I took this in the early Spring of 2018. I had just got my camera and thought I was going to become a famous wildlife photographer! (I’m a dreamer if you haven’t already figured that out!) But nevertheless I was thrilled to capture one of the foxes that I had been able to observe at this city park I used to live near. We got to see a whole family, mom, dad, and kits. They were so amazing to watch. But for me it’s even more thrilling to be watched by a wild animal. There’s a quite peace about it. I feel like some connection is being made. Like we are communicating with each other without words and it is the most comforting, being at home kind of feeling there is.
Specific Feedback Requested
300 mm (450 equivalent), f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 3200
So I gave it a slight crop to get rid of some distracting foreground trees on the right and left. I also adjusted the exposure up a bit. And sharpened, hope I didn’t too much. I also adjusted the colors, for some reason it seemed like there was a green hue in the fox’s fur so I brought down the green saturation and put up the red and orange just a little until it looked natural. Anyway does it look ok? Also a question, I know this isn’t a great landscape but do you think an animal could be in a ‘landscape photography’ photo? Anything else. And just a huge thank you for looking at my and everyone else’s photos! I’m learning so much from reading your comments and thoughts and feedback! It’s great. I really love the work on your website too.
Oh what a cute peek-a-boo moment! I haven’t encountered foxes in the wild much so I’m envious. I’d like it to be closer and with less clutter, as you do also probably, but it’s a funny shot as is.
Thanks @Kris_Smith ! Yeah I wish I had a 1000mm lens! But it always amazes me how far away an animal can be and still make eye contact! We watched each other for quite awhile!
Thanks Vanessa for this image. First of all, it sounds like you have had a wonderful time watching this family and the raising of the cubs. Spending time in nature and being fascinated, excited, energised, emotionally enlightened and just down right happy is a fundamental part of a good life and positive mental health. So, congratulations on that.
There is also this complete misconception that every photograph of nature needs to be perfect, frame-filling, uncluttered, cloned and manipulated. I have yet to find any book ever that said this is what represents a photograph.
What you are presenting is a very real, very personal and a very true interaction with one of your furry friends. I think you’ve captured the wariness of the fox well and at the same time there is a curious inquisitiveness about it too.
No technical feedback really, it all looks fine to me.
Congratulations on this encounter and I wish you many more happy years in nature.
Thank you, so much, Alister, for your kind words. I wasn’t sure about submitting it as most of the images were more about landscapes I love being outside, wish it were all the time! I think that’s really where we all belong!
Again thanks for taking the time to look and make such meaningful, impactful comments on everyone’s submissions.
I wish you all the best.
In my mind this doesn’t really come across as a landscape image, nor does it come across as a wildlife image.
To me, a landscape image is meant to show the most interesting or prominent parts of an environment and the environment is the subject that you want the viewer to see.
A wildlife image in my opinion is meant to show the animal as the main subject.
A landscape image with an animal in it is still a landscape image if the image is of an environment that typically has wildlife it it, I hope that makes sense.
No matter what category you put this image in, it tells a story on it’s own, and the story is that you and the fox have a connection but at a cautious level.
The fox is curious and so are you but neither you or the fox know each other well enough at this point to not have the rocks, trees and tree limbs between you for protection.
The fact that you made color corrections and exposure corrections (as apposed to enhancements) tells me that you want the viewer to see what you saw in real life as close as possible.
This is a powerful image in my opinion because I can literally imagine myself being in this scene having the same feeling of connection as you must have felt.
