Making Friends (step 1)

[MonikaC]

May is the time for fox kits. I haven't seen the kits yet, but I've seen mama 3x now. The other times I was on my way to work & didn't have my camera in the car, so I just stopped & watched her. The 1st time, she just hurried on, then 2nd time she stopped & watched me before continuing on her way. This time, I was on my way home & had been carrying my camera in the car for a few days. It was almost dark when I stopped & quickly lost what little light I had. Fortunately, she was curious & approached the car (fortunately, my dog stayed quiet as I fumbled to get my camera out of the case in the back seat, which seemed to take forever). Eventually, I got out to try to take more pictures. She was equally curious & spooked. I was really impressed at my camera's ability to track her in the darkness & come away with a decent shot. Hopefully more to come! This is a crop. Color & B&W versions. C&C welcome, as always.

 

[AlanLichty]

I love the color shot - definitely looks like she is curious about you.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I also love the color shot and the great focus and sharpness you have on the face. I might run some noise reduction on the background.

 

[MonikaC]

I also love the color shot and the great focus and sharpness you have on the face. I might run some noise reduction on the background.

I actually did NR 1st, but the app that has the stronger/night scene option always crashes PS, so I didn't use it on this one...... I can do another pass with a different NR app & see if it's better. It was pretty much black out by the time I got this shot. I did 2 more passes of NR here, selected for color on the last one.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

This is such a sweet image, Monika. Topaz noise reduction AI should take care of the noise. I have also found that the noise reduction in Lightroom does a good job. Nonetheless, this image is so good that "who cares about the noise."

 

[Ben Egbert]

That second color image is great with the additional NR.

 

[MonikaC]

This is such a sweet image, Monika. Topaz noise reduction AI should take care of the noise. I have also found that the noise reduction in Lightroom does a good job. Nonetheless, this is mage is so good that "who cares abut the noise."

I used Topaz NR AI for my 1st pass at NR, then went back with Define2, manually selecting areas, then color for the next 2 passes.

 

[JimFox]

Very cool Monika! I might need to come visit you next month.

I like the color version the best. And the eye contact is perfect!

 

[Beth]

beautiful! love the light reflecting in her eye.