This is a red fox that I photographed recently in New Jersey this winter.
I saw a fox in the dunes along a beach road and got out, walking quietly to where I thought it would appear from behind some bushes. I knelt down on the shoulder of the road and handheld for this. It finally noticed me and gave me this look.
Canon 5D MIII
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
ISO 1600 | 170mm | f/6.3 | 1/1000s
(full frame)
I did some minor saturation of the orange color and a little sharpening of the fox's eyes.
I hope you like it. I am wondering if you think the grasses that are almost touching the fox's face are distracting
Comments
21 commentsRay
It's great that you are able to anticipate the animals movement - that will result in many more nice shots over time.
Probably all that needs to be said, but I'll add a few comments. I saw this immediately after you posted it and have been admiring it ever since. Not only is it one of your best (if not very best) fox images, in my opinion it's one of the best that have been posted on NPN. Stunning image, Ashleigh!! The habitat is phenomenal and the fox's coat is just ridonkulous. The grasses on the right are part of what MAKES the image IMO.
Outstanding.
Since you asked, I find the grass drawing my eye a bit away from the fox, but those eyes jerk my eye right back to the fox. I like habitat images, and this is a wonderful example. Congratulations.
What makes this shot for me is two things - the great wide-eyed stare you're getting, along with the downward slant of the back (which functions to some degree to lead the eye to the head, and also makes it feel like the fox was just caught in the midst of some mischief).
Those grasses don't bother me at all - as a general rule, I personally don't find in-focus elements as distracting as some out-of-focus elements (there are obvious exceptions, such as if several of the grasses had overlapped the head and eyes). For instance, in this situation I find the out-of-focus grasses and bushes along the bottom edge of the shot more distracting than the grasses you asked about (I'm not saying those OOF elements are a major problem at all, just reinforcing the point that the grasses are NO problem). I agree with those who said the vegetation clump on the frame edge near the ULC is a bit distracting (even if it is in focus!) - it did grab my eye.
Overall - very nicely done!
Cheers...
Brad
Keith.
Sweet Photo
Ashleigh