Here’s another from my polar bears at sunrise series. In this one, the sun just started to clear the low-lying clouds and the warm tones began spilling into the cold, shaded foreground of snow and ice. The polar bear seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was. I had my 200-400mm lens mounted to my camera and had to go vertical to fit the sun and the bear into the same frame.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second

On my polar bear trip back in 2010, I saw a lot of bears, but not a lot of other wildlife. I did, however, have a few precious seconds with this short tailed weasel before it scampered off to hide its lemming. I’ve had quick glimpses of weasels before but they never seem to stick around long enough to get their picture taken. In the summer, their coats are brown, but they turn completely white (with the exception of the black tail tip) when winter sets in.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second

As the weather just keeps getting colder and colder here in New York, seemed appropriate to post these two polar bears who were having a good old time in the cold. They were basically wasting time — play fighting while waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so that they could go out and hunt for seals.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/500th of a second

Still feeling a big Christmas-y and this little saw whet owl seemed appropriate. Hope everyone had a great holiday. I photographed this guy a few years ago just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Northern saw whet owls are very small and full grown adults average only about 7 to 8 inches long. I also appreciated how much this particular saw whet owl looks like Saul Berenson from Showtime’s Homeland.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second

Here in New York, it’s expected to be in the mid 70s come Christmas Eve on Thursday. That’s just not right. So if mother nature isn’t going to bring the cold, I will — courtesy of northern Manitoba, Canada where I photographed polar bears back in November of 2010. One of the great things about this location, is that you view the bears on foot. This enables ground level perspectives whereby you can truly get a sense of the size of these formidable beasts.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/500th of a second