I recently had the opportunity to see my first wild bear. My philosophy when photographing wildlife has always been that if my presence causes an animal to change its behavior, I am too close and need to withdraw immediately. I do not bait or harass wildlife for the sake of a picture.
In this case, the bear approached and made me uncomfortable. It was clearly habituated to humans. Fortunately, it diverted when we yelled at it, and went along its way. And I did get some great images from the experience. It was both thrilling and unnerving to be so close to such a powerful predator.
You can see all the photos I took during the encounter here:
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