The Bear Photography Season 2026 is in Full Swing

I’ve been back here in northern Kuusamo, Finland, since the beginning of June, guiding the bear photography and watching tours almost daily.

The bear photography season started already at the beginning of May, but as we are traveling overland in South America now with Expedition Conservation, we only got to travel to Finland at the end of May.

But since June, I’ve now been back in this backcountry wilderness of Finland, and I have loved it. This time is also always a chance for me to “breathe” a bit, reflect, and stay put, concentrating on the “normal life things”. When traveling constantly about 8-9 months per year, I have grown to appreciate staying in one location for a few months on a totally different level. It’s the downtime that often comes at a dire time.

Yes, I love my full-time traveling life and the new experiences I get while living it, but it’s also tiring in its own way. So now, it’s been great to be back “home” in Finland again.

The bear photography season is also in full swing now at the beginning of August, and it’s been a bit of a different season this year.

Yes, I have seen most of my old “bear friends” again, and I’m so happy and grateful about it. However, a few of them are still missing, but maybe they’ll still appear later on. I hope so. Because every year when I return to this place, it’s a bit of an anxious waiting game whether the individual bears I know will still return – and when.

Over the years, certain individuals have become like old friends to me, and after a long absence, I’m always looking forward to seeing them again. Think of me as a bit of a sentimental fool, if you like, but that’s how I look upon them. They are my work colleagues, after all.

But ask any bear guide about the bears they see, and I think that they’ll tell you the same. Over time, we learn to know certain individuals, their behaviors and habits, pretty well, and we grow relationships with them.

We know them–and they know us. Think what you will about the memory of animals1, but I can tell from years of experience that some of the bears do remember me (however, they are more likely to remember my individual scent, but in the end, it’s the same thing).

A few of the bears are now getting old, and this is evident in their behavior, which has changed a bit compared to previous years. They are seemingly more careful in their movements, for example. After observing them for six years, I can tell immediately when something changes.

It’s fascinating, but also a bit wistful, of course. Like us humans, they get old and eventually, their time will run out. So I have to remember to enjoy their presence now when I still can. Any year can be the year when they won’t appear anymore, after all.

Here is the oldest bear we know coming through the rain and strong winds to our bear photography place on the 30th of June – for the first time this year, 2026. I was so happy to see him again!

And that applies to everything, really. We would need to remember to enjoy life and appreciate the things we have now. Because now is all we have. Somehow, I have always admired animals’ natural ability to live in the present moment2, while we humans need to try hard to learn that.

For example, an older female brown bear has usually visited our photography hide area very frequently throughout the season, but this year she has been coming less often – even though we know she is in the area. And her visits have been shorter than usual.

We have also got a few new acquaintances, and that is refreshing and great to notice. It’s like the new generation of bears is already slowly taking over.

Even though I’m at the bear hides almost every evening now, it never gets boring. It’s like being on a safari in Africa–every time you drive out, you never know what will happen and what you will see.

And I will never know which bears I will see each evening, because they are completely wild animals and thus move exactly as they will. Sometimes I don’t see anything, and that is how nature works.

Sometimes our clients don't fully understand this, and we need to explain it a bit. Every time, deep down, it feels just as unbelievable to me, but then I remember that so many people are so disconnected from nature nowadays that they actually don’t fully understand how it works anymore.

It’s a pretty sad truth to realize, but at least I have the opportunity to try to re-establish that relationship on my part. And it’s great to see that so many people are genuinely interested in learning more about the bears, their behavior, and habitat. And I truly enjoy telling all I know about them.

So my work is not just photo guiding; it’s also about a lot of other things.

And in the end, even after a hard work week when I finally have some time off, I do appreciate that I get to do such work in nature that I truly enjoy. 💚

Stay wild, go outside & take great photos,

PS. The composition of the running bear photo is the classic Golden Ratio.