May 25, 2013
Red Fox Kits in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

I had a ball photographing at a Red Fox den yesterday in Yellowstone National Park. I have only photographed Red Fox kits once before and those kits were older. My best images were taken early in the morning before the sun crested the horizon and created harsh shadows. I had to push the ISO to get a reasonable shutter speed to capture the kits as they were playing.

Getting Reach

You might have noticed that a lot of my images from Yellowstone have been taken with the Canon EOS 1D Mk IV, with its 1.3x magnification factor, attached to the Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS USM and 1.4x III teleconverter. That's because most subjects needed more reach than I could get with the Canon EOS 1D X which has a full-frame sensor and hence no magnification factor. I sold the Canon EOS 7D, with its 1.6x magnification factor, because I wasn't happy with it, and it was one of the most cost effective camera ownerships I've ever had. I purchased it used on eBay this past January and sold it on eBay in April and it cost me a whopping $16, plus shipping, to own it. I wish all of my camera bodies were that cheap! I'd still like to have more reach, especially when using the 1D X, so I've rented a Canon EF 600mm f4 IS II USM from Lens Rentals that will arrive next week. The one-week rental cost is significantly less than the purchase price, and I want to try it out to evaluate image quality and form factor before possibly acquiring one for myself. If (OK, almost for sure, when) I get a 600 f4 II, I'll be selling my 500 f4 which happens to be the lens that I've had the longest.