Into the Wild: Photographing Bears and Wolves in the Finnish Wilderness

At the end of August 2024, I embarked on a magical journey to Finland to photograph brown bears from a photo hide, deep in the Finnish wilderness at Bear Centre.
I travelled with two professional photographers, Mads Hagen and Ole Ekelund, along with eleven other photo enthusiasts.

Living in Aarhus, my trip began at 3:45 AM on Thursday, August 22nd, with a four-hour train ride to Copenhagen Airport. There, I treated myself to a cup of coffee while waiting to meet the rest of the group – strangers at the time, but it didn't take long for conversations to flow. Fourteen photography nerds buzzing with excitement for the adventure ahead!

My route: Aarhus–Copenhagen–Helsinki–Kajaani–Lentiira.
We arrived around 10 PM, quite exhausted. Our kind hosts at the Bear Centre had prepared a warm meal before we settled into our assigned rooms for the night.

Night 1 in the photo hide

I made it through my first night in the photo hide. It's quite a unique experience – sitting completely alone in a tiny wooden shelter you’re not allowed to leave. I’d guess it was about 1.5 x 2 meters. After unpacking my sleeping bag and setting up the camera, all I could do was wait... and wait... and wait.

Then suddenly, after about three hours, a large dark shape dashed through the clearing – the wolverine! I was sluggish, it was quick – I’m honestly not sure I managed a single sharp photo. But not long after, a mother bear and her cub appeared. Much more photogenic, and I’m pretty sure I got a few good shots of them.

Activity continued with a few more wolverines and some male bears, until the light faded around 9 PM. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast, so I didn’t get my hoped-for epic sunset or sunrise.

At 10 PM I crawled into my sleeping bag. Did I sleep? Not really. It was unbearably hot inside, and my various aches made it hard to rest. I set an alarm for 4 AM, and the morning remained quiet – until five minutes before I had to leave, when the wolverine came by again.
At 7:30 AM I left the hide and walked back to the lodge, not really thinking about the fact that the wolverine had just been there...

After breakfast, we reviewed the evening’s shots and had a workshop focused on low-light photography. Later, I spent a couple of hours in a smaller bird/squirrel hide, and around 3 PM it was time for dinner before we headed out to our second night in a new hide.

Night 2 – The Luxurious Hide

The second night was spent in what I can only describe as a luxury hide – it was absolutely cozy! Nestled by the shore of a small lake, surrounded by forest.
There were camera ports on three sides, and I had to choose where to sit. Not a hard decision – of course I went with the lakeside view. It even had a separate space for the toilet bucket – now that felt like luxury!

Our travel group had a Messenger chat to keep each other updated. When messages started pouring in about wolf sightings, I was honestly quite envious. Seeing wolves has long been a dream of mine. They're rare up here – always on the move – so the chat was glowing with excitement.

I had almost made peace with the thought that I might not be the lucky one... when suddenly, there it was. A beautiful male wolf came running out of the forest.
It’s hard to describe the feeling of being so close to such a magnificent creature in the wild.

Soon after, a young male bear appeared, sneaking through the trees.
It turned out the two weren’t exactly on friendly terms – the wolf chased the poor bear all around the area, trying to steal its food and bury it. It was both dramatic and a little funny to follow everyone’s live reactions in our chat.

I stayed awake a bit longer hoping to spot some northern lights, but they never showed. So, I crawled into my sleeping bag – and this time, I slept like a dream. So well, in fact, that I didn’t hear my alarm at 4 AM. I woke at 5, the sun already rising. A light mist drifted over the lake. It would have been perfect with a little bear in the haze – but no such luck.

So far, I’ve been incredibly lucky, and I’m curious what this final night in Finland will bring. Honestly, I’ll be happy just to see a beautiful lake again.

This photo is available on several clothing items, like this Rash guard for women

Night 3 – Under the Stars

I didn’t write about the third night right away – the day simply slipped away from me.
Now I’m home again, with about 5,000 photos to sort through and some to edit.

The last hide I sat in faced north, overlooking a small lake with forest across the way. From the window, I could see the Russian border markers about 150 meters away.

There had been a lot of activity at this hide the day before, so I tried to keep my expectations low. The forecast said clear evening, rain overnight, and sun again in the morning.

The evening started slowly, but our group chat helped pass the time. Around 6:30 PM, the wolf appeared again – briefly – and disappeared. An hour later, a young male bear showed up, the same one from the previous nights. He seemed nervous, likely because an older male was nearby. Eventually, he ran off into Russia and didn’t come back.

Shortly after, the larger male bear entered the scene, taking his time. His biggest challenge? The noisy crows trying to snatch whatever food he found.

The light disappeared quickly, and even though the camera couldn’t quite keep up, it was a magical experience to sit there and watch the bear roam through the darkness.

Being alone in a hide like that, far from everything, gives space for reflection.
In the quiet moments between animal visits, I had long conversations with myself.
Some decisions were made that night – decisions about how I want to prioritize my life moving forward.

When morning came, I learned it had poured down rain – but I hadn’t heard a thing. I slept like a rock.
The walk back to the lodge was bittersweet. Though I missed Kim and the boys dearly, it was hard to leave this place behind.

After our final breakfast, I joined one of the others in the small squirrel-bird hide. We sat together, talking through all the incredible moments we’d shared, until we were picked up for the airport at 2:30 PM.

After a looooooong journey, I finally walked through my front door at 4:58 AM on Tuesday, August 27th. 2024.

 

Final Reflections

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my little travel story.
I wholeheartedly recommend going on an adventure like this. Even though I travelled alone, I was never really alone – and the moments I was, became deep and valuable.
And I highly recommend travelling on your photo adventure with Mads Hagen and Ole Ekelund. 

If you have any questions about the trip, feel free to write to me.