Lurking Red Fox

Gallery: WildlifePosted April 25, 201078 views3 comments

I'd love to say I tracked this animal yesterday, but as I was driving down a dirt road in PA, I just happened to catch this out of the corner of my eye. I've only seen one red fox before, and it was much smaller, so at distance I was wondering just what this was--a cat of some kind, etc.? For fear of disturbing it, I shot this out of the vehicle. Took about 6 photos that way, then got out and started walking toward it, until it finally turned around and saw me (working on that photo), then took off. Was really surprised at how big these get, beautiful and mean looking at the same time. D-60, ISO-200, 1/800th sec. at f-5.6. Full 200mm on Nikkor lens, bright sun out unfortunately. Again, frontal view to come. Thanks for looking and any C&C!

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on April 25, 2010 at 10:44 PM

Bill, neat encounter! The exposure looks fine and there are interesting lines and layer elements to this image. What would make this better, I suspect, is if the fox was angling to the lens rather than away!

I am interested in see the one where he turned to see you.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on April 26, 2010 at 1:46 AM

Hi Lon, thank you! Yes, it caught me totally by surprise. I do have a couple where it is angled, then the final turn (into the hot sun unfortunately, but still ok). Liked the ears and bushy tail on this first pic that caught my attention. Appreciate the feedback, and I hope the other one or two are better.

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on April 26, 2010 at 12:54 PM

Hi Bill, that sounds like it was very interesting encounter! I like the DOF and the BG of those tall trees. Although an animal walking away from the viewer could possibly work in certain cases where the exit is a meaningful/powerful one, it just is not strong enough here IMO. Hence I am looking forward to the frontal view one.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments