Bear facing Wolf by Lasse Niskala

[Martti]

Finnish photographer Lasse Niskala took this photograph two years ago but just recently posted it to his Facebook account. The photograph was taking from a hidden booth with meat offered to the animals. Remember to check his other wildlife photographs at http://www.lasseniskala.com/.

 

[Dreadhead]

wow stunning! couldnt imagine him trying to get that close with a disposable camera

 

[woof]

Fantastic photo, thanks for posting it.

Rob

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Nice one though I think the bear is a few meters further away from the camera than the wolf.so they arn't in fact nose to nose..& the bear is looking slightly to his left.& the wolf is staring straight ahead..
Had a look at his other photos & he has some great wolf pics there.

 

[Urban X]

Mmmm looks like a double exposure or shopped image to me lol, good pic though.


Si

 

[spoony]

Mmmm looks like a double exposure or shopped image to me lol, good pic though.


Si

check the link to the website and you will see more of bears and wolves together

 

[Urban X]

Well they're either extremely tame with each other or they're photo manipulations of some kind.

2 bears fighting in the background and the wolf just casually jogs on without even looking, umm, it isn't natural and I don't care how many pics have bears and wolves in them lol.

I'd like to see the originals or video before I'll believe that, famous photographer or not.


Si

 

[Martti]

Well they're either extremely tame with each other or they're photo manipulations of some kind.

As I stated on my opening post, carcases are offered to the animals in order to get them into photographer's view. With unlimited nutrition available to bears, wolves and wolverines alike they tend to tolerate each other's present.

 

[Urban X]

Still looks wrong to me... but hey, I'm merely an amateur photographer (although I have been paid for a few).


Si

 

[Retired Member southey]

And these are wild life pics, is that your area?

Still looks wrong to me... but hey, I'm merely an amateur photographer (although I have been paid for a few).


Si

 

[Urban X]

It doesn't matter what 'area' my pics are in, I tend not to get pigeon holed, I take anything from my UrbEx, industrial to, landscape, to portrait and wildlife, a staged pic is a staged pic whether manipulated by camera, software or otherwise.

I said it's a good pic but it 'looks like' a double exp or PS image to me and still does, especially the 2nd one, in which I also said they must be tame with each other if not!


Si

 

[Retired Member southey]

My question about it being your area is to wheather you have spent a long time studdying the behaviour of Wolves and bears in various enviroments. Enough to comment In a knowledgeable manner deriding the validity of the pictures?

 

[Urban X]

No have you?

I'm really not fussed whether you think my perception of the pictures is derisive or not, they look staged/altered to ME ok and IMHO good pics, not great pics.

Just been having a look at another of his albums

http://www.janimage.com/kojukory/in...riat/lasse-niskala/merikotka-iltavaloilla-212

Looks to ME like the eagle has been masked and the background pushed, IMHO of course.


Si

 

[Retired Member southey]

No I haven't, but then I'm not stating that I think the these pics are faked or not. If I were, I would have done my research beforehand. Have a nice day

 

[Urban X]

Yeah you too


Si

 

[shaggystu]

absolutely fantastic photo's, especially the first one. as to whether or not they've been "photo-shopped" in some way, well yeah, i tend to assume that every image i see these days has been manipulated to some extent, every "good" photographer i've spoken to plays around with their digital images at least a little bit.

My question about it being your area is to wheather you have spent a long time studdying the behaviour of Wolves and bears in various enviroments. Enough to comment In a knowledgeable manner deriding the validity of the pictures?

it would be nice to hear from someone who has studied bear/wolf behaviour to give us some insight wouldn't it

cheers

stuart

 

[Urban X]

it would be nice to hear from someone who has studied bear/wolf behaviour to give us some insight wouldn't it

Indeed it would but it wouldn't make much difference to the amount of manipulation in those pics

I couldn't borrow your sig Stuart?


Si

 

[Martti]

I'd like to see the originals or video before I'll believe that, famous photographer or not.

A similar scene from Viking Wilderness. Notice that the wolves and bear get quite close before the even start to nibble each other.

[video=youtube;Y_uKJijBbuY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_uKJijBbuY[/video]

 

[twisted firestarter]

This clip of a Grizzly and an arctic wolf was taken in 2005 when two brothers paddled a canoe across Canada, shame the quality isn't better...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I49K_9pcIn8

Their whole canoe adventure is worth a watch too imo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjTQsGxHyRc

 

[Wayland]

I'm not an expert in Wildlife photography but I am pretty handy at Landscape and Photoshop.

In my experience the powers of Photoshop are often greatly exaggerated, particularly by those that do not know much about photography.

Pictures can be manipulated it is true but nearly always leave some tell tale signs.

I don't see such signs in the images under discussion.

I do see rim lighting on the eagle feathers consistent with the light direction and I do see a difference in distance compressed by the perspective of a long focal length lens on the wolf and bear picture.

It is also possible that the background of the eagle shot has been blurred slightly to concentrate the attention on the leading bird but that would be considered perfectly acceptable in Wildlife photography circles.

There is certainly no evidence or need to call the honour or the integrity of this photographer into question.