Cinnamon black bear at the water's edge

The rich reddish-brown coat threw me for a second — cinnamon is a common color phase for black bears in the Rockies, and without a grizzly’s shoulder hump or dished face nearby for comparison it’s an easy species to second-guess. This one was resting in a pile of driftwood at the lake’s edge, calm enough to watch the shoreline rather than me.

Why it matters

Black bear coat color has nothing to do with genetics shared with grizzlies — it’s simply a normal color variation within the species, and cinnamon or even blond black bears are common west of the Great Plains, while eastern populations are almost always black.

Getting the shot

The saturated blue lake water gave a striking color contrast against the bear’s warm coat with almost no editing needed. Shot from a stable pullout with the 150-600mm, well outside any distance that would put pressure on the bear.