archived Churchill Polar bear article?

[louis_greene]

I read that there is an archived article about Churchill/Polar bears here on Photo.net. I cannot seem to find it. Can

someone provide me a link or two for them (or others?). I will be going up there next week and am trying to finalize

my gear selection. Thanks

[ShunCheung]

A search on key words: nature churchill polar bear yields these threads, including this very one:

http://www.photo.net/search/?cx=000753226439295166877%3A0gyn0h9z85o&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=nature+churchill+polar+bear&qx=nature+churchill+polar+bear&filter=0&section=all&sa.x=8&sa.y=5#1676

 

There was also this static article by Frank Brabec from over a decade ago, 1997:

http://www.photo.net/learn/nature/churchill

[louis_greene]

static article - that's that's the one I was looking for. Thanks

[pete zwiers]

That's a pretty old article! I was there last year, and this is what I'd bring if I was going this year:

 

Mark 1DIII with 500mm f/4 lens

 

 

Mark 1DIII with 300mm f/2.8 lens (I have two 1DIII bodies)

 

30D with 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens

 

70-200mm f/2.8 lens & 24-105mm f/4 lens (ready to go, but not attached to a camera all the time)

 

Tripod with Wimberly II head

 

Good solid winter gear - especially for wind when you shoot off the back deck of the buggies. Very good finger gloves

(bring extra in case you burn them on the stove inside the buggy ... yes, I did this while trying to warm up my

hands). Good warm boots that you can stand around in for a long period of time (I spent a lot of time standing on the

back deck of the buggies, so arch support is just as important as warmth). Some of the those hand warmer things

are handy also.

 

Cheers,

 

- Pete

[louis_greene]

Pete - that is exactly what I was looking for - thank you!

 

I don't have a 500mm but maybe I could look into renting one. I guess it'll be the 300f2.8 with a 1.4tele.

 

I was concerned about stability for shooting, room for tripods etc so I was actually leaning toward having a 300F4 with IS vs borrowing a 300 f2.8 without IS. Any thoughts on that? At denali often from the bus I am shotting out the window just braced and the IS is a big help. I though tI could always get the stop of speed from ISO.

 

I do have a 5D and a 1DsMK3 so I guess I will be able to have one with the 70-200 and one with the 300+ lens. Any other information or insight that you have would be awesome!

 

Thanks - Louis

[joseph_cheng2]

Hi, Pete,

 

Shooting of Polar Bears at Churchill is top on my wish list. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a reasonably priced tour dedicated for photographers as against those oriented for general tourists. Would you like to share your experience with us here? OR do you prefer me to email you via photo.net, please? Thank you. Joe

[louis_greene]

Hey Pete, where'd you go?

[pete zwiers]

Hey folks, sorry about not getting back ... I had a four day weekend because of the Remembrance day holiday here.

 

LOUIS: I found IS to be very important on this trip. I often shot from the back deck of the buggy, and while people

movement is a concern on these buses, it was the wind that often made things tougher. Our group was a photo

oriented group (Charles Glatzer ... Shoot the Light), so the buggies only had ten people on them. People moving

around inside was still a problem, but fairly minor. If you start getting these buggies at 20 or more people, I would

think this would make things really, really difficult - to the point you'd be better off handholding IMO. If I had to shoot

under those conditions, then I'd probably really want the 300mm f/4 IS over a 300 f/2.8 NON IS.

 

You're shooting FF I see, so just having a 70-200mm and the 300mm is going to be quite short for some stuff. For

example, the highlight of the trip for us was having two polar bears devour a freshly killed caribou. The perfect range

in that particular scenario (for a 1D MIII 1.3x crop factor) was anywhere from 400mm to 600mm. Keep in mind though

I was able to use my 500mm on a tripod easily because of our buggy group - only myself & one other fellow ever

shot off the back deck (or even hung out there). If you start getting more than 3 photographers on the back deck with

tripods ... nightmare.

 

Bottom line:

 

1. Going with a photo specific group (12 or less people on a buggy) ... bring all your stuff, and rent a 500mm lens.

 

2. Going with a general tour group (20 or more people on a buggy - most who don't give a crap about higher end

photography) ... bring lenses you can handhold only. Keep things really simple - each camera body mounted on a

camera, and try not to switch out extenders too often. Also bring a monopod for your longest lens combo - which

would make shooting off the backdeck easier. Hang out on the back deck almost always. Most people will get cold

really fast, and this is the easiest place to work for photos. Be prepared though, I was only able to use thin finger

gloves most times and my hands were practically numb from cold & wind a lot of the time. I melted a few pairs of

finger gloves on the buggy stove just trying to get some feeling back into my fingers more than once! Note also that I

live with winter five months out of the year and grew up with it ... your mileage may vary! Bottom line for back deck

shooting ... you can never have warm enough boots or hand protection, and serious long underwear is key.

