Wintry Vixen

Hi Ashleigh,

The branches in the foreground are a slight distraction, but my eye keeps looking at the sharp details of the fox's face. So, the distractions are minor and are part of what nature throws at us photographers. A good job on the processing with sharp details and softly lit, bright colors ..............Jim

Hi Ashleigh! This is a BEAUTIFUL portrait of a good-looking fox. The overall colour palette is very pleasing, and the soft light is most complementary here. I think you composed this just about perfectly, though if it were mine I would consider cropping a bit more off the bottom. I know you likely wanted to leave room for the fox's virtual legs and a margin there as well, but the OOF foreground doesn't add anything for me personally. Regarding the foreground branches, I agree with Jim...I guess I would rather have a clear view without them present, but they don't distract significantly and this has so many qualities going for it that it's a very minor nit indeed. I can relate all too well to grasses where I don't want them...I live where the northern grasslands run straight into the Canadian Rockies and any subject smaller than a deer is going to have grass interfering with my attempts to get a clean image of it. In fact, yesterday Josiah and I managed to find a badger moving from the a higher elevation slope down toward the valley floor. Dozens of images between us over hundreds of yards worth of encounters and not a single frame without grass compromising the shot. Getting a view like you have here would have made our day to say the least!

Great image, and wonderfully processed as well.

Thank you for your nice comments this is really helpful.

Interesting how much more contrast this animal has than the one I photographed in Nome. Beautiful shot Ashleigh, my eyes went straight to the sharp head and eyes of the fox so you are right in that it draws plenty of attention. After that my eyes wandered around the rest of the shot and the oof branches could be viewed as either a slight distraction but certainly not a big problem. Great job.

You did a nice job of isolating her from the busy surroundings. I appreciate the alert, away-from-the-lens stare.

Hi Ashley,

I like the intense stare of the vixen and she does stand out nicely from the background.

Two comments on the composition:

1. You ask: "...if you find any of the branches in this shot distracting?" If I'm being honest - yes. The ones that distract me (and, in my opinion, detract from the image) are the thicker reddish foreground branches/grasses that overlap the body of the fox. I totally get how hard it would be to get a clear shot of the fox (sans any distractions) in this terrain, but (even so), they still distract me.

2. This comment is personal opinion only and offered as a bit of "food for thought" - for me the crop is on the tight side. I personally find that when working with mammals getting to the "almost filling the frame when subject is broadside" point seems initially appealing to a photographer (a bit of the "closer is better" philosophy), but when you filling this much of the frame with the subject it is incredibly hard to do anything creative with the composition (other than just "show" - or document - the animal). I think giving solid consideration to "how much of the frame should my subject fill to meet my creative goals?" question is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of wildlife photography. In this instance I'd recommend either backing off significantly OR moving in much tighter (for a true portrait, for instance). I know that this can be real tough to do when working with prime lenses, but who said it was supposed to be easy?

Anyways...just my 2 cents worth...

Cheers...

Brad

Hi thank you everyone for your comments.

Brad, Im attaching another copy which is farther away and I think its better, showing more of the environment. I really like the darker green tree in the right top corner. Let me know if you like this one better, Ashleigh

Hey Ashleigh,

Absolutely like the second one better - that's EXACTLY what I was getting it! And, even those this is kind of a "busy" scene, those "distracting" grasses or branches that were overlapping the body have really "faded away". And I agree with you about the darker green tree - provides a nice counter-balance to the subject. Well done.

When I'm out shooting (and not spending way too much time behind my computer! ) the first thing I think of when I encounter an animal is "how dominant should this subject be in the frame to convey what I'm feeling about this scene?" The "closer is better" attitude is one of the first things that a neophyte photographer who wants to get serious about their photography has to discard (note that I'm not saying getting close is always bad, but it certainly isn't always better than backing off and capturing more of the full scene).

Cheers...

Brad

Ashleigh, thumbs up on the second version with more space!

Thank you Brad and Lon!

What a beautiful vixen! I liked the original post, but I love the repost below! I really like the environment surrounding her. Great image, Ashleigh!