Situated in the Finnish Taiga Forests close to the Russian border.
Owing to the latitude, and the available light in mid-summer, I was able to take acceptable images throughout the night. Being situated in a hide from late afternoon until the following morning over several nights with these noble animals is a truly memorable and humbling experience.
I returned here again during April 2025, (hopefully) to photograph bears coming out of hibernation onto snow, Male bears usually emerge first, unlike my summer visit, it was too dark to take images between 9.30 pm and 4.00 am, however the light we had was sublime. I was fortunate to visit a different area in Finland, once again, very near the Russian Border in September 2025, hopefully to photograph the iconic Grey Wolf along with Brown Bears, which were preparing for hibernation.
Mother & cub plus mosquitos.
Brown Bear in cotton grass
Brown Bear.
Swamp Bear, Finland.
Night Bear, photographed around midnight.
Brown Bear Cubs.
This shouldn't hurt!
There's no need to shout!
Which way did it go?
Bear Cub climbs a tree for safety.
Paws for reflection.
This Juvenile Brown Bear appeared out of the mist at dawn and with perfect timing!
Male Brown Bear, I Called him Bruno.
Bear cuddles.
Brown Bear and Cubs.
Brown Bear emerges from the forest.
Siblings.
I was fortunate to visit Finland to photograph Brown Bears in snow. Timing for this trip is always tricky, too much snow and the bears are unable to move around or too late and the snow may have melted.
Male Brown Bear in falling snow, taken from a small one person hide whilst laying down, which adds a nice perspective.
King of the forest
Running from a rival
Fabulous light and we can see his breath!
High Alert
Lovely light as the sunsets.
Autumn colours and a hungry male Brown Bear being mobbed by a Hooded Crow.
I've called this photo 'Yogi Logs On' taken as sunrise illuminates the pine forest.
Seeing a wild Grey Wolf is a remarkable sight and to be close enough to photograph them is on a whole new level.
Unlike Hollywood legend and spin, the Grey Wolf is no threat to man, quite simply, we are not on the menu! Thankfully, this one is unaware of my presence.
Inquisitive and a delight to be this close! We had at least three different individuals approach the hides, it's interesting to see the colour variation between animals.
We only saw lone wolves, which I suspect were all female and possibly in their second year.
The grey wolf is the world's largest canine and a formidable predator. Highly social, hunting in packs and able to take down prey many times it's own size.
Grey Wolf in autumn colours. These wolves were very wary of approaching our hides, but by not moving lens's and obviously keeping quiet they gradually moved closer.
Grey Wolf and Brown Bear, respect!