The bear-faced cheek! Brave photographer gets up close and personal to shoot fierce animals splashing around in lake

By Anna Edwards


A photographer has gone to extraordinary lengths to get up close and personal with wild brown bears in the water.
Daredevil Sergey Gorshkov was able to get within inches of the killers with just a small, flimsy looking, open-top cage for protection.
The 46-year-old admitted he took an incredible risk, where one mistake could have had fatal results.
He said: 'I knew that no one had taken a picture of a bear under water and started moving in that direction having a clear idea in my mind.


Are you looking at me? The bear rises from the water and gazes at the photographer, who was brave enough to approach them with just a flimsy cage for protection

Daredevil Sergey Gorshkov went nose to snout with his camera so he could get the incredible pictures
'For more than one year I was making plans how to bring my idea to reality.
'I understood that it would be not only difficult but dangerous too.
'I remember asking a shop assistant for a box for my camera to take pictures of bears under water.

'He put his finger to his temple and twisted it as if to say I was the craziest person he might have ever met.
'While working with predators there is a slight boarder between life and death.
'You can meet a bear quiet often and work with it without any problems but one mistake is enough to lead to the fatal results.'


Mr Gorshkov, from Moscow, Russia, spent seven years photographing the animals in Kamchatka, Russia

Just say cheese: The 46-year-old admitted he took an incredible risk, where one mistake could have had fatal results
But his pictures show the enormous predator in an incredible new light.
In one shot one of the animal stands neck-deep in the lake, peering curiously at Mr Gorshkov.
In another the creature appears to have just emerged from the water and gives a menacing look in to the camera lens.
In one a bear even appears to be unaware of Mr Gorshov as it devours a fish nearby.
Mr Gorshkov, from Moscow, Russia, spent seven years photographing the animals in Kamchatka, Russia.
He said people thought he was crazy when he suggested taking pictures of bears under water but he was determined to do it.

'I was so inspired by the idea of taking pictures under water that I decided to take the risk.
'To achieve my dream I spent long hours in the icy water facing with many problems.
'To take a picture under water you need a wide-angle lens and shoot at the distance of a bear's paw.
'The bears I always worked with were posing while I was taking pictures of them but as soon as I got into water they started hunting taking me as prey.
'Excitement does things to your head in these situations.
'You can get very close to a bear, a nose to nose so to say, and there is only one thing in your mind - how not to lose the moment.
'I would not recommend anyone to repeat what I did.'


source:dailymail