Today I would like to share with you my experience behind the camera and try to explain how important is to have a story that can explain the picture itself. Sometimes I get to places and I spend days, weeks in the same area and at some point it seems that everything looks “normal”. In reality it is not: I’m in a park or a city where millions of people would love to be and I always have to remember that not everybody is so lucky to travel around the world doing what you like the most. This is the main reason why I always try to tell a story through the picture: if you cannot go in that place, let me bring the story to you so you can feel the emotion and almost feel to be there.
I work for one of the biggest nature and wildlife magazine in the world and when I get sent out for an expedition, I know when I leave but I don’t know when I come back. Usually the editing staff knows very well what they are looking for so the funny part is that when I’m ready to go I already know that I will bring back something unique and awesome.
It was May 2016 when the magazine called me and told me:
“Simone, we are looking for a female bear, looking at you, vertical shot. If you get it, it will be the cover for the next issue”.
“Ok, I said: where am I going?”
“North of Yellowstone National Park, in Montana.”
Awesome, I’ve packed and I got ready to fly.
When I’m part of these expeditions I always travel with a cameraman who records everything we experience and also, depending where we are going, we always have 2 soldiers with us and a special tour guide. To get some particular photos, sometimes I must go very close to the subject or maybe walk in forests where you don’t know what to expect: soldiers are there NOT to shoot the animals but to shoot on the air trying to scare the animals and to give me and the cameraman the chance to step back and run away.
Once we have arrived to the Park and met the Ranger, we immediately go to scout the area because we want to be sure to know very well everything is around us. Once we’ve explored everywhere, we get in position and … we wait until we get what the magazine is looking for. Sometimes the waiting time is hours, sometimes is days, sometime is weeks.
To get this specific picture it took me 27 days: I got wet, bored, depressed, happy, hungry, tired, wet again. 27 days behind a bush waiting for the perfect shot.
One regular morning, finally, in the lake in front of us, we saw some wolves and bears activities: two cubs were playing among themselves in the water and we started to photograph and filming. After a couple of minutes Peter, the cameraman, turned around and whispered to me:
“Simone, turn on your right”
“Peter I can’t. I’m photographing the 2 cubs in the water.”
“No, Simone, you have to turn on your right now!”
I did turn and … a bear, apparently female, was walking slowly to us. We were so focused on the 2 cubs that we didn’t realize that wherever there are babies… there is a mom. I remember as yesterday that I had to switch my camera with a shorter lens because the 500mm that I was using was too long.
“Simone, what do we do?”
“Peter, I honestly don’t think we are able to do anything at this point”.
I remember that the soldiers armed the rifles and got ready just in case something went wrong. I told Peter to keep filming and I would keep photographing and we have just hoped that one of two of us would make it back to the hotel. It has been the longest 2 minutes of my life: I took at least 200 photos and you can see through the images that the mama bear is talking to us and she probably says “Even if you try to run away, I’ll get you”.
Adrenalin was so high that we didn’t realize how dangerous the situation was. Fortunately the bear got distracted by a big blue garbage can and while she started to play with it, we had the chance to step back and get back to the minivan.
We were very excited because after 27 long days we have understood that we have got what the magazine was looking for: A female bear looking at us.
Patience paid off and in August 2017 this picture made the cover of the Magazine.