When a Red Fox almost reaches full growth, they put the meaning of red into the name Red Fox. Their fur is still short, but will soon start a growth spurt for the upcoming winter. The overcast light here helps with saturation much as it does with flowers or autumn colors.

My studies with shadows in landscape and macro photography,  were expanded long ago to include wildlife. It is immensely important where those shadows fall on animals. A provocative pose and some well placed shadows can make an ordinary image, of an ordinary (Mourning Dove) subject, special.

Sometimes photography is about finding the beauty in what many consider ugly. Such as with the Common Snapping Turtle.

I have made many close-up portraits of Snapping Turtles. Most of those images provide a clean, compelling look into the eyes of this species. That’s good, but at some point you hope for something different in the next portrait you get. A little habitat, in the form of some grasses and small flowers, was just what the doctor ordered. I backed off just a bit from my usual portraits, but used a 300mm lens in an effort to sandwich that flora around the subject.

Turtles are my friends and usually a day with a turtle in it, was one I considered a success.

“You can’t see me” One of my favorite “plain” birds, the American Bittern, pretending it is invisible.

Sometimes when you travel to great landscape destinations, and you get home again, it can seem like the landscape possibilities are nonexistent. The truth is that every place is beautiful at the right time. With this image I waited for a day with bright light instead of the moody, low light conditions that I often look for. That bright, vivid light allowed those warm yellows, cool blues, and in-between greens to contrast with each other, leaving us with a picture that is alive with snap.

The sky was blue but a little plain-looking so I created a composition that featured the flowers, grasses and water, and I used a sliver of sky as a finishing point. Notice that I ignored the rule (tool) of thirds.

The picture was made at the near-by Bong State Park.

Repeating patterns. There is nothing like a quiet sunrise with the repeating patterns of some pretty clouds. Throw in a calm lake and walla. Days like this usually turn out very well.

I often instinctively use the 50/50 split of a perfect mirror image with pictures like this. I did make some of those images but in this case I preferred the “tool of thirds” division. I like the way the water darkened towards the shoreline and we get some relief from the patterns.

Have a great day,                                                                                                                           Wayne