Lens-Artists Challenge #95 – ALL WET

NO SHARING

“All the beauty of this world is wet with the dew of tears.”

Theodor Haecker

As I considered the subject for this week’s challenge, my husband commented that because we live on an island it should be a very simple exercise. Since many of you are still in lockdown however, I challenged myself to use my archives instead. (Rest assured my island images will still appear in the not-too-distant future 🙂.) Having just organized many of my pre-Lightroom images, I chose to highlight a favorite travel memory – a visit with the very wet grizzlies of Alaska’s Brooks Falls.

MAKING A SPLASH

“Nature is cold, wet, hard and unforgiving.”

David Remnick

The bears were extremely active the day we visited, focused intently on the running salmon  (which, crazy as it seems, DO swim upstream). They seemed perfectly at home in the water, finding purchase on small rocks, shore outcroppings and even somehow on the waterfalls themselves. They were also incredibly strong swimmers, which I suppose shouldn’t have surprised me, but did.  It was great fun shooting them as they fished, ate and protected their catch from the lurking birds.

SWIMMING UPSTREAM

“You can cross the shore without getting wet, but you can’t get through life without tears.”

Oscar Auliq-Ice

If you’re wondering why the bears are so focused on the water, the image above should give you a better idea. The salmon are incredibly plentiful and are exhausted from their upstream journey. The bears literally catch them in their mouths as they jump to climb the falls. I worked hard to capture that moment but alas it proved impossible. I managed to get the bears trying, the fish swimming, and the bears eating the fish while defending their catch from the birds, but never did get the catch as it happened. 

REFRESHING DIP

“How very wet this water is.”

C.S. Lewis

The bear above may be the wettest we saw. Most of the bears were solely focused on catching fish. While there’s a chance this one may have been fishing underwater, candidly he looked much more to have simply been enjoying some fun. Then again there’s an old saying about the calm duck paddling furiously under water so who knows?!

KEEPING WATCH

“If you stand in the rain you get wet, whether you understand water or not.”

Werner Erhard

I’ll close with the image above featuring a bear that seems docile enough. In fact she was a mama bear keeping an intense eye on her young cub. The cub was on the shore and was quite close to a fisherman who had ventured beyond a safe area. Needless to say, had mama decided the man was a threat my money was on the bear! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my departure from the everyday challenges of our COVID-19 world, and that you too have some archived wet images to share. Of course you’re welcome to shoot today’s world as well – maybe you’ve just given your pet a bath, or perhaps the dewdrops on your garden have given you a smile.  You might also choose the colloquial meaning of the term “all wet” meaning mistaken or completely wrong. Whatever comes to mind, we look forward to seeing your choices.

Last week Amy gifted us with her At Home challenge, to which you responded beautifully as always. Have you seen these?

• Suzy Shipman of Suzy Blue shared her clever garden “bee hotel”
• Chris Mousseau shared an amazing world of daffodils in his County Gardening post
• Wendy of Dream on Farm shared her love of the home she and her husband have built over a 10 year period
• Kelly of Compass and Camera captured a spectacular sunset from her Lake Tahoe home

As we begin to cautiously emerge from lockdown around the country and the world, please remember to continue practicing social distancing and avoiding crowds. Stay safe and if you can, be sure to join us next week when Patti brings us Challenge #96.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Alaska, bears, Brooks Falls, grizzlies, LENS-ARTISTS, travel

• May 2, 2020
• Photography
• 265 Comments