Polar bear family

Polar bear cubs typically stay with their mother until they are 2 1/2 years old. Male cubs at that time can weight in excess of 400 pounds. Big babies! I took this shot of a mother and her almost adult cubs near Churchill, Alberta, Canada with a Canon f/4 500mm telephoto. My main concern was depth of field; I wanted all the bears to be sharp. My settings were 1/1250, f/9, and 800 ISO. The fact that all three bears were so close together helped me maintain focus throughout the frame. The diffused light was ideal because, as you can see, there are no harsh shadows. The ground-level perspective gave the bears greater stature and made the portrait more intimate.