We all started to get nervous, very nervous. A pair of Alaskan Brown Bears was slowly making their way in our direction. The pair consisted of a large male about 800 pounds and a female coming in at a cool 650 pounds. Together we had nearly 1,500 pounds of bear walking straight towards us. They weren’t interested in us; they were interested in each other. Well, actually she was interested in him but he didn’t seem interested in her.

We have been watching and photographing this pair of bears on and off for a couple days now. The group of photographers was part of a photo tour to the Alaskan wilderness concentrating on photoing Coastal Brown Bears. You might remember that I was at this same location last year scouting out the location in preparation to co-lead a photo tour. Five photographers joined Nathan Lovas and myself for a five days of amazing wildlife photography.

The group of photographers was huddled together along with Scott Fitchett our extraordinary bear guide, watching and photoing these bears. All week, our guide routinely predicted what the bears would do well in advance and expertly put us in a location that would take advantage of the light, background and angle to the bear in order to capture the best images. In this instance the prospects of photographing a mating pair of bears was what we were trying to capture.

However the bears were now quickly walking straight towards us and coming very close. Our guide advised us to hold our ground and stay put. We were unable to retreat so the only option was to stay put. Closer and closer the bears approached and all of our camera shutters were blazing. We were capturing one amazing image after another. The female walked directly in front of us and then sat down. The male approached her very closely. At this moment the female rolled back flat onto her back and started to scratch her belly with her massive front paw and claws.

All week long this female has been trying to get the male interested in mating with her but he hasn’t shown any interest. Now, apparently in this recumbent position, combined with an audience of photographers, it was overwhelming for the male. He walked directly up to the female and stated to nuzzle her. Soon she was biting and pawing at the male. How quickly she changed from wanting him to rebuffing him.

All of us were truly amazed that these bears would stop and become amorous right in front of us. The pair stated to roll around and bite at each other. They exhibited all the classic courtship behaviors of bears. This interlude lasted about 3 to 5 minutes to the thrill of the photographers. The bears got up and moved off to about 30-40 yards and lied down and fell asleep.

Our group was so amazed and excited by the experience that just unfolded in front of us. We stood there and talked about the experience for a while. After a short time the bears got up and once again the male approached the female. Once again the pair started back with the courtship behavior of biting and wrestling. You can imaging all of the shutters going off at this moment.

For the next 5 to 10 minutes the bears wrestled and played with each other complete with mock mating. We were able to capture so many fabulous images of these bears in perfect light while rolling around in green and gold grass. By far this was one of the most spectacular wildlife experiences I have had in my nearly 30 years of wildlife photography. Until next time

Stan Tekiela is an author / wildlife photographer who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be contacted at www.naturesmart.com or you can follow him on Facebook.com or Twitter.com.