Episode 15: Staying Safe in Bear Country and Mastering Silhouettes

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss everything photographers need to know about the natural history of brown bears in order to stay safe when working in bear country. Do you know about Overt Reaction Distances? Bear bubbles? The signs and behaviors of bears we should all know to keep ourselves safe? This episode covers all of that. From the research on the efficacy of bear spray versus firearms to how food sources drive behavior, this episode is a must listen for anyone who spends time in bear country.

Moving beyond the biology of bears and what it takes to stay safe when working around these animals, we discuss some of the incredible silhouette opportunities that unfolded this year along the banks of Cook Inlet in Alaska with bears.

Mastering silhouettes will have an immediate, dramatic, and tangible impact on all of your wildlife photography because silhouettes can be distilled down to the seven elements of design. Learn these, understand how they impact composition, and your photographs will never be the same again. In the upcoming Fall issue of PhotoWILD Magazine, I will be publishing a tour de force on this very topic.