Auto Shop Yields Unexpected Art

Not everyone who comes to Bill Hamm's Car Care Center on Westmore Road in Rockville actually comes for car repairs.

Some people drop in just to see Hamm's stunning wildlife photographs of grizzly bears, polar bears, bobcats, owls and more in their natural habitats in Alaska, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sanibel Island and Manitoba, Canada.

Many of the shots are so amusing and vivid that a viewer might wonder if they are the work of a skilled Photoshop artist. In one photo, a bear is standing at the precipice of a waterfall, seemingly oblivious to any danger, his jaw outstretched to catch a fish hanging in the air at the top of the falls. In another, a brown bear is munching happily on a freshly killed fish, the still-dripping blood clearly visible on the half of the fish clutched in his paw.

The waterfall photos were from one of Hamm's many trips to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska. He said he sees the bears “stand at the edge all the time—never seen one fall.”

At times, “there could be 10 to 12 bears at the falls at once. That's when the fights start,” he said.

Visitors are “almost guaranteed to see bears” if they go in July or at the end of September when the salmon run in the Brooks Lodge River draws them, Hamm said. They gorge on the fish and pay no attention to the humans watching them.

Some Katmai bears gain 100 pounds of pure fat between the beginning of July and the end of September, he said.

“In September, they are fat and wobbling around,” he said. “Some are so fat they can barely move.”

This rapid weight gain is their routine to prepare for their winter hibernation.

Every year in late fall polar bears gather in Wapusk National Park near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze so they can hunt for seals.

But for a month or so as they wait for the freeze, large numbers of polar bears linger in the area, which creates a prime opportunity for up-close viewing and picture taking. The only way to safely venture into this territory is by tundra buggy, a school bus-sized vehicle that puts passengers 10 feet off the ground.

The polar bears “come right up to the buggy and you can get good close-up shots,” Hamm said, who shoots with a Nikon camera with a 200-400 mm zoom lens, mounted on a very heavy tripod.

Once on board the buggy, “you don't set foot on the ground” for the entire 10-day excursion, Hamm said. If you do, you quickly become food for the polar bears.

Hamm said he once saw a large male kill a baby polar bear and eat it. The mother waited about 100 feet away until the male finished. Then she “grabbed the pelt and took it away,” Hamm said.

After Katmai, Yellowstone National Park is one Hamm’s favorite places “any time of year.” One year a park ranger directed Hamm and a friend to the location of a bobcat den in the hollow of a tree. They set up their equipment and waited 10 hours before the cubs appeared. The shots show three timid and curious baby bobcats peering out of the tree hole, most likely looking for Mama.

Hamm said he considers it a “once in a lifetime” photo.

Click here to view a gallery of Hamm's photos.

To see more of Hamm's photos, stop by Bill Hamm's Car Care at 7406 Westmore Road or call his shop at 301-294-9155.