ExperienceThis image was the result of experience. (Photo David A. Murray)

I was preparing for a twenty-two-day photo shoot in Alaska. Since the first trip, a number of years ago, I have returned on nine separate occasions to experience the wilderness and wildlife only available in Alaska - truly, the last frontier. The days prior to a long trip are stressful, with preparing and submitting writing and photo submission deadlines that will be due while I'm away. Of course, then there's packing, equipment checks, and the list goes on.

Two days prior to the trip I received a call from the Times Record Newspaper who wanted to do a story about me, I agreed. The next day, while I was packing, writer Virginia Wright appeared at the door with pen and pad in hand. The reason I mention this is because the writer ended her story with a statement about wildlife photography I made during my interview, which was "… it's a combination of knowledge, experience, and hard work" - and that is the crux of this story.

We all know that knowledge is acquired by many means, and hard work is, well, just that; but, what about experience? Experience is extremely important. It's not something that you can read in a photography book or learn at a workshop. It's what separates various levels of both amateur and professional photographers.

Let's look at an example of how experience paid-off on a shoot in Alaska.

On many of my Alaska shoots, the grizzly was the target species. To date, I probably have a photo file of about five to six thousand grizzly bear images for a future book project.

It generally takes from five to ten thousand images to boil down to the three hundred necessary to satisfy an editor for a book project. They will edit down to about one hundred images. This may sound like a large amount of images, and it is, but bears don't pose on queue.

To get shots of wild bears in various behaviors is difficult, very difficult. One of the elements that stack the odds in your favor is experience. Knowing where to go and when to go there, and completely understanding the behaviors, habits, and patterns of the critters is essential. Even getting to know individual animals and their unique behaviors can help. This not only requires lots of time in the field, but also lots of shooting, patience, and of course, experience.

The experience gained over the years helps me locate the bears. I've learned where the different food sources are and when the bears will be there, as well as, what locations certain bears are more comfortable in, and feel safest while rearing cubs. In addition, experience has taught me when bears are on the move, why they are moving, and where they will most likely go.

It was a typical day of photographing in Denali National Park. A ProPho (Professional Photographer's) Permit allows unrestricted access to the ninety miles of gravel road that runs through the park's interior; otherwise, you're confined to a tour bus. I've photographed in Denali on several occasions, for a cumulative total of about sixty days. I know the ninety-mile road, and every nook and cranny, as well as the road I live on.

While driving along the park road, a distant grizzly meandered along a mountainside. Pulling to the side of the road, and looking through binoculars, revealed a handsome, large, male grizzly, referred to as a boar.

You quickly learn that bears are not on any type of time schedule, and a distant bear could remain distant for hours. This bear was slowly meandering along and feeding on the grasses and soapberries. He was a formidable bear and one worth waiting on.

Experience with bears, in this particular location, has taught me that if the bear walks into this specific riverbed drainage he would use it to travel down to the road. Here, he would cross the road and travel up the other side hill where the soapberries are plentiful during that time of year.

As hoped, the bear wandered into the riverbed and headed for the road. By now, a couple of park buses had stopped and people were hanging out every opened window in hopes of seeing a grizzly in close proximity. As the bear approached, within fifty yards of the road, I calculated his direction and where he would cross. The shot I had been waiting for, for the past four years, was possibly about to happen!

Once again, experience gained while working these bears taught me that no grizzly boar would pass-up an opportunity to scratch his back and more importantly to mark its territory. On the tundra, there are no trees and, any vertical tree-substitute is irresistible. The bears know this and use things like this signpost to scratch as well as leave their scent.

As I positioned myself, aiming the camera directly at the sign, the people in the bus pointed to the area where the bear disappeared into the thick willows. They looked perplexed as to why I was not photographing in the direction of the bear.

My biggest concern was that the bear would pick the opposite side of the sign for his back scratching. However, as you can see, it worked out perfectly.

Chalk one up to experience!

Good shooting!

For questions or comments, e-mail: mail@davidamurray.com .

This image titled "Shouldn't It Be Itchy Shoulder?" is part of the Wildlife & Outdoor Images™ Collection, and available at www.

davidamurray .com , or the Wildlife & Outdoor Images Gallery at 31 Commercial St., Boothbay Harbor.

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