The Joy of Photographing Bears

Few wild animals are as gratifying to photograph as bears. They’re charismatic, photogenic, entertaining, and just plain awesome to capture on camera. They exhibit lots of fascinating behaviors, and that leads to some of the best wildlife photo opportunities on the planet—no matter where with bears on the planet you may be! While grizzlies and black bears are obvious subjects for North American nature photographers, there are in fact eight bear species around the globe. From the mighty polar bear to China’s beloved panda and lesser-known species like South Asia’s sloth bear and the Andean spectacled bear in South America, bears come in a surprisingly diverse range of sizes, shapes and colors, thriving in equally diverse habitats. Court Whelan transports us to varied corners of the world where bears live, sharing his observations and lessons for how to photograph this iconic collection of big furry mammals in all their glory.


Originally presented December 8, 2020

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