Bruce County photographer's award-winning grizzly shot featured at the ROM
Sandra Nelson captured a photo of two Alaskan grizzlies fighting over salmon
When a photographer from Bruce County flew to Alaska for a wildlife photography workshop, she had no idea one of her photos would earn a spot on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Sandra Nelson's shot of two grizzly bears fighting over a bright red salmon took home the grand prize in the adult category in the 2024 ROM wildlife photo contest.
"I was just astounded that they picked my picture," said Nelson, a retiree from Tiverton, Ont.
"It's just really exciting, and it's gratifying because I enter a lot of contests, and this is the biggest one that I've ever been successful at."
Nelson took the photo, titled "The one that got away," while on a week-long wildlife photography tour in Katmai National Park, Alaska, hosted by Art Wolfe Photography in August 2023.
"I loved capturing that and just being able to share those moments of wild animals and beautiful things in the world with other people," she said.
Getting close enough to photograph the bears was no simple task.
On the trip, the group would load up two floatplanes each morning and fly around looking for bears, she said, before landing the plane, then hiking and wading to the prime location.
"We would just sit on the edge of the stream pretty much all day and photograph the bears," she said.
Nelson said they could see as many as 15 bears at once, fishing in the streams for salmon. It was then she saw two bears battling over a single fish.
"It was just a big fight. A lot of water, a lot of splashing. You can see the fish falling back in the water, and I think he got away," she said, which is where the photo got its name.
Coastal grizzlies
Nelson said that being that close to the bears didn't worry her because she was with Wolfe, who's been doing wildlife work for decades.
"They really don't pay attention to the people much," she said. "They're just interested in the fish."
Coastal grizzlies, who are habituated to humans fishing nearby, act quite different than inland brown bears, said Libby Pfeiffer, Art Wolfe photography's event coordinator, who's made the trip several times.
LISTEN: Photographer wins top ROM wildlife photography award for grizzly fight shot
"We would never approach anywhere close to inland grizzly bears ... They have a very different temperament than the bears on the coast," she said.
The photography trips to the park are scheduled when salmon is making the way up the river, Pfeiffer said. According to park rules, you must keep a specific distance from the bears, she said, so photographers bring along their telephoto lenses.
Pfeiffer is "overjoyed" to hear about Nelson's photo award, she said.
"I think it's just fantastic," said Pfeiffer, who is based in Seattle, Wash. "As a talented photographer, she did an excellent job of capturing that absolutely sharp [photo], getting everything in detail."
Nelson's passion for wildlife photography has brought her to Antarctica and South America, with hopes to travel to Africa, starting in Cape Town, South Africa and working their way up to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Chobe River in Botswana.
See more of Nelson's photography on her website. Her photo will be on display at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 exhibition at the ROM until May 4.
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With files from Matt Allen