Arctic Fox

[Steve Kaluski]

On the second morning we pulled up off shore as there was an amazing colony of sea birds nesting there. Having taken the zodiac to shore we held fire on moving in, as we spotted a single solitary polar bear scouting the ridge looking for eggs of the nesting birds, plus the guide wanted to check further into the canyon for any additional bears. After around 20 mins the bear headed off and the guide signalled that all was well, so we headed towards the canyon and then into it, with flanking cliffs around 300ft high. As we moved in you could hear the sea birds calling as the 'path' began to get narrower, then suddenly this Arctic Fox darted over the shale, glancing down at us. As we walked about 500m in we came to the end with the sea birds circling above, nesting on the cliff face wherever they could and the smell of pilling guano certainly cleared the nostrils.

Not straying off the path and walking into one unpleasant stuff, keeping quiet and low, the Arctic fox became braver and continued the search for injured birds or eggs, stopping and darting, but always giving that glance down to us. As time progressed it began to stop on the shale and groom, but still with a healthy distance between us. Some may have issues with the OOF FG to the right, but with limited access and lens I could not avoid it.

Thanks to those who posted or viewed on the last posting.

Steve

Subject: Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus)
Location: Svalbard
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM HH
Exposure: 1/800s at f/5.6 ISO500
Original format: Landscape, very slight crop all round
Processed via: LRC 9.4 & PS2020

[John Mack]

The setting is very neat and different. Don't think i have seen a fox in a rocky setting like this before. The Foreground is not ideal but you already addresses that. Really like how the fox matches the tones and colors of the rocks. ISO 500 is that a typo?

[Bretoteanu Dan]

Nice image Steve, I like the way you have placed the fox on an ascending diagonal. The color of its fur mimics the BG so well, especially the dark and light grey tones. And the focused stare and the catchlight in the eyes. How did you exposed? Dark subject fairly small in the frame, dark BG so the camera would tend to overexpose so you should underexpose to get a good exposure? Or given ETTR, use a gentle exposure compensation and overexpose just a little, with a few highlights? I cant stop asking such questions, I feel I can learn a lot from such practical examples.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi John, no ISO500 is correct, why do you think it’s a typo?

[Steve Kaluski]

Dan, keep firing away, you have a healthy appetite a dit’s a great way to learn.

I always shoot Auto ISO, manual mode, using the Histogram to maximise data capture. I think this was -0.67 EV knowing I had one blown HL’s and what I may need to at PP stage. Sometimes I will shoot more to creating a file more geared for PP, but that is rare. Hope this helps, anything more? How is your bedtime reading coming along?

[Bretoteanu Dan]

I thought one was suppose to read a fairytale before bedtime, not a horror story...well, reading and trying to understand.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like it simple as that the colours and tones are really well shown and that is precisely why the foox is the colour it is. The bit on the right is not ideal but if you trim a little off the base up to say your copyright it becomes a little less intrusive, perhaps there is a little more head room to compensate - maybe not.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Steve -- Technically this is a fine image, especially the exposure. settings are not so ideal IMO , especially the FG as it is a bit dominating. The subject is getting completely mixed in the environment colours and that is fine and part of nature but is not helping the image much.

Your fantastic P Pskills and field work always makes something out of any situation .

TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Haseeb, thanks for commenting and continued support.

Based on your comments, what would you do differently?

[haseeb badar]

I would have tried to get a tighter frame.

[Steve Kaluski]

I would have tried to get a tighter frame.

OK Haseeb, so lets add some more info and try to expand this...

- The landing required to travel light and my take was that the 1DX MK2 having a smaller sensor would be better in low light than the 5DMK4, albeit you have the option for cropping with the 5D body.
- Hauling longer, heavier lens wasn't ideal and HH for longer periods is not much fun, unless you have Mirrorless
- I took both 100-400MKII & the 24-70f/2.8MKII lenses
- The Arctic fox was not a species we expected to find, it was going to be birds nesting, albeit the fox stole the show.
- The shot is at 400mm, now I could have popped a 1.4 on, but aperture would have gone up, SS down, ISO up
- This was the closest we could go on foot, leaving enough of a comfort zone that the fox was relaxed with
- I could crop more, but I try to avoid this, plus I felt having more of the 'habitat in' would offer more of an interesting POV, so often we frae a bit too tight.

[haseeb badar]

I agree , the situation was not ideal to approach close and carry a big tele, and also you were looking for nesting birds , so you were not expecting to find something like this or were not prepared for photographing the same , so naturally you were limited in your choices with the fox.

You could have attempted to go closer once you had these intial shots in the bag.

[Steve Kaluski]

That would mean Haseeb, encroaching within the comfort zone, disrespectful to the subject and ultimately, getting further shots.

[haseeb badar]

I am not saying to disturb the subject , just try and see if it allows further approach.