I did a photo trip with Natural Habitat to photograph brown bears in Alaska. It was the end of the salmon run, and they were fat and happy. Being the end of the season we were often alone in Katmai Park - that is except for the 2-3,000 bears that live there. Apparently in the peak months photographers had a limit and had to rotate so others could get their viewing time. At the famous Brooks Falls there were as many as a dozen bears at one time to watch. The year before had been good for the bears, so the average sow had 3-4 cubs.
The weather was either overcast or light rain, and we lost some time when our seaplane couldn't fly. Also on our return flight one of the planes was grounded when between the pilot and the plane full of our group was a bear on the beach.
I was able to get one photo similar to the famous one by Mangelsen of the jumping salmon headed for the mouth of a bear.
However, being the end of the season, they more likely caught them in a less dramatic way - feeling them hit their feet.
