Bear at Prishtina's Bear Sanctuary.

JDP

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Name
James
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Hi Folks,

Been gone for a little while - trying to find myself and all that jazz - decided to go on a road trip to the Balkans with the home base in Albania. I was lucky enough to visit Kosovo, and I went to the Bear Sanctuary. Which is an incredible place. In 2010, Kosovo banned the keeping of bears outside restraunts so Four Paws charity opened up this incredible large sanctuary in Prishtina to house 19 rescued bears. Absolutely incredible place.

This is probably one of the best photos I have ever taken. No question about it.

I'd love to know what you guys think.

Thanks,
JDP

Exif:
1/800
f/4.0
ISO 400
200mm (EF70-200mm F/4L USM)
Canon EOS 80D


IMG_3844.jpg
 
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Lovely to get the opportunity to photograph this animal and in the tree is certainly a big bonus ... something going on at the bottom, between the two branches, where it's appearing to fade. :)
 
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Lovely to get the opportunity to photograph this animal and in the tree is certainly a big bonus ... something going on at the bottom, between the two branches, where it's appearing to fade. :)

Thanks! Yeah, it was a great feat im surprised it came out like this. Weather conditions where almost perfect which I think helped a whole lot, especially as I was maxed out on the flocal length.
Unfortunetly I caught some of the fence which was an eyesore, did try and reove it but it looked odd if I cropped that but out! haha.

Thank you though.
 
Its a great shot of a bear in seemingly a natural surrounding, not the usual captive bear shot. I'd be very pleased with it too.
 
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They don't often get the chance to climb, it nice to see
Nice Image (y)
As you have edit set to yes, just a couple of points.
1) its easy to clone ( extend) the branch
2) I'd have removed some of the "dead space" around the bear and put the eyes on a third.

If you don't like it say so and I'll remove the edit

NOT-MY-IMAGE.jpg
 
They don't often get the chance to climb, it nice to see
Nice Image (y)
As you have edit set to yes, just a couple of points.
1) its easy to clone ( extend) the branch
2) I'd have removed some of the "dead space" around the bear and put the eyes on a third.

If you don't like it say so and I'll remove the edit

They really don't, this place genuinely blew me away, English zoos could learn a lot from this place, I did record a video for my friend who teaches a degree module on enclosure design and setup. I've been working in the animal industry for 10 years and worked on enclosure design - yet this was genuinely amazing. I went with the perception that it's Kosovo, they're a new country developing out from pretty much a messed up political system, their animal welfare will be terrible. Loads of places within the Balkans people keep song birds in tiny enclosures, so I went with the pre-deturmend perception that it was going to suck... but I was so very wrong! The reserve is build on a mountain side, so enclosures were build around trees etc so it was simply fantastic.
I would highly recommend going if anyone ever goes to that part of the world - and I know an absolutely amazing hostel to stay in if anyone is interested!!

And thank you, i like your edit! I did try get the bear as a whole on a third, but I see how making the eyes on the third rather than the whole animal, just makes it a much more interesting image.

Thank you pal :)
 
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Its a great shot of a bear in seemingly a natural surrounding, not the usual captive bear shot. I'd be very pleased with it too.
Thanks Jake! :)
 
Well I would be delighted to have taken that - lovely shot in a naturalistic environment. I'd not heard of this place but I will be looking it up. If I were to offer any critique I would say remove some of the dead space at the top / to the left.
 
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