Early morning coyote portrait

Posted by Paul Burwell on Fri Dec 02, 2005 2:38 pm

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This coyote portrait was taken in mid October at Elk Island National Park.

It was about 60 minutes after sunrise and I was driving along the main park road when I spotted a coyote about 500m up the road trotting toward me.

I quickly pulled onto the grassy shoulder, grabbed my camera and tripod and went around to the back of the car to use the vehicle as a visual shield between myself and the coyote. I mounted the camera on the tripod and waited as the coyote approached.

The coyote seemed unbothered at my presence and as you can see it passed quite closely. I wish I might have had a bit of fill flash to deal with the strong side/back lighting but didn't have time to retrieve it and get it mounted.

Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500 F4L IS, 1.4x TC
1/200th of a second at F5.6, +0.33
ISO 400
Black Widow Gimbal Head
Cropped to 85% of full frame

I am a big fan of coyotes and enjoy photographing them. I love their eyes.

Paul Burwell
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by chris earle on Fri Dec 02, 2005 3:23 pm

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Nice job getting set up so quickly to make this great image.

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by milosphotos on Fri Dec 02, 2005 6:04 pm

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Fill flash!? And change this awesome lighting situation? Great portrait and I really like the backlit subject and rim lighting. Plenty of detail in the shadows as is.

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by Nicole Brooker on Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:41 pm

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What a great opportunity. I like the side lighting too. Really nice.

Nicole
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by Vincent on Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:29 pm

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Very nice!

I agree with Milo on the flash/light statement.

Congrats. on a fine image.

Vince

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by Tim Grams on Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:53 pm

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Great job on getting set up Paul! The results were very well worth the scamble. I wouldn't change a thing either.

Just curious, where did you crop from?

Tim
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by Paul Burwell on Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:58 pm

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Thank you all for the feedback.

Tim, I cropped some off the left hand side and a bit off the top.

Paul Burwell
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by Peter Eades on Sat Dec 03, 2005 8:36 am

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I really like this one! I agree that the lighting is great as is. You have plenty of shadow detail and the rim lighting really make the image.

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by artsevestre on Sat Dec 03, 2005 2:34 pm

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Since seeing these animals for the first time in Banff National Park this year I'm a fan too

. The way they have proven to be capable to thrive despite, or even because of the human activity shows great intelligence. I like this close portrait and don't really miss the fill flash that much. You do have a catchlight in the eyes and there's plenty of detail in the fur. If I have a nit, it would be that it would have been great if you could have shot this from a lower point of view. The rimlighting is nice!

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by shokri on Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:24 am

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bravo .. , wonderful images captured of view beautiful . focus and DOF is great . this colors are really beautiful exposure and light is amazing thanks for share ................

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by NDCheryl on Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:45 am

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Excellent portrait. I really like the lighting. I do wish for more room on top though as it feels a little crowded to me. Great job making the capture.

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by Carol Clarke on Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:14 am

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Apart from the hot spot on the nose, you handled the lighting well. My only nit is the mid body crop - to me always an awkward composition, but I love the pose and expression you captured here. The quick thinking paid off!!

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