bird would remain on the tree. As luck would have it, the bird seemed unconcerned about our presence. Very carefully, we picked up our tripods and found a better composition, which would include a blue-sky background.

The eagle shots I took at Lake Clark were especially satisfying because in other parts of Alaska and Yellowstone National Park, when I had attempted to get a shot of an eagle that looked like an eagle and not a "bird dot", the eagle would not let me even approach him, much less get a good shot. The eagle remained on the perch for at least 15 minutes, allowing us to work him from all angles. I was pleasantly surprised the bird was so tolerant of our presence. I only had a few shots left on the media digital card when the eagle decided he had been patient enough, and he flew off, allowing me to capture him "RISING ABOVE."