Red Fox Portrait

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 12, 2014739 views10 comments

Hi everyone! Here's an image I took this past winter, in Waterton of course. This guy was bedded down in the snow napping, and would sometimes take a quick glance back at us to see what we were doing (picture to come). After getting lots of pictures of him bedded down, he decided his nap was over, and got up. He gave me a quick pose before he left. I'm glad I came back with this image. I think it would make a nice set with the other two fox portraits I posted a while ago.

Thanks for lookin'!

Nikon D7100
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4 IF-ED lens
ISO 640
1/800sec @ f/5

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on September 13, 2014 at 1:23 AM

Always nice to see foxes in winter. This is a nice pose with some gorgeous color. The eyes do seem a tad soft... I wonder if more depth of field would have helped? I know for me, I still forget to narrow the aperture for these close portraits half the time. It really helps when trying to get more of the face sharp. With a moving subject it's too easy for the AF to catch the nose or the back of the head, and suddenly the most important part of the face isn't as crisp as you'd like.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on September 13, 2014 at 11:50 AM

Hi,

I would work on some sharpening on the eyes and try to pull up more detail on the nose too. The nose is very dark and the nostrils are almost the same tone as the rest of the nose. The pose is very cool

...................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on September 13, 2014 at 1:28 PM

Very nice portrait, Jenaya. Although it seems a little soft, it's not apparent in the larger image. I particularly like the pose.

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

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 13, 2014 at 9:26 PM

This is a truly beautiful portrait, Jenaya. Congrats on capturing it! Only tweak I can see, and it is a slight one, but something that I think would make it stronger, is to do a slight selective adjustment on just the orbs of the eyes. I would try making brighter, then equally adding contrast (which would take away the unnaturally bright look) then a wee bit of added sharpening to make the highlights sparkle.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on September 13, 2014 at 11:27 PM

Looking at the larger version again (this time on tablet), and it actually does look pretty sharp. Still, watch that f/stop. ;)

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on September 14, 2014 at 11:57 AM

You've captured the beauty and lushness of the fox in its full winter coat. The clean, uncluttered background as well as the eye contact are exceptional. My only minor suggestions would be to bring up the eyes and nose a bit as has been mentioned. I don't know who coined the phrase "less is more" but this is a great example of it. Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on September 15, 2014 at 1:34 AM

I agree with the comments about selectively sharpening the eyes. Once you do that, this will become a great Christmas card!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on September 15, 2014 at 3:46 PM

Love the colorful fox posed on the clean background. Agree with Lon's suggestion on some tweaks to the eyes. Nice work.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on September 17, 2014 at 3:51 AM

Very nice winter portrait Jenaya, i really like the eye contact

Very sharp and excellent composition.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Ashleigh Scully on September 18, 2014 at 10:35 PM

WOW, this is amazing. Great color and composition. The fur just looks so soft like you could touch it. Great sharpness in the face and eye contact too.

Registered on November 4, 2013, 36 Posts, 210 Comments