The woman with the bears. She didn’t seem like an instagram type in the clip. Just like someone who didn’t realize what was up because she was caught up in a moment. It’s very easy to do.
I almost got crushed by a falling tree once after being out taking pics of an ice storm. I didn’t realize the sound of a tree shattering under the weight of ice until a canopy crumbled right above me. I was standing clear of them mostly but backed up a few steps to frame a shot and just barely stepped out of the way when I realized the sound was right above me. The branches grazed my back as I ran forward. Turned around to see a few hundred pounds of ice/tree on the ground where I’d been standing. It’s so easy to just forget where you are, just for a second.
I think I’m pretty careful when shooting on the street. I watch the surroundings, the street, vehicles, traffic… my back, my camera bag… I try to figure what sort of people are or aren’t around. But you rarely expect the urban tree canopy to just crumble on top of you - even though that’s what brought me out there: frozen/icy trees had come down through the night taking out cars, power lines, blocking streets. I should have expected that they could still be falling, but it was so otherworldly I just got caught up.
I think for some of these moments when human meets nature, people rather innocently underestimate the situation mostly due to lack of experience. I know your brain ought to tell you, “large carnivore bad” or “boiling sulphuric pool no bueno” but if you’ve lived your life without a real frame of reference, it might not register until it’s too late.
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