Is there a God?

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Is there a God?
Photo Information
Copyright: Adrian Hutton (aido) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1103 W: 173 N: 1227] (4038)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-05-14
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Nikon D2X, Sigma EX 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO HSM DG
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/180 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Other, BEST OF: Foxes, Maned wolves, & Jackals 1, Animals of the BWC [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-05-16 6:09
Viewed: 1702
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 80
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Young male Red Fox, taken at the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey. This Fox is the offspring of two Foxes who were taken in as orphaned cubs and hand-reared. Nice to see Mark (MojoUK) again and nice to meet Holly (slrnovice2).

Post Processing:
Crop (about 10%)
Levels
Resize for web
USM 300% 0.2 pixel radius, threshold 0.

1/180 f/6.3 405mm ISO 400 hand-held

These animals have caused quite a furore in England, mostly due to the old tradition of fox hunting. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have an opinion on Fox hunting, it’s a sensitive subject here in England. For the record I don’t agree with it, I think it’s barbaric and has nothing to do with ‘pest control’ as the pro-hunting lobbyists claim.

Another point of discontent is that the Fox is so disliked and killed by Farmers. The farmer’s level of frustration and anger does not come entirely from the fact that Foxes will take Ducks, Geese, Chicken etc as prey, but also from the fact that a Fox will kill Fowl for what seems to be no reason at all, leaving entire carcasses untouched. My friend’s Father used to be a Cattle Farmer, he’s now retired through ill health and keeps all sorts of Ducks. He’s lost a lot of Ducks to foxes, many through what appears to be needless and senseless killing.

Size: Head / body length 62 - 72 cm plus tail 39 - 41 cm. Females are slightly smaller than males.

Weight: male 6.7 kg, female 5.4 kg.

Description: Coat is variable in colour. It is usually reddish, but can be orange or yellow with a dark stripe down the back. The under parts are white, grey or slate in colour. Limbs are commonly black. Tip of the tail ('brush') is usually white.

Habitat: Almost every habitat; sea cliffs, sand dunes, salt marshes, peat bogs, high mountains, woodland and particularly abundant (14%) in urban areas.

Young: 1 litter annually in March; 4 - 5 cubs born underground in an 'earth'. This is either dug by the fox or they may occupy a disused badger sett or enlarge a rabbit burrow Nest Make lairs in a fox's earth, under tree trunks, in hollow trees, in bracken or in a deserted buzzard's nest

Diet: Field voles, birds, rabbits, insects, earthworms, grasshoppers, beetles, blackberries, plums, and carrion. Surplus food is buried.

UK Population: Pre-breeding season estimated to be 258,000.
wallhalla15, loot, thistle, marhowie, scottevers7, ellis49, soccer, timonejoon, slrnovice2, MojoUK, ramthakur, thor68, dew77, microversed, Violetteddy, SkyF, liziafa, jeanpaul, Sylvforest, klemmg, peter_stoeckl, sily, ratdog423, firelord, snowfalken, RAP, Alex99 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To sily: Strange Question :-)aido 1 06-06 18:33
To radz: Hi Rathikaaido 1 05-29 04:17
To mrcrow: The Louvreaido 2 05-26 09:56
To pauljk: D2xaido 1 05-23 04:22
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Adrian, this is a brilliant portrait shot! Pose is excellent, great work. Very good sharpness, details, colours and composition. Great not too! Thanks for sharing.
Gr.
Heinz

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5633 W: 594 N: 3202] (8699)
  • [2006-05-16 6:35]
  • [2]

Hi Adrian
Remarkable posting my friend. This is great nature photography showing a clear eye with excellent emotion/expression.
The slight upward or at least level angle the photo was taken at provides an interesting POV. The details and colours are superb and so is the DOF. The amazing OOF BG totally isolates and enhances the fox while the lighting was masterfully handled.
Great work and TFS.
Regards
Loot

Hi Adrian,

Excellent portrait, WS and... quality!!!
Very good shar, details, colours and composition.
Very well done and great job!

TFS :-)
NOrbert

Hello Adrian,
I like this pose, with lifted gaze..
Perfect POV, light and color, excellent BG..
Nicely framed, and I really like the soft touch in this one...
Very well done.

