There is nothing I enjoy watching more than red fox mousing in Yellowstone National Park during the winter.. Captured this high flying fox on one of my tours this winter. Crusted deep snow made it difficult for the foxes to get down the the grasses below where the mice and voles lived. To get down to the prey they have to leap as high a possible! This fox was quite a way off the road so I used quite a bit of focal length to capture this image. Fortunately atmospheric conditions were good this morning.
Camera Model: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Copyright: D. Robert Franz
Shutter speed: 1/1250 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1 2/3
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 640
Lens: EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM +1.4x
Last edited by D. Robert Franz; 03-28-2017 at 04:12 PM.
A wonderful image, Robert and I can see why you enjoy watching them so much - it is the sort of moment I would happily spend hours watching and waiting. I like the way the red of the fox stands out so well against the pale mottled background.
I want to being the fox down in the frame (and/or give it a border) but it is a great shot despite that.
Dale this is something I've only see on TV very aware of the behaviour and hunting style with your foxes,but unsure, ironically, if ours ever exploit a similar technique. ( when we have snow that is)
Dale it's an amazing capture I could also wait for ages just to see this,let alone try to capture it. I wish there was just a bit more detail in the snow it's sort of tricky working out where land is. the small clump of grass is a real asset there. Dale it is conceivable there there is more detail than I can actually see. none of this really detracts from this great capture of a wonderful behaviour,cheers for sharing ,very cool to view
Hi Dale - He sure is high flying and your timing was great. I love the placement in the frame and am ok with the minimal detail in the snow. Looking forward to seeing more from this past winter in YNP.
I really like the amount of space in this frame, it has little or no distractions. Beautiful in its simplicity, the minimal composition here allows the viewer to focus on the subject alone, even though it is so small in the frame. The fox's size as well as vibrant colours make it stand out and give a sense of scale.
Superb timing, just shows how well you know your subject, Dale! Thank you so much for sharing, I truly enjoyed viewing
Personally I would have gone straight to the native 800 for a fraction more SS, but even tighter just to ensure the capture is nailed. The red coat really does make for a great contrast against the white backdrop of the snow.