It was summer in Russia.
My goal there at the Ozernaya River was to take photos of brown bears as they caught fish.
During the first few days, I was mainly watching different bears to see which ones would be the best to take pictures of. I usually saw about 10 to 15 bears at a time, but as many as 600 living near came to this river when the salmon ( 鲑鱼) were swimming there to lay their eggs. I put my camera underwater and then waited for bears to move near. I never moved towards them — I let them choose whether to come closer. Over time, the bears were used to my being there. But if a bear started moving its head from side to side, I knew it was time for me to move away.
It's no easy task for a 1,300-pound bear to catch a fish. Bears are clumsy ( 笨拙的) underwater and salmon are fast But bears are smart enough to catch sick fish.
Soon I saw a bear doing just that. He was moving slowly towards a fish. After several tries, the hungry bear managed to catch the fish, and he sat down right in the river to eat his meal. This bear didn't pay attention to my camera as he caught and ate his salmon. That was a good chance for me to take photos. Once the meal was over, he stayed in the water to relax. I relaxed a bit too, knowing I had gotten some fantastic photos of these amazing animals.
