It's Draining
The other night, I had this crazy dream about a notorious bear known for eating photographers' cameras. Now, this bear was smarter than your average bear and too big to fit into any cage. One year during its hibernation, a group of witty photographers dug a moat that was too wide to jump and too deep to wade across. This small barrier of water wouldn't normally stop a bear, but this one was too busy chasing photographers while growing up to ever learn to swim. So once the moat was complete, the photographers were safe.
As you can imagine, the bear woke from hibernation very hungry and thirsty. Overdue for a meal, the huge bear left his den in search of his favorite meal, cameras. Following his nose, he could smell that the photographers weren't far away, but when he reached the moat, there was nothing he could do. The photographers cheered and immediately began filling their memory cards with some of the best bear photography they'd ever captured.
The giant bear paced back and forth for several minutes before stopping for the drink he also desperately needed. Satisfied with what they captured, the photographers began sharing pictures and phoning friends, expressing their excitement of defeating the camera eater. There really wasn't much the hungry bear could do but watch the taunting photographers with their telephoto lenses as it continued to drink calmly from the moat. Photographers, being photographers, they quickly became uninterested in the giant bear and started discussing their future conquests to become the next wildlife photographer of the year. The banter went on for hours, and the giant bear was completely forgotten.
The faint sound of an owl scrambled all the photographers back to the moat to locate their cameras, but they all froze in their tracks when they noticed the bear had nearly drank the moat dry. The only thing they could do was run, and the only thing I could do was take this picture before I woke up.
-by Donte Hunter
Black Bear
Alligator River Wildlife Refuge, NC
10.22.23
Sony A1 w/ FE 600f4 GM
ISO3200, f4, 1/640
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