How about something totally new?  This week I want to kick off a new series, and a (mostly) new subject – black bears.  If you’ve hung around Picture of the Week long enough, you’ve heard me say that I’m not a wildlife photographer.  I generally don’t have the right lenses for it, and it’s not something I really pursue, though there have been a handful of times where I’ve gotten some decent shots of animals, which I have shared here.  BUT, what’s different this go around is that Steve Zigler and I actually went to Minnesota to do a black bear photography tour with our good friend Bill Lea and  new friend Chris Norcott, and came away with a whole bunch of amazing bear images (and yes, I rented an appropriate lens! haha) that I’m really proud of.  More than anything though, I got to spend time with Bill and the bears, which was ultimately my goal.  Bill has been telling me about this trip for years, and for years Steve and I have been saying we were going to go do it, and it was SO worth it.  Bill is an amazing human being, and it was so fun getting to see him in his element and to get to experience this with him.

On the first morning of the tour, Bill came over to our car as we were waiting for the others to make it through the gate, and he said to Steve and I, “pay close attention to how you feel when you see this place for the first time.  It’s been a long time since I saw it for the first time”.  We took that to heart, and honestly I was blown away.  To get out of your car, with numerous bears around, is an interesting feeling, and way to start the trip.  I quickly got accustomed to being in such close proximity to the bears, but definitely never forgot who was the bigger mammal!  These are such amazing creatures, and I hope the pictures over the next few weeks helps tell that story.

More next week!

Dan

–Dan Thompson