Hello Adrian,
Lovely shot!
It's very simple (but in a good meaning of this word) and very clear. Love his pose, the way he look up and the softness and delicate colours of whole picture create a great, I would say very calm mood. It's a beautiful picture!
I like it a lot!
VERY WELL DONE!

Hi Adrian,
A superb portrait on this Red Fox. Nice soft light has given beautiful colors and tones in this shot. I really like the pose. He seems very intensely focused on something, and this makes a great pose. Perfect OOF backround of green gives excellent depth to the shot. Here they are not villified as much. They do not adapt as well to the urban landscape as well as coyotes.
Scott

Hi Adrian,
this a very good shot wiht great POV and pose.
The details are good and the shallow DOF helps the fox standout well forom the nice BG.
Ver well done.

Adrian,

A great portrait once again. I like the Composition, POV, BG and detail of the subject. TFS,
Sheriff

Hi Adrian

very nice portrait, it ia like you asking him to make a pose, very intresting information as well. great details and DOF. Sharp with fantastic BG. I imagine a girl posing towards a camera in stedio, lovely.
Well done

TFS
regads
timone

Hi Adrain, excllent details, BG, POV, DOF, perfct pertrait, TFS Kyle

Hi Adrian, This is a lovely portrait with a beautiful dreamy feel to it. I like the almost questioning pose. It has nice detail, colour and a gorgeous OOF background. It was a fun outing, great to meet you and Mark and also to see all the animals too :)

The pic is a master piece.
I'm surprised about the "needless and senseless killing". Stone martens in a closed poultry farm would kill till nothing more moves and then would pick one among the whole bunch of victims. I've personnaly seen foxes always taking one prey at a time, and only in May because they have to feed the cubs then, and would run all risicos.
TFS

Hi Adrian,

A real beauty my friend. I like the upward gaze and the light in the eyes. POV is very nice, great natural colours and the OOF background is perfect. You did a grand job of keeping that lens steady given the focal length and shutter speed and no monopod ;).

See you when you get back.

Regards,

Mark.

(Did I miss you lately, Adrian? Work kept me off the net for a couple of days recently.)
An amazingly beautiful portrait of a red fox. I am bewitched by its eyes looking skyward. Maybe it was focused on something up there.
The POV, DOF, sharpness and colours are just fantastic in this image.

  • Great 
  • thor68 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 718 W: 117 N: 1032] (4567)
  • [2006-05-16 12:36]

beautiful fox portrait, adrian! :-)
so close and clear and sharp -
i can almost imagine to pet him.
wonderful colors on the fox and the bg
and a superb upward look - wonder what he´s
eyeing on?
well seen & done, thor.

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1898 W: 94 N: 2375] (8394)
  • [2006-05-16 13:59]

Hi Adrian,
Excelent portrait. POV, pose and gesture are perfect.
José M.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2006-05-16 15:09]

Hello Adrian!
Excellent capture.I liked POV,expression on face,colors,lighting and composition are wonderful.
TFS...:-)

  • Great 
  • osse Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1033 W: 0 N: 87] (7625)
  • [2006-05-16 15:59]

Hi Adrian
Good shot. Nice colours and sharpnes.
Well done Adrian

osse

Hello Adrian. Excellent capture! The detail, DOF and and composition are superb. TFS
-Derek

Superb shot! Composition and colours are excellent. Perfect OOF of the BG. I love the mood of this image, almost heavenly.
Yukiko

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2447 W: 207 N: 2035] (8113)
  • [2006-05-17 7:18]

Hello Adrian,
wonderful portraiy of this little fox. POV and pose are excellent the look up sure does underline your titel of this portrait. Great colors, DOF and details.
TFS.Sky

  • Great 
  • DOBIS Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 128 W: 19 N: 170] (632)
  • [2006-05-17 13:13]

Hi Adrian,
very nice portrait, we like it!
Fox is nicely marked to the beckground.
regards and TFS
T + M

Hi Adrian,
Very nice shot.
Excellent composition, details, sharp and colors.
Well done!
TFS Malgosia

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1266 W: 103 N: 4311] (19463)
  • [2006-05-17 17:19]

Superb portrait Adrian, sharp, well composed, great background and I like the eyes of the fox. He seems to wait something good to fall from a tree...:-) Good work again, thanks.

