Hi again, fellow NPN wildlife 'togs! I've been away on an awesome trip to the west coast with Jenaya and Josiah photographing owls and waterfowl, followed by a longer-than-hoped-for battle with a wicked late-winter cold. My Alberta-battered body must not handle such cozy temperate environments very well. ;)
I actually posted this earlier in the Man and Nature gallery because it kind of screams that concept to me, but wanted to share it here as well.
My family and I spotted this handsome red fox using a cabin in Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta) for shelter from the prevalent winter winds. I was attracted to the rich colours of the logs and the character in the non-typical background, and didn't mind the intruding pine branch even though I couldn't pull off sufficient DOF to render it sharply (I tried) so opted to go the other route and shoot wide open for better separation from the cabin.
As an aside, this particular composition was a challenge to achieve! I started with the 500mm on my full-frame body, but it was a bit tighter than I wanted, so I swapped it for the 300mm, which left too much open area on the sides of the cabin, so eventually found the winning combo (for my taste) by putting the 300mm on my crop-sensor body (resulting in 450mm equivalent). The joys of fixed focal length lenses and a decision not to risk disturbing the fox by getting out to "zoom with my feet!"
To say that this guy (yes, it is a male) had settled in for a long winter's nap is an understatement. While we watched and photographed, it started to snow. Then it started to REALLY snow, and before long it was coming down big time. The fox never so much as stirred during our entire photo session, and we left it to its peaceful slumber some time later. (If you're interested in a mid-snowstorm frame, I posted one in the Weekly Challenge recently
here.
I welcome your comments and suggestions as always...please take a moment to view the LARGER version if you have time.
Thanks...
Nikon D7100
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR
ISO 400
1/250sec @ f/2.8
resting on open truck window
full-frame except for minor loss in corners to correct 2% rotation
Comments
2 commentsI'm in agreement with Jerry that this one has that "Christmas card" look to it - and I mean that in the positive sense. I like ALMOST everything about this shot - placement of the fox in the frame, the complementary colours, the amount of snow you included, etc. I have to say I LIKE the inclusion of the pine branch, but its out-of-focus nature is problematic for me in this instance. I fully understand your choice of aperture here, but if I ever saw an instance where focus-stacking would have been justifiable and worthwhile I think it's here. By this I mean the ONLY reason the branch is OOF is due to optical "limitations" imposed on the photographic - meaning that to the eye I'm sure everything in this frame would have been tack sharp (thus justifying the photo manipulation needed to accomplish focus stacking). And...I think a well-done focus stack here would have taken away anyone's final nit with the shot (including those of anal Wildlife Gallery moderators!!
Nicely seen...and nicely captured...
Cheers...
Brad