Little Red

This little guy had run away every time I saw him & stopped. Until this morning. He was with the black fox, who seemed bored of posing for me.

What a cutie!

Quite a portrait Monika! The blue-orange color contrast is really striking, and the wild look in the eyes is really intense. I expect the serious wildlife shooters might have a nit about the focus plane being a little in front of the eyes, but the fox's look is so powerful that I think this one still resonates plenty.

Jackson, I'm sure that serious wildlife shooters have much bigger guns than I do, too (my longest is my 70-200mm). I kind of like the challenge of figuring out how to present so I can get close to them, but then the shutter noise is a factor since it isn't silent on continuous shooting modes.

This works so well on so many levels. I like it a lot, Monika!
And you used a 70-200mm lens?! How do you get so close?

John, you have to remember a couple of things about these foxes: they live in an inhabited area, so are used to human presence (and, in fact, at least one household feeds her. I had mixed feelings when I learned about that: disappointment that they're not truly wild, but kind of glad to know that they'd be sticking around that area!) and I've been shooting the black fox since she was probably just a few months old so she's somewhat habituated to me. That said, when I approach them, first & foremost, I tuck away my "self" -- no projecting intent or strong emotion or even just presence. I approach slowly and indirectly and stop when they react to me by either moving away or towards me. The black one will approach me as soon as I step out of my vehicle. Once they're on the move, I let them approach me (helps when I'm taking the garbage down to town in my rig -- they like the smell of food!). On this particular day, I first positioned myself so I could get his fur backlit by the sun, but then he moved to where I would have been shooting directly into the sun, so I circled around so he was facing the sun instead. They're curious animals & want to check out what I am, what I'm doing. If I'm too boring, they leave. I have to move enough to be interesting, but not be threatening. It's an interesting dance, one that I'm not particularly skilled at, but am learning. Does that answer your question?