Bruce County photographer's award-winning grizzly shot featured at the ROM

Michelle Both · CBC

· Posted: Apr 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

When a lensman from Bruce County flew to Alaska for a wildlife photography workshop, she had nary thought 1 of her photos would gain a spot connected show astatine the Royal Ontario Museum. 

Sandra Nelson's changeable of 2 grizzly bears warring implicit a agleam reddish salmon took location the grand prize in the big class successful the 2024 ROM wildlife photograph contest. 

"I was conscionable astounded that they picked my picture," said Nelson, a retiree from Tiverton, Ont.   

"It's conscionable truly exciting, and it's gratifying because I participate a batch of contests, and this is the biggest 1 that I've ever been palmy at."

Nelson took the photo, titled "The 1 that got away," while connected a week-long wildlife photography tour successful Katmai National Park, Alaska, hosted by Art Wolfe Photography successful August 2023.

"I loved capturing that and conscionable being capable to stock those moments of wild animals and beautiful things successful the satellite with different people," she said. 

Getting adjacent capable to photograph the bears was nary simple task. 

On the trip, the radical would load up 2 floatplanes each morning and alert astir looking for bears, she said, earlier landing the plane, past hiking and wading to the premier location. 

"We would conscionable beryllium connected the borderline of the watercourse beauteous overmuch each time and photograph the bears," she said.

Nelson said they could spot arsenic galore arsenic 15 bears astatine once, sportfishing successful the streams for salmon. It was past she saw 2 bears battling implicit a azygous fish. 

"It was conscionable a large fight. A lot of water, a batch of splashing. You tin spot the food falling backmost successful the water, and I deliberation helium got away," she said, which is wherever the photograph got its name.

Coastal grizzlies

Nelson said that being that adjacent to the bears didn't interest her due to the fact that she was with Wolfe, who's been doing wildlife enactment for decades. 

"They truly don't wage attraction to the radical much," she said. "They're conscionable funny successful the fish."

Coastal grizzlies, who are habituated to humans sportfishing nearby, act rather antithetic than inland brownish bears, said Libby Pfeiffer, Art Wolfe photography's lawsuit coordinator, who's made the trip several times. 

LISTEN: Photographer wins apical ROM wildlife photography grant for grizzly combat shot

"We would ne'er attack anyplace adjacent to inland grizzly bears ... They person a precise antithetic temperament than the bears on the coast," she said. 

The photography trips to the parkland are scheduled when salmon is making the mode up the river, Pfeiffer said. According to parkland rules, you indispensable support a circumstantial distance from the bears, she said, truthful photographers bring on their telephoto lenses. 

Pfeiffer is "overjoyed" to perceive astir Nelson's photograph award, she said. 

"I deliberation it's conscionable fantastic," said Pfeiffer, who is based successful Seattle, Wash. "As a talented photographer, she did an fantabulous occupation of capturing that perfectly crisp [photo], getting everything successful detail."

Nelson's passionateness for wildlife photography has brought her to Antarctica and South America, with hopes to question to Africa, starting successful Cape Town, South Africa and moving their mode up to Victoria Falls successful Zimbabwe and the Chobe River successful Botswana.

See much of Nelson's photography on her website. Her photograph volition beryllium connected display at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 accumulation astatine the ROM until May 4.