Not my usual sort of fox picture

Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus) – Churchill, Canada.

Canon EOS 1Ds MkII, 600/f4, Gitzo 1548 + WH2.
Manual exposure mode (+2ev off snow) f6.3, 1/800, iso 500, AWB (converted to daylight in processing), AF set to AI servo with CFn.17 set to 1 (AF point activation area expanded by 1 point around the manually selected centre focus point).
RAW image processed in Capture One; sharpened in Photoshop CS2 (amount = 100 percent; radius = 0.2; threshold = 0 applied five times); full frame.

I was trying to photograph a couple of Arctic Foxes that were chasing each other around in some rocks. Now I know why the specific epithet lagopus (for hare) appears in their scientific name; they can really move and I was having trouble tracking them as they dodged in and out of the rocks.

I had the central AF focus point selected and this is clearly missing the head and eye of the subject, where, ideally I would have wanted it. Having CFn.17 set to one, though, has maintained sufficient acuity of focus to capture an image that is acceptably sharp, at least at A3 (17inches x 12inches).

Hi Phil,
A superb shot in every way.
I love absolutely everthing about this shot,the animal,the composition,the snow covered surroundings.What I like most however is the split second moment where you've captured all four feet off the ground.
A pleasure to view and hopefully you'll share some more of your images with us in the not too distant future.

Hi Phil,
I can't add much more to what Justin has already said.

I've found that the only sure way to keep track of small creatures with erratic fast movement is to use lenses with apertures of 2.8 or larger. The extra light brought in makes for more accurate AF. I do miss my 400 for it's AF speed, although not its weight.

John

Well the Old Master strikes again
What a cracker.
Best wishes
Phil

Hi Phil,

A superb shot capturing a very good moment with all 4 feet off the ground. What I like most though is your attention to detail when describing your shooting technique and also settings and processing. Very informative.

Thanks

Rob

One word

SUPERB

Great shot Phil,It was abad year for lemmings when i went and only saw artic fox a couple of times.Time to go back i guess,

Terrific shot. being one of the few Nikon shooters left, I've no idea what you're on about with CFn.17 but it sure locked on whereas I can be sure my D2x wouldn't have!

Well done

John

This is a really dynamic image Phil, perhaps a little tight for my taste but great nonetheless.

Regards

John S

As said terriffic shot, I'd like more space but then I suspect you may have that and that for web images closer crops are more desirable to show off the detail, but then I maybe wrong of course.



Tim

Fantastic image - full of movement - and beautifulyy exposed - but with your high standards I suppose that is a given!



dennis

Very nice image....the exposure has been handled really well. Also good and interesting to see the PP details.

Superb!

What can I say, a fantastic animal with fantastic action, superbly captured by the master.

Hi Phil

It's all been said!

David

superb

Would love to see a version with more space around it as well, only nit may be that this is a bit tight in the frame,

cheers

Mark

A

Hi Phil

Superb shot

You have caught the fox brilliantly here, exposure, detail and action are all top notch.

I was wondering when you might post some of your Alaska trip images, I am looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

cheers

Sean

p.s. And I also find your detailed write up on your technique interesting and useful.

Hi Phil

SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What can i say, its great

Tony Anderson
West Sussex

Hi Phil,

Good to see you posting again and your technical write ups are fantastic, so thanks. Wonderful image for me and I too would like a bit more around the subject. Saying that, if it was mine I wouldn't care!!



Graeme

All been said above, excellent image.

Gavin

Stunning work Phil..best fox image i've see for a long while, show us more