Hi

Not far from my home in NW England there is a small area of pine forest on the coast at Formby Point, that holds a remnant population of red squirrel. This is a species that has declined significantly in the England since the import of the grey squirrel and now just holds on in a few isloated pockets. Before I had even managed to photograph any squirrels, a female red fox came wandering through. The squirrels were quickly forgotten !! A local family of foxes have got accustomed to the visitors and frequently appear on the search of some free food and so it offers a good opportunity to photograph them and with the bonus of it being daylight!!!!

The vixen stayed for a while as she slowly wandered down through the woodland before falling asleep on a grass bank in the sun. Here is a small selection of shots.

Fine images, Rich. What a super opportunity! The eyes are very striking and capture your gaze immediately. Thanks for sharing these.

Very nice! You were certainly in the right place at the right time. Great light, detail and color. Steve W

Rich,
Outstanding fox photos! The squirrels were easily forgotten and I can see why. The squirrels probably just stayed out of sight till the fox was gone! Hope we get to see your red squirrels also!
Thanks for sharing!

Kim

Wow, she's a fox! , nobody uses that term anymore. What outstanding photography. The lighting is surreal. Nice how she stopped in your outdoor studio like that. Excellent job with an animal you don't see in the wild often. The image quality and bokeh are fabulous.

Awesome images... #1 is amazing!

Thanks for the replies. I never did get round to photographing the squirrels as I decided to head off and see if I could find any barn owls in the last light of the day. I didn't find any barn owls but did come across a short-eared owl.

Cheers

Rich

These are excellent Rich - you've captured such great detail. Great camera work
David

brilliant,worthy of any publication

#1 is excellent, what a fine series! Beautiful colors and light...sweet!

Very nice series

What a pleasure to look at. You really made good use of the light, background and surroundings in these. Outstanding work with a fine opportunity. It's too hard to pick a favorite here.

Jason

amazing light. it almost looks like you had the fox pose in a studio. simply superb! love the colors and dof too.

- hung

Hi Rich,
Nice set of photos. I was there later in the day than you with two other photographers, when the fox turned up as if by magic hoards of people surrounded us totally entranced at the thought of seeing a wild fox. It is magical to be in its company and after the crowds left we were left alone in the fading light with the fox. At iso 800 I was down to about 1/50 @ f4.
Always good to see your work.
Regards.

Alex.

Excellent job, Rich. These are really beautiful images. A [leasure to view. #5 and 6 are my favorites, but I enjoyed them all.
Thanks for sharing,
Socrate

Wonderful shots, Rich. The detail and lighting is amazing. There is something I really like about #2. Almost looks like a fire in the BG. She's gorgeous and you did a great job of capturing her.

Incredible shots, phantastic lighting!

RT.

Thanks for your comments.

Cheers

Rich

Great shots!

J

Very nice series. Typical "cunning" fox eyes in all shots except #2 - there she looks frightened a little.

Great shots. Is that a Hearing Aid or a Tick in the last shot.

Amazing color saturation and clarity on top of the obvious excellence of composition. A double take string.

Did anyone else notice the tick in the foxes ear on the last photo?

Travis

Richard these are all very nice.

Beautiful images of a beautiful creature, well done and thanks for sharing this great opportunity