Just back from a second recce to northern Finland, Bear watching of
course. I have to say I am very impressed with the warm hospitality,
great food and of course wildlife opportunities in Finland.
The airfare to get there is a bit of a stumbler given it's so close -
you can fly to Dubai for about the same price! But once you're
there, everything is affordable.
On this trip we sampled a reindeer burger which was cooked on an
outdoor grill, Finnish style and we ate around the grill outdoors in
+2C but it was one of those memorable meals, a bit like a picnic
lunch in the African bush, right up there with life's magical
moments. We spent two nights in two different hides, both were
excellent in their own way and you will see from the following
photographs, the light conditions are quite variable. The hides were
delightfully warm and well set up for photographers and artists,
(more on that later), and people just wanting to view the Bears. 
On the first evening we only saw a couple of Bears and from some
distance but it was quite a special viewing - the setting was great
and I was in a two person hide with a Dutch artist called Erik Van
Ommen. Quite a magical, cold arena for the Bears to come into and a
bit of a wait, keeping really quiet of course because Bears are
incredibly shy and this is the start of the season. By the end of
the season, in August, just before they start thinking about
hibernating again, they are pretty brash and come much closer to the
hides. 
We had two Bears come into view, initially we were training
our binoculars to find them and then we switched to looking through
our lenses. I'd start firing off some shots and behind me I could
hear Eric's pencil working furiously. There was another Bear
appearance after a couple of hours waiting so in between viewings I
took a look at Eric's drawings which are impressive. You can see
these on his website:
http://www.erik-van-ommen.nl/
The second hide produced quite a lot of Bears coming and going and
they were closer. Even though they were closer, they were still
quite difficult to shoot because they are so large and brown and the
light is a bit tricky. Their behaviour is interesting as they seem
to saunter mindlessly most of the time and then become quite intent
with their foraging for food. They then scurry off quite quickly,
rarely looking back so it's a bit of work getting eye contact and an
interesting shot. 
Anyway, here are some of the shots taken, some snow still on the
ground. Let me know what you think and please keep in mind our next
trip to the Bears in August, our last Bear trip for the year. The
details for the trip are at:
http://www.shutterspeedtravel.com/finlandaug2008.asp
The conditions will be different then - much
warmer with brighter light, almost 24/7 so lots of viewing hours over
three nights. There will also be time for beers and laughs and some
photo viewing and workshops so please let us know ASAP if you want to
join us. The dates are August 22-25.
Getting ready for Spitsbergen and Polar Bears in June now! Watch
this space...
Hope all is well with you all.
Julie
Bears in Finland; 2nd recce! - 18 May 2008