Mario

  • Great 
  • zeca Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 371 W: 14 N: 529] (2789)
  • [2006-05-18 0:22]

Wow! Wonderful capture, Adrian! Well done! This is a beautiful animal! Nice colours and sharp details! TFS!
Regards,
Zeca

Salut Adrian
Vraiment superbe! J'adore cette photo de ce renard qui a l'air très attentif a ce qui se passe. La composition, la pose, l'éclairage, la netteté... tout est parfait.
Merci de partager et au revoir....JP

Hi Adrian,
Very nice capture. Great composition and exposure with nice natural colour. How are you finding the D2X?
Cheers
Paul

  • Great 
  • klemmg Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 302 W: 40 N: 484] (1719)
  • [2006-05-25 17:31]

Perfect portrait, though the very "clean" photo together with the statue-like pose gives it a static almost "stuffed" impression. This is lightened by the beautifully liquid eye. Colours are wonderful, the reddish far infront of the nicely blurred intensively green BG works great.
Good one!
Gabi

Adrian, I like this one better out of the two you have presented so far. This one has a 'portrait' quality. Very engaging.
Cheers,
Enrique

cool title
yes there is but he's not in the sky...:)
or under the pyramid at the louvre
like this very unusual pose ...gives the eyes prominence and the jaw line is strong...
your note is very useful as well
god bless...;)
geof

  • Great 
  • radz Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 609 W: 11 N: 598] (3157)
  • [2006-05-28 23:40]
  • [+]

What a expressiong,like human!Nice framing!

the pictures is perfect;-)

This photo deserves the accolades it recieved. Every one and more...

It is a beautifull pose and exceptional details. The soft focus effect adds to the "serenity" of the capture and I think the title just adds the cherry one the cake.

MASTERPIECE!

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 643 W: 32 N: 790] (3052)
  • [2006-06-05 18:16]

Hi Adrian, this is a beautiful portrait. The lighting, colours and detail are so clear and sharp. Wonderful expression on his face, very well captured and TFS. Definitely one for the favourites.
Dean.

  • Great 
  • sily Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 265 W: 6 N: 390] (1857)
  • [2006-06-06 18:09]
  • [+]

Hi Adrian!
Strange question, but beautiful portrait I love this guy, he looks so confident and full of self, and what else to say? You make us hard to flatter you by posting only the best photos, next time I promise i'll just say it's tooooo perfect! :))

Hi Adrian,

This photo is beautiful! I love his pose and the detail! The colors are great, and I love the way his eyes are looking up. :)

Hi Adrian,

I'm glad to admire another beautiful photo of yours. The background is as good as it can be, thanks to the long focal length and pretty wide apperture. The fox on the other hand is amazingly sharp for the selected shutter speed (should be 1/500 or faster considering you took a hand-held shot at 405 mm -with great results) with crisp clear details. The picture is beautifully framed and has a simple and very expressive composition. The light is nicely warm and makes the colors look natural. Exposure is also great so that the details are clearly visible in both highlights and shadows. I've also found the note useful, especially because a couple of months ago I had a discution about foxes with a friend from London. Overall, a great post. Some TN members shoud take example. Thank you very much!

Regards,
Eddie

  • Great 
  • RAP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373] (7405)
  • [2006-08-13 7:13]

Otro retrato con una composición artística Adrian.
La mirada perdida, un excelente POV y elección del recorte de la imagen, conforman una maravillosa entrega.
Felicitaciones y gracias... Ricardo

Another portrait with an artistic composition Adrián.
The lost glance, an excellent POV and election of the cutting of the image, they conform a wonderful post.
Congratulations and thank you... Ricardo

... tomorrow

hello Adrian

good portrait, nice composition and point of view, natural colours

congratulations

jjo

Hi Adrian !
I have looked through your gallery, this is one of my favourite picture, I love the attitude of the fox. He is looking to the sky and the title is very well-suited. The colors are wonderful, as well as the blurred BG which makes the fow stand out so nicely. A real masterpiece ! :-))
Valérie.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2935 W: 142 N: 4217] (13775)
  • [2007-08-15 0:30]

Hi, dear Adrian.
You managed to catch a very nice moment. Glance of the cute fox is simply amazing. Reflection the character of the animal. I think> one of the most interesting and difficult pursuit. You had done it perfectly. I am impressed with cropping and composition too also as well the nice colours and details (I like fox's costume very much). Bravo and my best wishes.
Alexei.

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