Bear Watching in Finland – Kuusamo

Final part of my trip to Finland was bear watching in Kuusamo region.
It is a great area if you wonder where to photograph bears in Finland, or do some Wildlife Photography in general.
I would have prefered to take pictures of bears in the wild by myself, as I planned to do and as I did in Canada, but due to the weather conditions and my inexperience in Finland’s Wilderness, I booked a hide for my last day.
After a week of rain, wind and cold, I wanted to increase my chances to photograph brown bears in the wild so, to do that, I went to the Wild Brown Bear Centre, near Vartius.
800 meters close to the Finnish/Russian border, lost in the wild, I was almost alone in the area (two other people were scattered here and there), making the experience a bit “wilder”.

Bear watching area in Finland, Finnish–Russian border
F11, 1/40 sec, 17 mm, ISO200, Canon EOS 7D

Brown bear in finnish taïga, Kuhmo, Finland
F6.3, 1/320 sec, 600 mm, ISO1250, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), ern, erne, gray eagle, Eurasian sea eagle, Subadult
F9, 1/200 sec, 600 mm, ISO400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Brown bear watching in Finland, Kuhmo
F5.6, 1/320 sec, 185 mm, ISO3200, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Brown bear in Kuhmo, Wildlife of Finland
F5.6, 1/250 sec, 309 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wildlife watching in Finland, brown bear
F5.6, 1/400 sec, 195 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wild brown bear portrait, Wildlife of Finland
F6.3, 1/200 sec, 600 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wildlife photography in Finland, brown bear in the wild
F6.3, 1/160 sec, 600 mm, ISO3200, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Sleeping in a photography hide that was really close to the water was also all an experience. It was really soaked, cold and smelly, but all that for being able to photograph bears in Finland, was worthy.
The excitement of spotting a bear near the hide was really intense. Even when the dark came and I could hear some heavy foot steps in the water, few meters away.
Unfortunatelly there wasn’t any Northern Lights that night, but I would have been really happy to see them and well placed to photograph some!

Bear watching in Finland, Kuusamo
F6.3, 1/500 sec, 600 mm, ISO1250, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Brown bear mum and cub, Kuusamo, Finland
F6.3, 1/1000 sec, 600 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wild brow bear in Finland, water reflection
F5, 1/400 sec, 150 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Watching brown bear in wild taiga in Finland
F6.3, 1/200 sec, 600 mm, ISO3200, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Brown bear in finnish forest, wild taïga
F6.3, 1/320 sec, 430 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Watching Wildlife in Finland, wild brown bear
F5.6, 1/320 sec, 221 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Massive bear watching my camera, Wildlife photography
F6.3, 1/200 sec, 600 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Wild brown bear in taïga, Finland
F6.3, 1/130 sec, 600 mm, ISO6400, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Night in Finland, starry sky reflection on water
F4, 30 sec, 10 mm, ISO4000, Canon EOS 7D Mark II

I hope you enjoyed my pictures of this encounter with the bears of Kuusamo in Finland.
If you are wondering where to observe bears in Finland, this area is excellent for wildlife watching.
I think I will come back, in a future trip, in this beautiful Finnish nature, better prepared and equipped, to take new shots of brown bears.
I hope you enjoyed to discover Finland, its Nature and its Wildlife, through my photos.
Hiking on the trails, exploring forests, lakes, peatlands, rivers, I had a really good time, despite a cold and rainy weather, Autumn Landscapes were really impressive and colorful.
Let see what destination will next popup on my way :)

Urho Kekkonen National Park – Finland
Oulanka National Park – North – Finland
Oulanka National Park – Centre – Finland
Oulanka National Park – Juuma – Finland
Hossa National Park – Finland