Congratulations to Christopher Baker for winning the recent Summer Road Trips Assignment with the image, “Olympic Black Bear.”
See more of Christopher Baker’s photography at https://cscottphoto.smugmug.com.
View the winning image and a selection of submissions in the gallery below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots!
Winner: “Olympic Black Bear” By Christopher Baker
“My wife and I were vacationing in Olympic National Park in mid-May and took an early-morning drive up to Hurricane Ridge,” explains Baker. “After a few hours enjoying the scenery, we started our drive down the mountain. Shortly after leaving the ridge, we spotted several cars pulled off in a small turnout on the side of the road and people with cameras pointed at something across the street. We naturally stopped to check it out and were thrilled to see a large Olympic black bear just off the road. I jumped out the car with my telephoto lens and spent a good 10 to 15 minutes photographing the bear as it wandered along the mountainside. My 500mm lens was plenty of focal length to maintain a safe distance but still get great headshots of the bear feeding on some vegetation. It was an unforgettable and amazing moment to see such a beautiful animal in the wild.”
Nikon D500, Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF lens. Exposure: 1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 900.