Katmai - It's More than Just Bears

Text copyright Kevin Ferris & photography copyright Mark Hardgrave
All rights reserved

Alaska brown bear on the beach in Katmai


Katmai National Park is generally associated with Alaskan brown bears, and for good reason. The park is located on the Alaska Peninsula in an area that has one of the highest concentrations of brown bears in the world. Brown bears walking along the beach or the trails is a very common sight. In fact, hundreds of photographers head to the Brooks Falls in Katmai during the July salmon runs in hopes of getting a photograph of a bear sitting in the falls, trying to catch a leaping salmon.


With so many bears wandering around in such close proximity, some photographers become focused on close up photographs of the bears, and they fail to recognize the other photographic opportunities that Katmai has to offer. Katmai has some wonderful mountain scenery and some of the most effective photographs from Katmai are those that shown the bears in the Katmai landscape.
There are no roads to Katmai so the only access is by float plane. Generally there are several arrivals and departures every day. This can provide for some excellent photo opportunities.
The forest in Katmai also provides some excellent photo subjects. These include several different plant and macro subjects, as well as other types of animal subjects.

 


The photo below of the spruce grouse was also taken at Katmai. These birds are often found along the trail that runs from the Brooks Camp to the falls. It's common to see photographers walk right past these birds, ignoring them on their quest for close up photographs of the bears.


The bears are the main attraction at Katmai and photographers will continue to visit the park with the primary objective of getting a great close up photo of an Alaska brown bear. However, we should also take advantage of the other great photographic subjects that this park has to offer.


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