Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Cub showing off fresh salmon in golden light

The light was spectacular, the out-of-focus autumn background perfect, and the bear cubs played with dinner directly before us —what could be better?

This image was made during my Ultimate Fishing Brown Bears of Alaska Adventure last September.

There are still two spots left for my Sept. 17-24 Ultimate Brown Bears of Alaska Adventure Workshops. All-inclusive from Kodiak, Alaska, we spend eight full days (7 nights) photographing the many Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bears of Katmai National Park.

A Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Cub showing off fresh salmon in golden light. (Ursus arctos, ours brun) From my Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai adventure workshop in Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens. ISO 800, f/4 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full Frame Image.

Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Eye to Eye

A Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear cub proudly shows off its prize: a freshly caught salmon during my Ultimate Brown Bears of Alaska Workshop in Katmai National Park.

If you dream of fishing bears in golden light with unique autumn colours in the background, my Ultimate Brown Bears of Alaska trip is for you! We are the last group in the park for the season, and the bears are enormous, with fur that glistens from eating so much salmon to prepare for their winter hibernation. The September sun in Alaska has started to move south of the equator for the winter, so the low light angle and light quality are spectacular.

Join me for my Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai Adventure from September 17 to 24 for an incredible 8-day/7-night photographic adventure on a private charter along the Katmai Coast of Alaska. We will photograph the numerous Coastal Brown Bears congregating along streams overflowing with salmon as they fatten up for the long and harsh Alaskan winter. Unlike many other tours, our Itinerary starts by flying out to the ship from Kodiak, Alaska, on day 1 (flights from Kodiak to the boat and back are included), and we remain there until we fly back to Kodiak on day 8. We photograph bears from day 1 to day 8, so eight days of epic brown bear photography! There are only two spots left!

Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Cub with Salmon. Eye to Eye. (Ursus arctos, ours brun) From my Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai adventure workshop in Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens. ISO 1,000, f/4 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

Coastal Brown Bear Fishing Workshop Update

Ultimate Brown Bears of Alaska Adventure Last Minute Openings:

A Coastal Brown Bear Sow (female) slams salmon during my Ultimate Brown Bear Fishing Adventure in Katmai, Alaska. I love the out-of-focus cub in the background, as it tells the story of who mom is fishing for :)

I still have a couple of spots open for the Ultimate Brown Bears of Katmai Fishing Bear adventure from September 17-24. Join me for the ultimate 8-day/7-night adventure along the Katmai Coast with loads of close-up fishing bears!

Coastal Brown (Grizzly) Bear Sow Fishing for Jr. (Ursus arctos, ours brun) from my recent Ultimate Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai adventure workshop in Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony 2X Tele extender @1,200mm. ISO 3,200, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full-frame image.

Coastal Brown Bears: Wanna Play?

The Katmai Coast Ultimate Brown Bear workshop is a magical experience if you dream of getting up close and personal with Coastal Brown Bears; Mothers often bring their cubs to my groups for free babysitting services :)

These two siblings are about to erupt into a frenzied playful tussle, a necessary lesson to help them survive alone in the wild.

This image was created hand-held using my Sony a9 camera with the Sony 100-400mm zoom lens with a doubler attached.

ioSafe Solo Hawk Bearproof SSD mini-review

Coastal Brown Bear Sow and Spring Cub clamming (Ursus arctos) Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens  with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @800mm ISO 640, f/5.6 @ 1/1,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

ioSafe Solo Hawk bearproof SSD mini-review

I am constantly on the go and do take the utmost care of my cameras, laptop, and other electronics while travelling, but that doesn't guarantee that my valuable images are safe from disaster. My friends over at ioSafe sent over an (almost) indestructible and waterproof external ioSafe Solo Hawk SSD drive, and I thought I would share a mini-review of it for you. I'm calling this one bearproof!

Accidents happen all the time; The ioSafe Solo Hawk is as comfortable in the desert being pelted with blowing sand, as it is on the bed of a truck in heavy freezing rain. . . . . in my case (literally), it will likely stay safe, warm and dry in my laptop case, but it will handle any hell thrown its way in an accidental emergency; If I forget to zip my laptop case closed, accidentally drop it on the floor or in the toilet (or in the ocean while boarding a boat), spill coffee, or accidentally back my truck over it my images will be safe! It is my insurance policy for my images.

The ioSafe Solo Hawk is an external solid-state storage drive that can withstand total submersion in freshwater or saltwater for 72 hours (diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, aircraft fuels, 12′ depth for 1 hour). It can be dropped from ten feet, works at up to 30,000 feet and is crush-resistant up to 2,500 pounds.

The Solo Hawk SSD, available in 500GB or 1TB capacities, combines this military-class toughness with 550 MBps data transfer rates, the fastest read/write speeds available in the industry today via the waterproof USB C (USB 3 Gen 2) port. My 1TB version tested a write speed of 494.4 MB/s and a read speed of 519.6 MB/s using Black magic designs Disk Speed Test utility. These are the fastest results I have achieved with an external SSD.

MIL-STD-810G Specs:

Crush Protection Technology: Crush resistant up to 2500 lbs.

Full Suspension Drive™ Technology: Full suspension in all six axes of motion. Optimized for data loss protection from drop and shock of 10′ per MIL-STD-810G Method 516.5.

HydroSafe™ Technology: Waterproof yet heat-conducting barrier to protect against data loss in up to 10′ for 3 days in freshwater or saltwater per IP68. Protects data even when USB plug is in. No requirement for a connector cap to retain data protection.

ChemSafe™ Technology: Full immersion in diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, aircraft fuels, 12′ depth for 1 hour with no data loss per MIL-STD-810G Method 504

EnviroSafe™ Technology: Continuous exposure to UV, blowing sand, blowing dust, rain, salt fog, icing or freezing rain, 24 hours with no data loss per MIL-STD-810G Methods 505.4, 506.4, 509.4 and 510.

AltiSafe™ Technology: High altitude operation. 15K ft. (Alum.) and 30K ft. (SSD and Ti.) rated altitudes per MIL-STD-810G Method 500.4

Theft Resistant Kensington® Lock compatible slot solid metal construction — theft protection

Brown Bear Cub Portrait

Coastal Brown Bear Spring Cub PORTRAIT (Ursus arctos) Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a7R III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens  with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @800mm ISO 1,000, f/8 @ 1/400s Manual exposure.

Another spring cub from my recent Coastal Brown Bear boat trip in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Getting down low below eye level makes for a much more intimate portrait. Not always easy when the subject is in long grass, so having this cub stand on the edge of it's day bed looking directly at us for a fraction of a second was a gift - smile.