finland, june 2005
June 2005 saw my first trip to Finland - a trip particularly targeted at photographing European Brown Bears. The tour was jointly run and organised by pro photographer Andy Rouse, and David Southard from Wild Arena.
Getting to Finland is very easy. An initial flight from Heathrow to Helsinki took just over two hours, and then a second flight from Helsinki to Kajaani took further one. Having arrived in Kajaani, our hosts drove us for approximately two-and-a-half hours to our final destination - the Martinselkosen Eräkeskus Wildlife Centre near the Finnish-Russian border.
The main guest house, run by Mr Markku Määttä and his wife Mrs Oili Määttä, is extremely comfortable. The services, food, and hospitality were all first class. Mr and Mrs Määttä, and their staff, were very gracious hosts. The area in which the wildlife centre is located is stunningly beautiful. Even though it is many tens of kilometres from the nearest town, all modern amenities are provided - including a 5-bar mobile phone signal!
The main focus of the trip surrounded two full nights of bear photography. At this time of year it is light in Finland 24-hours a day. Movement into the hide started at 4pm, and comprised a short drive followed by a half hour walk through the forest to the hides themselves. The wildlife centre has three hides in total - a large 9 berth wooden hide, a further 7 berth wooden hide and a very small 2 (midget) berth pro hide.
Although it never actually gets dark at this time of year in Finland, photography still proved extremely tricky. Looking out from the hide, light levels looked good, but the camera tended not to agree. At the beginning of the evening ISO 200 was suitable, but by the time any bears arrived (generally 9pm onwards when we were there), it was rapidly ISO 400 - ISO 3200! Trying to maintain a "high" shutter speed was essential - particularly with the bear's fur coat. Taking pictures of the animals whilst they were moving resulted in some interesting "artistic" shots which generally found themselves filed in the recycle bin.
We estimate that during our two visits to the hides, we saw in the order of 15 different bears - including the King and two different mothers with a total of five cubs. As you might expect, the cubs were extremely cute, but slightly vulnerable. However, their mothers weren't going to take any nonsense and fiercely protected their young.
Whilst in the hide, useful photography guidance (and the customary abuse) was provided by Andy. As a pro, he had the additional difficulties of only being able to shoot up to ISO 400 - as the major agencies won't accept anything granier. How he achieved any shots at this ISO is a mystery to me!
After a full, and exhausting, night's shoot we left the hides at about 7am - providing the mosquitoes with their breakfast along the way.
Although not necessarily my most successful tour photographically, this was no fault of the trip, which was extremely enjoyable. I would like to say Kiitos (thank you) to Andy, David and everyone at Martinselkosen Eräkeskus for their guidance and hospitality.
To see some of my photographs from this trip click here. Some video footage can be found here.