wolverine (C)

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 19, 2012286 views5 comments

Several years ago I had the opportunity to photograph captive wolverines, while at a private facility. There were about 15 living all together in a very large outdoor enclosure. I had treated my boots with mink oil, which the wolverines found very attractive. In fact it made getting good photos some what difficult as there was always one or two around my feet smelling my boots!

Canon Rebel
Fujichrome film
from scan

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on October 20, 2012 at 11:25 AM

I have a good friend that has a large collection of wild animals. She frequently invites me over to photograph them. I find it almost to be more difficult to get them into a satisfactory pose, or into a setting that looks natural. I would like to spend time with a Wolverine though. This shot could be sharper, and too bad you cut off the top. Sometimes though, a shot like this is just a good reminder of how much fun it was to be there even though it might not be technically perfect.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 20, 2012 at 10:18 PM

Yikes, did you say wolverines smelling your boots while your were in them - sounds scary to me. I really like the facial expression, simple strong composition and that dark green background accents the fur beautifully. As mentioned, pity that the back is clipped.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on October 21, 2012 at 1:47 AM

John - what a beautiful portrait of one of my favourite North American mammals. And holy smokes what a good-looking wolverine! While it is unfortunate you clipped his back, the eye expression and the claws add a LOT. If it were a sharper scan I would suggest cropping in MORE to focus on his face and paw/arm I think...might make for a very strong image that way. I'm also wondering if you might be able to rescan it and open the shadows up a bit more. Always tough to hold good dynamic range in this process (especially if said Fujichrome was Velvia!).

Thanks for sharing this one...he's a beautiful animal.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on October 21, 2012 at 11:27 AM

Hey John,

Right now my number one "wildlife goal" is doing some quality shooting with a wolverine in a natural setting...definitely one of my favourite animals. I agree with the previous comments, especially John Launstein's comment about considering cropping this one tighter (assuming this isn't already a crop).

Thanks for sharing this shot of a fascinating and amazing animal...

Brad

PS: This may not be the best place to mention this, but if anyone is interested in some of the latest information on wolverines, I'd recommend Doug Chadwick's book entitled "The Wolverine Way" - it's a good read.

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on October 27, 2012 at 2:49 PM

What a beautiful animal John. Great detail in the fur. Tough to get the whole animal in one shot with others checking you out.

Nice.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments