Photographers must take care to avoid getting too close to bears in efforts to take pictures. In the spring of 1988, a man and his wife were camped at a site in Glacier National Park. They spotted a sow grizzly bear with three cubs. The husband left with a camera that featured automatic multiexposures. He took the first pictures from a safe position on the slope opposite the bears. Then he began to get overconfident, as the bears seemed to ignore his presence.

He cautiously crossed the slope until he was on the same avalanche path as the bears. The pictures, developed later from this multiexposure camera, showed the bears closer and closer. He wanted to get the shot of a lifetime and was far too close to the sow, violating her space, forcing her to make a decision either to run or to attack.

The final pictures in the camera showed signs that the bear had had enough​—and it charged! The photographer tried to climb a tree, but it was too late. The bear got to him first and inflicted fatal injuries.

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Extreme caution is vital when in the territory of grizzlies