 

JOSEPH: My wife & I went with Charles Glatzer's Shoot the Light Workshops. http://www.shootthelight.com .

I'm not a tour group person at all, but we couldn't find anyway to do Churchill properly on our own. It's just too

popular, and getting a hotel room & stuff is almost impossible because they are all lined up with group tours. Was it

expensive? Yep ... we spent almost 4x the amount we would normally spend on a similar length vacation. But we

would never have done Churchill on the cheap because I know we would have hated it (sharing a tundra buggy with

more than 40 people would be a big pain), so this way we enjoyed the trip and it was the most productive it could be

for photos.

 

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to email me for more info (or to remind me to check in here!). You can see a few of

my photos from our trip at my website: www.happyhoppy.ca

 

Cheers,

- Pete

[joseph_cheng2]

Pete,

 

Thanks for the valuable information. BTW, I have been unable to access your website: www.happyhoppy.ca

 

 

Joe

[joseph_cheng2]

Pete,

 

I have NOW been able to access your website. The images look very good to me. Thank you.

 

 

 

Joe

[timesharevon]

In response to: "2. Going with a general tour group (20 or more people on a buggy - most who don't give a crap about higher end photography) ... bring lenses you can handhold only. Keep things really simple - each camera body mounted on a camera, and try not to switch out extenders too often. Also bring a monopod for your longest lens combo - which would make shooting off the backdeck easier. Hang out on the back deck almost always. Most people will get cold really fast, and this is the easiest place to work for photos. Be prepared though, I was only able to use thin finger gloves most times and my hands were practically numb from cold & wind a lot of the time. I melted a few pairs of finger gloves on the buggy stove just trying to get some feeling back into my fingers more than once! Note also that I live with winter five months out of the year and grew up with it ... your mileage may vary! Bottom line for back deck shooting ... you can never have warm enough boots or hand protection, and serious long underwear is key."

 

I just got back from my four days in Churchill, two of which were out on a tundra buggy (Great White Bear Tours). We had 21 on our trip, and only three of us who I'd consider "serious" about our photography. I was the only one shooting on a tripod however, so it was very easy to get prime spots to shoot from out on the deck.

 

On our second day out on the tundra we were in a full blown blizzard. No hand held and not tripod for me, but luckily not necessary as I was able to shoot using my 40-150 rather than the 70-300 I used the day before. Yes the wind can be your biggest enemy out on the tundra!

 

Yvonne

[joseph_cheng2]

Yvonne,

 

It looks as if you are quite happy with your Churchill trip and have presumably captured the polar bear images you

want. It is a good news in that I should explore this option which I think should be relatively less expensive. Would

you kindly give more details and, if possible, some links. Thank you.

 

 

 

Joe

[timesharevon]

I went with Churchill Nature Tours (www.churchillnaturetours.com). Pricing was significantly less than the other companies and the quality of the experience not sacrificed. I would argue, it was better in fact! Their pricing and schedules have been posted for 2009. You'll be looking at $4,000 (dble occupancy - add $600 for single occupancy) which includes 6 days/5 nights of which you'll have 4 days/3 nights in Churchill . . . including the two on the tundra buggy with Great White Bear Tours, the company with the newer tundra vehicles, complete with flush toilets.

 

While the buggies will hold 45 people, CNT only takes 20-22 making it spacious for those who are serious about photography . . . full access to either side of the buggy at window and plenty of space out on the back viewing deck.

 

One of the best features of the CNT is that they provide 100% of all of the meals from your welcome dinner upon arrival in Winnipeg through breakfast the morning you leave Winnipeg for "home" wherever that may be. Given the number of tourists forced to wander around town to find someplace to eat, especially breakfast, this convenience cannot be over emphasized. Additionally, the group's tour guide also serves as your chauffer/driver and guide making sure folks get around town safely in spite of the weather and lousy road conditions. Again, seeing others walking around town the day of the blizzard really made me appreciate this aspect of our tour.

 

If you didn't see it elsewhere on photo.net, I have written a couple of full travel journals including photos from the trip:

 

http://www.igougo.com/journal-j71810-Churchill-Vons_Polar_Bear_Adventure_-_Nov._08.html

 

http://www.igougo.com/journal-j71837-Churchill-Exploring_Churchill_With_Churchill_Nature_Tours.html

 

If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you.

 

Von

[timesharevon]

P.S. I've updated my personal portfolio here and added four photos from my Churchill trip . . . two from Monday (non-blizzard using the 70-300mm) and two from Tuesday's blizzard (using the 40-150mm).

 

Von