Chasing foxes in the morning

It’s been a while since I woke up at the crack of dawn. And even longer since I’ve managed to drag myself outdoors for a morning walk. But I did, this morning, camera in hand, and boy, was it worth it. It was a misty, cold morning, with few people around, and dewdrops on pretty much everything. I’m sure there are brilliant shots to be taken of dewdrops in the morning, but mine weren't anything to write home about...or blog about. Maybe with a better camera...an interesting observation, though – trying to capture the droplets at close range didn’t work as well as zooming in on them from further away. All about perspective, I suppose.

A few steps further on, I came across the horses that inhabit a fenced-off field beyond our place. As I fed one of them some grass (and tried to take a picture), something quick and red trotted quietly across the path. The fox!!

Now, about this fox. According to my other half, my reaction to it is like Spike the dog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, when he can’t get his hands on Tom. Take a minute to picture that. My excuse is, I’ve been trying to get a picture of it for the last three years, and haven’t succeeded in getting more than a couple of grainy, blurred shots. He was just as elusive this morning, doing his usual thing, loping off into the distance and waiting, and running off as I got closer. I swear he strikes poses, just to taunt me - like he is in this blurry long-distance pic!

Anyway, to come to the point – the fact is, I really like taking shots of animals. And birds, and bumblebees and anything else that moves. They are almost invariably photogenic, and full of surprises.  If you want a better angle or pose, just wait a few moments and they change position. And you don’t have to be in a lean-to on the savannah; just go down to your local zoo, a nearby park, or even your backyard to get shots of some local wildlife.

Another interesting thing about animals is that they have personalities. No two of them ever behave in exactly the same way. I mean, you’d expect that in our close cousins, the gorillas and chimps, but others lower down the evolutionary scale show distinct individual traits as well. To go back to my friend the fox, his elusiveness is matched only by the tameness of one of his kin who drops in at a railway station nearby to accept titbits from passengers’ hands.

You do need a hell of a lot of patience, though. If you’re the fidgety type, or if your limbs have a tendency to cramp after a few minutes in one position, this might not be for you. But if you don’t mind waiting (and cramps, frozen fingers, eyes watering from looking into the viewfinder), animal photography is a rewarding experience.