The photograph of the month for July 2021 comes from my last expedition to photograph Arctic Fox in February of 2020 (Read the Trip Report). This was a fabulous expedition and with the benefit of hindsight probably one of the best Arctic Fox photographic experiences I have ever been fortunate to have and share. It was the combination of co-operative wildlife and the sheer drama of the wild winter weather day-after-day that provided such wonderful and ongoing photographic opportunities.
This particular photograph works for me on multiple levels. The wonderful contrast of the snow sticking to the foxes fur and face (one of the reasons I actually prefer to photograph the blue morph fox in lieu of the generally more sought after white morph). The clean white snow background with the gentle shadow on the snow and the overall shape and gesture of the foxes position. With the foxes tail tucked up there is a very pleasing geometric shape to the fox. Finally, the direct eye connection with the fox adds the much needed viewer connection. Because the shadow under the fox does not extend all the way to the frames edges I was able to tilt the camera slightly and add just a little bit of tension to the frame by offsetting what the eye would otherwise expect to be a perfectly level horizontal line.
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