Arctic Fox 2

[Steve Kaluski]

Just another from the series, but slightly closer.

Steve
Subject: Head shot of Arctic fox in snow (M) (Alopex lagopus)
Location: Finland
Camera: Canon MKIV
Lens: 70-200f/2.8 - HH
Exposure: 1/125s at f/5.6 ISO1000 +1 stop compensation
Crop: Slight crop (original capture vertical)

One small branch removed in the corner

[Rachel Hollander]

Steve - very sweet looking and the softness of the fur really comes through. Exp looks great and so does the separation from the snow and bg.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andrew Merwin]

Petty little thing — reminds me of a Samoyed. The BG does wonders to set off the image of the fox. Well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks guys.

Rachel to be honest it was more on dealing with the conditions and how the kit stood up, plus the light was the biggest factor, then the cold. Overall it was fun, plus good to the other stuff too. :bg3:

Good call Andrew, BTW how are you doing with the gear, has it made any difference, drop me a PM when you have a minute.

cheers
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely expression, exposure and details here Steve.
I am still anticipating the thought of my first snow-photography experience...and these images do me no good in that sense :w3
I wonder how a slight selective darkening of the BG will add some more "pop"?

[Brendon Cremer]

Lovely image well exposed and very well captured with good detail

[Steve Canuel]

Nice one Steve. Gives the impression of quiet cold. Fox appears to have cataract or possibly a healed, previously injured left eye?

[v.p.nurdeen]

Hi Steve,
The image so sweet and cuddle :S3:
VPN

[Marc Mol]

Excellent detail in the fur Steve, nicely done.
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks everyone.

Steve is it the left eye as viewed, if so, it's the white of the eye, here is an enlargement, sadly the light/ISO is not ideal, but hey :S3:

Thanks Marc, like you have been doing, it's good to test the boundaries occasionally. :w3

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the reply. I was referring to the fox's left. Looking at the enlargement, it appears it's just light related. In the OP, it looked similar to the injured eye of a buck I captured during this past year's rut. Love the beauty mark on this one's lip.

[Paul Taylor]

Beautiful job with the exposure and background/OOF areas and that beauty spot (don't tell us if it's a parasite!) increases the fluff-ball sweetness factor. Lovely portrait, and a pity about the eye.

I wonder if it would work a bit "artier" and softer? For me the sharp hairs jar a tiny bit because it is so soft otherwise, but maybe that is just a matter of taste.

[Harshad Barve]

If mine I may go for more tight image
TFS

PS , forgot to mention , this is an excellent capture