Into the Unknown with April Stampe
One of my primary goals with The Dusty Unknown is to foster a collaborative community of artists who share their successes, struggles and inspirations, while also showcasing their incredible work. In that vein, I will be asking talented creatives to take us behind the scenes of a particular piece of their work, to uncover the deeper meaning and creative efforts, that go into making art. These short interviews will be ventures “Into the Unknown” and will feature artists from multiple disciplines, with a focus on photography. Featured artists will range in skill and experience and will be chosen based on a multitude of factors, including the subject matter they capture, the tools they use, and the intentions behind their work. So, without further ado, let’s dive in with the inaugural featured artist, April Stampe!
With over a decade of experience, April Stampe is a registered nurse and wildlife photographer who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When not out with her Sony A7Riii, April uses her work to bring attention to animal conservation and rehabilitation through causes like the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program and the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre. During a recent trip to Churchill, Manitoba, April was able to photograph one of the most iconic species on the planet. Take a journey with April Into the Unknown and discover how she photographed polar bears.
Photo Credit: April Stampe
With arrival only possible via train or plane, getting to Churchill is no easy feat. What inspired you to travel to such a remote location to photograph polar bears, and how did you determine which gear made the journey?
Polar bears are the face of climate change and are a species I’ve wanted to photograph for a while. I had visited Churchill a few years earlier during their “off” season and while I did see some bears on that trip as well, it was the pristine, wild landscapes that pulled me back to visit again. I couldn't stop thinking about the images I might be able to capture of a polar bear in the colours and beauty of the arctic tundra.
When choosing gear for the trip, I knew that I'd want to bring a few different lenses, several memory cards, a tripod, and at least three batteries. Bringing an extra battery or two is very important as you’re out all day and Churchill's colder weather can drain batteries fairly quickly. Photography gloves and warm clothing are also a must as the windchill in Churchill can really be something.
For lenses, I knew that I needed good reach for the bears, but that I’d also want to be able to capture the scenery too. For this, I found my 200-600mm lens perfect. I also brought my tripod and 20mm lens just in case we got the opportunity to see some Northern lights on the trip.
In general, October and November aren’t the best times for viewing the northern lights due to the cloudier weather, but it's always worthwhile to bring your equipment, as even during these months, most clear nights still give you a pretty decent chance at seeing them.
What was your pre-planning process like? Did you know the type of shot you were looking for before heading out?
Back in 2021, I visited Churchill with a local photography group, and we did our tour through Discover Churchill. This earlier trip to Churchill helped me see the different vehicle options available for bear viewing, different companies available in Churchill, and gave me a good feel for how Discover Churchill, in particular, ran their tours.
Photo Credit: April Stampe
As travelling to Churchill isn’t cheap, I did quite a bit of research on prices and dates with other tour companies to ensure I was getting the most out of my hard-earned money. Overall, prices for various tours were similar, so I decided to stick with Discover Churchill because I had enjoyed my previous experience with them and appreciated their wildlife viewing ethics.
Another important factor that went into my decision to go with Discover Churchill was my preferred photo angle. Some larger companies offer their tours on tundra buggies, and while these buggies can go more places and might help you see a greater number of bears, I knew that I wanted to be at ground level with the bears so I could capture angles from their perspective. So for me, going with a smaller company that gave ground-level tours made more sense.
The best time of the year to see the bears in action are October and November. While you can see them in the summer months as well, they spend most of their time sleeping, trying to conserve their energy. During the fall, the bears gather along the shoreline, getting antsy and more active as they wait for the ice to form, thus creating a “bear season” in Churchill.
It was hard choosing which week to go, because I knew that if I went too early, there may not be many bears yet, but if I went too late all the bears would already be back out on the ice. Trying to hit that sweet spot in the freeze up is a challenge, and every year is different and impossible to predict.
I had been following the action in Churchill through social media for the past two years, trying to gauge the usual “peak” time for bear numbers. The past few years, the bear action looked best during the last week of October/first week of November. It also looked like you got the chance to see them with and without snow, which also seemed like an attractive option to me. So, ultimately, I ended up going during the last week of October this year.
Walk me through your first day out with your camera in Churchill. What settings are you using and how did the experience of seeing a polar bear change/affirm your strategy?
The first day out was a day of nervous expectation. With any wildlife photography tour, there's always a chance you won't find the species you're looking for, and that's just an unfortunate reality. So for a trip like this, with so much invested into it, I was a ball of nerves hoping we would get some good encounters with the bears.
When we did see our first bear, I discovered very quickly that my “high burst” style used for birding didn’t work well for the bears as they slowly sauntered across the tundra. In the excitement, I’d find myself taking too many images as the bear approached from afar, causing my camera’s memory card to buffer, and, all the while, the bear continued to get closer and into clearer views. While the camera was buffering, I couldn’t take any more images, and as you can imagine, this was agonising. So very quickly, I learnt to be more selective with my images, allowing for pauses in between bursts and allowing the bear to move closer and into new scenes before taking more images.
Let’s dig into this photo specifically. Paint me a picture of the lead up to the moment you snapped the shot.
Photo Credit: April Stampe
While driving back towards town, we encountered this bear as it was resting on a rocky ridge. We sat and watched it for a bit, then the bear got up and was on the move. Instead of following the bear and potentially causing it stress, our guides decided to take us a good 300-400 metres ahead of it with the gamble that the bear would continue to walk in our direction. With this in mind, we got into position and waited for what we hoped would be an amazing head-on encounter. It was just our tour group and nobody else, which, during bear season, was a rare treat.
After waiting a short period of time, the bear appeared in the distance, still walking right towards us. It slowly sauntered across the rocks and tundra, all the while passing through some amazingly breathtaking landscapes and backdrops. As it came towards us, I crouched down, trying my best to capture the world from its perspective. Watching it through my viewfinder, I was ecstatic when it walked into a scene of red lichen covered rocks and the small stunted trees of the tundra. It was everything I could've asked for from the encounter. In the end, the bear ended up passing by us within just 20 metres before slowly walking across a nearby frozen lake.
Getting the opportunity to capture and share such an intimate and relaxed encounter with the bear, made the encounter all the more special, and really is a moment I'll treasure for the rest of my life.
You get home from your trip and it’s finally time to go through memory cards. What makes a keeper shot for you?
When going through my images from this trip, I discovered that a “keeper” from Churchill, differs greatly from my images that are “keepers” back home in Winnipeg. Usually the images I prefer back home are sharp, clean and crisp. But with polar bears being such an icon of climate change and conservation, there are many images I enjoy that ordinarily I may not have been overly happy with. Some are blurry, some are grainy, and some are far away, but what they all highlight is the beauty of the species and their connection with the environment.
