Mike Korostelev

Duncan Whittaker · Issue 90, May/Jun 2016 · pp. 41–44

Products mentioned: Canon 5D Mark II, Ikelite housing, Canon 17-40 lens, Canon 8-15 lens

Mike Korostelev won International Wide Angle at the 2016 Underwater Photographer of the Year Awards with his astonishing images of the Kamchatka brown bears. Here he speaks to UwP about how such incredible images were produced. Where exactly were the bear photos taken and do you live here? I live in Moscow but last year for 3 months I went to Kamchatka. This is the far east of Russia; an 8 hour flight by plane from Moscow to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky which is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. From here you have to travel 2 hours by helicopter to the Kuril Lake; the place with the highest density of bears in the world! lived at the cordon of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve on the shores of the Kuril Lake for over a month and this is where I took the photos. How did you build the cage? Were you on your own during the photo shoot? My friends in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky help…