Grasslands coyote

Gallery: WildlifePosted April 13, 2011113 views7 comments

While on a combined Prairie Chicken lek/ Prairie dog town in the Fort Pierre National Grasslands I was lucky enough to have this coyote come by. It only stopped for a few brief moments before continuing on so this is one of the few standing images I managed. For some reason all the prairie dogs ducked into their holes but you can see their mounds in the backgroud. C and C welcome.

1D4, 500 f4 +1.4x, iso 800, 1/2000, f11, propped on blind window, about 60% of full frame

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Jeffry Oonk on April 14, 2011 at 10:46 AM

That tongue sticking out is great. And how beautiful does the coyote blends into its natural surrounding and the way he / she looks what is going on behind.
Personally I think that those are the three nice elements of the frame.

Considering the fact that you cropped the frame I believe the coyote is too small and also too much centered. I feel that the whole scene could be more interesting when the animal was a bit smaller and showing more of the environment and positioned to the right. Personally I feel that you should include more sky in the frame as well. Or getting much closer of course but I think that was not possible in this case otherwise you would have done so.

I think these are beautiful animals to photograph and you can spend a lifetime doing so to get the perfect image. Please share more of this canids with us.

Registered on February 5, 2011, 21 Posts, 122 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on April 14, 2011 at 11:33 AM

What a great bonus to have this guy waltz through the lek. My suggestion would be experiment with crops to move him off of exact center of frame. The tongue action is a nice point of interest.

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

Comment posted by Richard Teller on April 14, 2011 at 11:54 AM

It is always nice to get a little something extra that is unexpected when you go out. The head seems a little hot to me. But other wise I would be glad to get this image. Nice image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on April 15, 2011 at 2:32 PM

I like the overall scene, the animal and its pose and the light. The centered composition however is what makes the presentation of this good image weak IMO. Play around a bit with cropping and you have a keeper Keith.

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

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on April 16, 2011 at 4:43 PM

I've witnessed three incidents of coyotes catching prairie dogs and still am amazed at how they do it. I don't see this one as too centered but wouldn't be opposed to a slight crop all around (eliminate the sky, some off the bottom, and just to the edge of the dirt on the p-dawg mound). I like the look back pose and the tail curling towards the front.

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 17, 2011 at 1:48 PM

Nice one, Keith. Shows the coyote at work. The tongue makes a nice addition to the image. Agree with a crop off center.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on April 17, 2011 at 2:25 PM

I like the ton gue sticking out and the look back - the habitat is nice also though it is a bit centered compositionally.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments