Marten on snow

Given my luck with them, I think I'd take the 3 martens in exchange for not seeing anything else. I'm quite jealous. I've seen a lot of winter marten images (usually from Yellowstone, often at a place where they're baited), and I have to say this image is different from anything else I've seen. Typically you just get close-ups, not the "animal in its environment" look. I like it quite a bit, especially with the extended paw. It would be nice if the marten were slightly further left in the frame, but this would require cropping more from the left (you obviously didn't want to cut off the tree branch) or keeping additional canvas on the right (which may or may not exist).

Regardless, nice shot!

Max

Really like this photograph. It is different from most marten photos which show them in a tree. Thanks for sharing.

I think this exposure came out very well for those tricky lighting conditions. I notice a fairly decent amount of detail in the shadow areas. I think all you could have asked for would have been a little more sparkle of light or some snow kicking up from his feet. I see this as a keeper, as posted!

Hi Annand. This is certainly an interesting and different photograph. It is always a challenge to put a small creature in its habitat, but I must say you partly did succeed with that. The bulky tree (or trees), however, is dominating the frame quite heavy. Despite that though this image did make me look twice.

You took great advantage of a very rare opportunity, I have gotten only fleeting glimpses of these guys. This is an excellent habitat photo. Sweet Catch

Ken Archer

Thank you all
@ max, There is room on all sides except the top. I did like a composition with more room on the right, but it made the marten too small to appreciate on web.
@ lon, The next frame is more dramatic with the marten partly buried in the snow looking at me. But there is too much motion blur in it
@vincent, There is plenty of snow to include in the bottom of the frame, but it is pretty featureless. So i decided to include more of the trees.

Nice capture Anand - seeing 3 in a day is pretty incredible, what luck!

Very nice. What a luck to see three of them in a single day. Excellent skill to capture a moving marten in what must have been a difficult exposure shot with very little time. Thanks for posting.

Small animal small in the frame, I like. If you crop out the treeline in the background you get a more balanced shot imo.