Very Rare White Brown Bear Cub --- Finland.

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Gottshotz

Gottshotz

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Sitting in a hide for 14 hours can be tiresome , however at 10.30pm on a stifling hot evening ,this apparition appeared on the other side of a small Finnish lake, near Kuhmo, on the Russian border. It was an incredibly rare white European Brown bear cub, on the scrounge for food. Many animals may have Albinism, which means the animal is absent of any pigmentation, resulting in white hair and pink eyes----but this cub is apparently not albino (it hadn't got this distinctive pink colour anywhere ). Its condition is more like Leucism, in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in a pale white hair colour. It was late July (2019) and this far North meant 23 hours of daylight so photography is possible, but I had set my ISO at 12800 and I was certain it was well in excess of that figure ---- however, I did get some meaningful shots, although not as crisp as I would have liked, but hey, just seeing this incredible cub made me very happy indeed. D850 plus Nikon 400mm. f2.8 ISO 12800 + , 1/80 Sec @400mm.. Tripod.

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It was certainly intrigued with its own reflection !

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And, it checked me out as well !
 
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Gottshotz said:
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Sitting in a hide for 14 hours can be tiresome , however at 10.30pm on a stifling hot evening ,this apparition appeared on the other side of a small Finnish lake, near Kuhmo, on the Russian border. It was an incredibly rare white European Brown bear cub, on the scrounge for food. Many animals may have Albinism, which means the animal is absent of any pigmentation, resulting in white hair and pink eyes----but this cub is apparently not albino (it hadn't got this distinctive pink colour anywhere ). Its condition is more like Leucism, in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in a pale white hair colour. It was late July (2019) and this far North meant 23 hours of daylight so photography is possible, but I had set my ISO at 12800 and I was certain it was well in excess of that figure ---- however, I did get some meaningful shots, although not as crisp as I would have liked, but hey, just seeing this incredible cub made me very happy indeed. D850 plus Nikon 400mm. f2.8 ISO 12800 + , 1/80 Sec @400mm..

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It was certainly intrigued with its own reflection !

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And, it checked me out as well !
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A beautiful creature great last shot
 
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Gongster said:
What a wonderful place to go to. Super shots David, I particularly like the third one.
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I would highly recommend going there if you can Mike ---- probably a bit easier for you in Suffolk (and less expensive too ) than it was for me from Belfast.
 
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ruley74 said:
Great captures.

For me, this is what it's about. Who cares about the ISO being high etc. you got some great shots you may never get again. Awesome!
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Thanks Dean, as always you must do the best you can under the circumstances --- but you also must appreciate the encounter as it will never be exactly the same again, it's a benchmark in time !
 
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Gottshotz said:
I would highly recommend going there if you can Mike ---- probably a bit easier for you in Suffolk (and less expensive too ) than it was for me from Belfast.
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David, I've been to Lapland 5 times in the days when a passenger ferry connected UK to Scandinavia. We used to load up food, hides tents etc. and drive, more or less non stop to the Arctic and then live on the ground where we wanted to take photos. Sadly we can only fly now and that is not, for me, a suitable alternative. Still, I had some fabulous times and saw some wonderful creatures, mainly birds. Never did see a bloody bear though, brown, black or white !!!
 
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Beautiful shots David .. I always enjoy your threads as almost certainly there will be an interesting back story ... Love the reflections and the look of curiosity on the bears face as he checks you out in the last shot .....

Harry.G
 
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Gongster said:
David, I've been to Lapland 5 times in the days when a passenger ferry connected UK to Scandinavia. We used to load up food, hides tents etc. and drive, more or less non stop to the Arctic and then live on the ground where we wanted to take photos. Sadly we can only fly now and that is not, for me, a suitable alternative. Still, I had some fabulous times and saw some wonderful creatures, mainly birds. Never did see a bloody bear though, brown, black or white !!!
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That's bad luck Mike, especially having visited 5 times --- I am still hoping to get to the Arctic next July for Polar bears and Walrus, fingers crossed.
 
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Harry.G said:
Beautiful shots David .. I always enjoy your threads as almost certainly there will be an interesting back story ... Love the reflections and the look of curiosity on the bears face as he checks you out in the last shot .....

Harry.G
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Thanks Harry --- did you get to try out your photovan yet ?
 
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