One wildlife enthusiast made a photography faux pas by using his or her flash while photographing a young bear cub, and those who know better could only shake their heads as the cub got scared and climbed a tree, becoming temporarily separated from its mom. Wildlife photographer @Onewildlifer was not the person using flash, but the offending photographer’s flash interrupted his or her footage as well as the peaceful path of the bear cub and its mother. @Onewildlifer took to social media to call out why using flash is a terrible idea when photographing wild animals.
“This little cub was following mom trying to cross through a line of stopped cars, which was probably scary enough for the little one. Then the folks in the car in front of us decided to blast the poor cub with a flash,” wrote @Onewildlifer in an Instagram post sharing the video. “The blinding light scared it up a tree then then believe it or not, they just kept flashing!! That cub was so scared it stayed in the tree for close to five minutes while mom paced back and forth trying to coax it down. PLEASE do not use flash photography on wildlife.”
It’s natural to become excited when you come across a beautiful moment in nature and want to capture it with photos or videos. However, when you ruin the moment in your attempt to capture it, what’s the point, really?
Watch a photographer separate a bear cub from its mom by using flash here: