The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Bat-Eared Fox, South Africa
These large, chunky foxes often hang out amidst herds of zebras and antelopes, who stir up the insects the foxes eat. Their huge ears, that can rotate independently, make it possible to hear burrowing insects underground. Unlike most canids, their diet is primarily termites and other insects.
A large crop
Specific Feedback
comments and suggestions welcome
Technical Details
Sony A1
200-600 @ 600
Software: Adobe Photoshop 25.12 + DxO Pure Raw 5
Exposure Time: 1/2500 sec
F Number: f/8
ISO Speed Ratings: ISO 1600
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Ears! (LOL)! What a neat looking animal. The DOF is perfect for this comp. Have you tried going with a vertical crop for a portrait style view? I think that would look impressive as well. Well done…Jim
Gorgeous work Sandy! I’ve never seen one of these little fellas before. He/She is pretty cool. Absolutely no nits here. The soft background and tiny details are just perfect and that gaze. Wow.
Hi Sandy, your excellent photograph makes me smile. It also reminds me of the antelope jackrabbit, which hangs out here in the Sonora Desert. According to the biologists at our local experimental station, the purpose of his ears is to act as a heat radiator, thus helping him stay cool during our toasty summer weather.
Wow what a pose! That head on expression is priceless. I like the composition but could also see a loose vertical one working as well. Nice capture and very well photographed.
Hi Sandy, firstly, many congratulations on the EP. I love bat-eared foxes and this photo is so perfectly soft given the low angle. Once I was photographing an entire family of them for hours. That was in Samburu (Kenya). Other cars stopped to ask me what I was seeing, and when I enthusiastically whispered “bat-eared foxes!”, they all carried on, not realizing what a rare opportunity that was. So welll done, Sandy, to have appreciated them enough to stop for them
Fantastic portrait of an awesome species. I think the OOF foreground and background complement this subject so well.
Regarding the comp, I think there are a few different options which could improve it. The fox is sort of in No Man’s Land. A bit too much space on the left, but not actually centered. I think centering it would work fine since it’s a front-facing pose and the ears + head V shape dominates our attention. I could also see veritcal working, as others have stated. If you want to keep it sort of in the left third, as it’s leaning toward here, I could see a slightly tighter crop from the left, bottom AND top. That would still leave plenty of clean light grass to its right, it would lose the blues seeping in from the top, and you could drop it down in the frame to give the image a more solid base.
