Arctic Fox (c) + REPOST

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 15, 2012180 views9 comments

Hi Everyone! I got to go on a trip to New York and Ontario with my sister and Dad last month and my dad took us to the Toronto Zoo. It was a pretty cold and windy day, and when we got to the Arctic Foxes they were all curled up trying to keep warm. They were pretty sleepy but after I took a few pictures of this guy he suddenly looked up and I got this picture. I think he looks so cute!

My dad suggested I shoot with the lens wide open to try and keep the enclosure out of focus.

This is cropped slightly from the bottom and both sides. My dad said it's about 85% of original. We didn't do too much else in processing because we liked the way it looked right from the camera.

Thank you for looking!

Nikon D300
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 400
1/800sec @ f/4
monopod

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on March 15, 2012 at 6:02 PM

Nice image, Marlise! Awesome detail in the fur, and I really like the look in his eyes. Really cute expression!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by wade pettitt on March 15, 2012 at 6:32 PM

Marlise, great job on the exposure. I love the eye contact and you have done well in making this look like a n image taken in the wild.

Registered on May 6, 2009, 184 Posts, 471 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on March 15, 2012 at 7:58 PM

Very nicely cpatured, Marlise. I think you did very well in keeping a viewer from realizing the fox is in an enclosure. Really great detail in the fur and eyes. My only wish would be for a little bit of detail on the nose. But that may be because it is just out of focus. A very charming animal well presented.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on March 16, 2012 at 11:05 AM

What a lovely portrait Marlise! Thouse big brown eyes are adorable and stand oit so well from that bright white fur. The fact that the BG is dark helps a lot too to create contrast with the fox. DOF was a bit off a trade-off, but your dad was absolutely right that getting the BG enclosure as much OOF as possible was more important than DOF on the fox. The only thing I suggest you to do is to recover some more detail in that very dark nose, which now looks a bit like a featureless black patch.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Marlise Launstein on March 16, 2012 at 4:12 PM

Thanks for your comments and suggestions! My dad quickly did some selective adjustments and we have to agree this was a really big improvement! Thanks again! (and my dad says, "oops! sorry for missing that!")

Registered on August 31, 2011, 28 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Basri Akcasoy on March 16, 2012 at 7:06 PM

Model is very cute, nice shot and good example for white. TFS.

Registered on February 16, 2012, 118 Posts, 767 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Whippey on March 16, 2012 at 7:20 PM

Very nice. You did well to expose correctly and the DOF is spot on. Very nice photo of a beautiful subject.

Registered on September 16, 2011, 16 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on March 16, 2012 at 8:27 PM

Great timing on this, Marlise. Those eyes and the expression really make this shot special. I wouldn't worry about lack of focus on the rest at such close range considering the aperture - the eyes have it. Nice work!

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Marlise Launstein on March 20, 2012 at 1:51 PM

Thank you all for your nice comments! I was so excited to see these arctic foxes! And it pretty cool for this guy to pose for me like this...I only had a second to get this picture before he turned away so I'm glad it worked out!

Registered on August 31, 2011, 28 Posts, 175 Comments