Arctic Fox 2

[Rachel Hollander]

Another image of one of the arctic foxes. This one settled down on a ledge and allowed us to get a bit closer before we headed back to the ship.

Canon 5D3
300 II plus 2x III
1/500
f5.6
ISO 1600
Tripod, cropped to 16:9 to remove a rock on the left, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments and sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, lucky to get one so comfortable and to allow you so close. Normally they keep their distance, scurrying here & there in a trotting motion, scavenging.

Not sure about the format, but if you want to go the 16 x 9 then I would come in on the RHS, just before the dead heather mound. Without seeing the original it's hard to know if a more conventional 3 x 2 might be another alternative? Difficult to tell, but the white really do look white, not blown, so I wonder if a % Luminosity layer may help to bring some tone back in and add a hint more vibrancy to the young heather shoots? I might also lose the small grey stone creeping in in the bottom LHC and run a small % of NR on the BKG, just to soften it, I think it then just emphasises the detail you have in the subject then. I also like the fact in this image the subject is not looking direct to camera.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel,
like the relaxed pose with the head resting on the tail, kind of dreamy looking fox.Good choice for the pano format, well done.

Per my observation i feel , maybe i am wrong, the whites or light grey parts of the fur look kind of muddy in color and has got no visible pixels even at 300% in PS, so question for me is , overexposed in the original and then recovered the highlights ? Or is it just natural ?
There is some blue creeping through the whole , not much but slightly visible , checked with eyedropper ....!But maybe this is their natural coloration under the light situation.
I think all in all , you can go darker in the highlights and the lighter MT.
All my personal thoughts, lets see what others think.

Still a very nice one .

TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, the fox looks nice and comfy in the recees of the foliage, and love the detail in the face. Cool angled pose too. I like your comp as is, and would just smoothen out some of the BG behind the fox. Great sighting.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, Andreas and Stu. The whites in the RAW are not blown, just very white and with little detail probably due to the fur being very fine and fluffy as their new winter coats come in. As you know, in the winter they are all white. I already ran a luminosity mask at 60% to extract whatever detail I have gotten there and would not want to go any darker. I will run some NR on the bg to smooth it out and take a look at the crop again.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel, this little chap looks a bit dreamy, have to agree with that with Andreas. All has been said already above, I like the comp and details

Have a great start into the mid-week, nearly weekend

Ciao
Anette

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Rachel, this is a great subject and you did very well getting closer to get this nice image. Very well done.

[edwardselfe]

Love this - what an interesting expression. I would also try to smooth the background a bit - it takes time but I think it would be worth it for such a nice image.
Ed

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Anette, Sanjeev and Ed- much appreciated.

[Andrew Merwin]

Hi Rachel, This is a delightful image that I throughly enjoyed viewing. I really like the foxes pose & the setting. TFS.

[Markus Jais]

This is very cute - and a fantastic image. I like the crop as presented. Great soft light and colors. Wonderful composition.

Marus

[hennieloots]

Hi Rachel - I enjoyed viewing this image. I like crop and soft light, as well as the relaxed subject. I agree with the comment already stated regarding the background. TFS
Hennie

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks very much Andrew, Markus and Hennie.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Can't add much here, Rachel - other than that I like the POV, soft "glowing" arctic light and the presentation ito crop.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel

[Steve Canuel]

Cute little guy. I like the curled up body and the setting.