Rockford photographer David C. Olson is no stranger to danger, when it comes to photographing wildlife. Follow him on his latest adventure, capturing wild bears in Alaska, and see his breathtaking shots.

In August 2011, I traveled to an Alaskan peninsula across the Shelikof Strait, from Kodiak Island, on the southwestern coast of Alaska, with two other photographers. I spent time in two places: Katmai National Park & Preserve, a 4.3-million-acre park, and Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, a 4-million-acre wilderness area accessible only by float plane.

The terrain is an irregular coastline framed by rugged peaks and spires, glaciers and snow-clad, active volcanoes.
I sought such a remote place in order to photograph North America’s largest land predators, Alaskan brown bears, as they gathered along streams to feast on salmon. Brown bears and grizzly bears are the same species, but coast-dwelling brown bears are much larger, due to their rich diet of fish.

“The great bears that live here are the bears of legends,” I thought to myself, as we landed on the beach of an isolated coastland 3,000 miles from Illinois. People back home had told me I was crazy to place myself in such danger, and I wondered if they were right. After all, I’d be standing face-to-face with 1,200-pound bears that were more than 10 feet tall. I’d been to Alaska seven times, but never this close to giant bears.

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Tags: alaska, bears, david c olson, photography, wildlife

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