It's a grizzly in the mist - as a hungry bear peers out from behind a wall of steam.
The brown bear was captured by ranger and photographer Igor Shpilenok in the Kronotsky Reserve, Russia.
He followed the giant animals as they relaxed, fished and slept among some of the 90 geysers that dot the landscape of the reserve in Kamatchka peninsula, where he is a ranger.
Lovely geyser: A brown bear enjoys the hot steam from a geyser in Kamchatka's Valley of the Geysers in Kronotsky Zapovednik, Russia
Bear necessities: One of the large male brown bears enjoys a steam bath in the Valley of the Geysers
Mother and cub: The stunning set of pictures was captured by ranger and photographer Igor Shpilenok in the Kronotsky Reserve, Russia
A bear stands in front of a geyser checking that the coast is clear before settling down for a quick nap in the thermal steam
The geyser field - known as the Valley of Geysers - is home to some 700 bears. Igor, 52, said: 'I first came here in 2004 for several weeks to photograph the Reserve.
'Three years later I still could not force myself to return to my home in the Bryansk Forest. I advanced from a visiting photographer and naturalist into a ranger at the Kronotsky Reserve and eventually brought my family along.
'The Valley of the Geysers is a crossroads of bear trails, leading from denning areas in the high mountains and feeding grounds of berries and pine nuts to the fish-filled rivers near the ocean.
Badlands: Steams bursts from the many fissures and geysers of the Uzon Caldera, Russia
On the prowl: A bear watches Avery Geyser, the most constant of all the geysers in the Valley of the Geysers
Not too hot: One of the valley's Brown bears pokers his paw into a pool to test the temperature of the water
Warm spot: A mother brown bear and her cub soak up the heat by lying flat out in a thermal field in Russia's Kronotsky Nature Reserve
Flat out: A bear rests above the Valley of Geyser's in another of ranger Igor Shpilenok's wonderful photographs
A bear lounges on the ground warmed by thermal waters (left) while another (right) reaches for new green grasses on a slope of the Valley of the Geysers in Kronotsky Zapovednik
'As well as the permanent residents of the Valley, transient bears pass through. Some, having traveled from areas outside Kronotsky Reserve, panic at the sight of humans.
'Having spent their lives in the Reserve with no negative encounters with people, others allow people to observe them at a close distance
'While bears are wild animals and can be dangerous, if they come to recognise you and trust you, and if you treat them with respect from a distance, they will not harm you.'
The aptly-named Geyser River carved the valley over thousands of years and also created many interesting rock formations, such as the so-called 'fireplace' seen in the background of this picture
Bear tracks are left in the soft volcanic clay which covers much of the valley
Bath time: One of the valley's brown bears enjoys a Springtime soak in the warm Geyser River
Vegetarian option: A brown bear feeds on grasses along thebanks iof the Geyser River in Kronotsky Zapovednik, Russia
I could really murder a steak! A large male brown bear chomps on fresh green grass in the Valley of the Geysers
One of the valley's bears wanders close to thermal pool against a spectacular backdrop of autumn colours
Passions inflamed: A large male mates with a much smaller female in the Uzon Caldera area of of Kronotsky Zapovednik
