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For 8 months, nearly every night I spent sitting at the window of my cottage house in the middle of the forest, and I observed the life of the foxes. One of them was braver. The vixen would appear after dusk, circle it for an hour and a half, and appear in the yard several times. I took the exposure remotely to capture interesting, covert, never-before-seen behavior. We built a distant, but subtle relationship, something hard to describe, and I named her Roxy. She always surprised me, showing new sides of her personality and quick adaptation to the changes. Adjusting to the presence of a wild animal, I learned plenty about foxes and also about myself and humans in general. Lots of things that will hopefully change people's view that the fox is a pest.

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#1

Roxy In The Heavy Snowstorm

Roxy In The Heavy Snowstorm

Roxy walking on the trunk in a heavy snowstorm, backlit with flash.

I watched the satellite images and waited for the snow and prayed for Roxy to arrive just in time. I was lucky when she was exactly at the planned location, I pressed the radio trigger to fly Roxy amongst the stars.

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In the evenings I set the lights in advance, like in a studio, and waited in the darkened room for my heroine to enter the scene. Working with such an appealing and unpredictable animal, I had to solve many technical, theoretical, and physical challenges, and it was a wonderful opportunity to develop skills and experiment with gadgets.

Working exclusively at night allowed me to get creative with lighting. In some images, I used dramatic, studio-like lighting. In others, I balanced my flashes with ambient light. Working with such an appealing and unpredictable animal at night was both a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity to document the great story.

#2

Little Sausage

Little Sausage

Little Sausage, Roxy's second-generation puppy, peeks through the window.

He's not yet 3 months old, but he's already walking around on his own, getting to know the neighborhood, and exploring everything in the yard.

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#3

Roxy Drinking Water From The Small Plunge Pool

Roxy Drinking Water From The Small Plunge Pool

Underwater capture of Roxy drinking water from the plunge pool.
 
The vixen usually showed up four or five times a night, and I noticed that it would drink water on the third occasion. Presumably, Roxy had eaten enough from the neighborhood and got thirsty. I used a cable remote release and a constant light source. This picture was taken with an underwater camera.

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Half of the pictures were taken by a radio-released remote trigger, and half by a camera trap. This series won first prize at Sony World Photography Awards and first place in the Hungarian PressPhoto contest and thanks to this, Roxy became the world's most-known vixen.

I always wanted to photograph foxes, but I only saw them running across the meadow or on the side of the road at night. My country cottage is in the forest and one night I noticed a fox running under the window. Since then, I watched from the window and noticed that she regularly walks in the yard, since this is also her habitat.

#4

Peekaboo

Peekaboo

Little Sausage, Roxy's second-generation puppy, peeks through hole in trunk.
He's not yet 3 months old, but he's already walking around on his own, getting to know the neighborhood, and exploring everything in the yard.

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#5

Through The Hole

Through The Hole

The fox enters my yard through the hole in the fence in the backyard.

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I'm a photographer, so the next day I put out the cameras to see her reaction. She smelled it, but it didn't bother her much. So from there, I started thinking about the scenes, and what should be photographed. Since I didn't know how long she would last, I was in a hurry to capture as many scenes from her life as possible. This and the pursuit of perfection created an addiction that lasted for 8 months. I stopped when I felt that I had accomplished all my ideas and captured everything I saw from her life.

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I selected a scene, lit it with two or three flashes, tried to use cinematic lights to give the pictures a fairy-tale feel, and then I sat in the window and waited and prayed for her to pass in front of the camera. I released the camera by radio transmitter and in other cases I used a motion sensor trigger. And if her position wasn't good, or the signal failed, I waited again, sometimes for several days.

#6

Revelation

Revelation

Roxy walks on the logs in very heavy fog. Volumetric light comes from the flash in the back.
She circles in the village for an hour and a half then appears in my yard several times during the night regardless of the weather.

That’s why I captured her in all the extreme weather conditions.

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#7

The Epilated Fox

The Epilated Fox

Bottom view of a fox's epilated belly five days after giving birth to cubs. At the same time, we can see the raised foot posture, typical of foxes.
 
As I waited for Roxy at night, I read literature to learn about the life of foxes. Somewhere I read that at birth, a fox rips the hair out of its belly to line the nest and provide access during breastfeeding. I wanted to capture this in a picture, so I built a big glass table. The fox tried to get acquainted with the structure, so it jumped up 5 days after giving birth.

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sakuri avatar
peace
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

very exciting and informative. Thank you a lot! the affection of the fox mother is enormous

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I took photos with an SLR camera, or even with two. I combined two flashes and sometimes mood lights as well. I released one camera with a radio controller, and the other was triggered by a motion sensor.

When I went to sleep after midnight, I also switched the other one to a motion sensor. This is why I was so productive. I lit up the entire yard with floodlights to see where the maid appeared. Since it was winter, the cold quarter quickly drained the batteries, so I continuously charged up to 16 batteries at the same time.

#8

Man And The Nature

Man And The Nature

Roxy poses in the limelight on the old seat on the porch of the traditional, 180-year-old cottage house, in Hungary.
In the evenings, I would turn on the lights in my yard and wait for my photo model to walk onto the set. Working exclusively at night allowed me to get creative with lighting. In some images, I used dramatic, studio-like lighting. In others, I balanced my flashes with ambient light. Working with such an appealing and unpredictable animal at night was both a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity to develop skills.

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#9

Roxy And The Bird Feeder

Roxy And The Bird Feeder

Roxy watches the inside of the bird feeder to collect the tallow scattered there.

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It was amazing to see how much she fought her own instincts. She would have come closer because she was curious about me, but instinct wouldn't let her.

The other observation was that she was a wonderful mother. She usually appeared in the yard in cycles of one and a half hours, but when the little ones were born, the cycle became three hours, which means that she spent an hour and a half nursing, and when she appeared in the yard, she was running around in a hurry. And when she started feeding the cubs, her frequency of appearance became 30 minutes, she kept bringing the food to the burrow.

#10

Observation Point

Observation Point

Roxy observing the yard from the top of the old stone wall, and trying to decide if it was safe or not.
This is one of the safest points for her because from there she also sees the street and the courtyard.

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#11

Roxy Searching For Snacks

Roxy Searching For Snacks

Roxy is scrabbling inside a rotting trunk. The camera was triggered by a motion sensor.
 
The curiosity of the scene is that Roxy refused to get into the trunk while I watched her from the window. She just walked around and smelled it. She wanted to keep an eye on me all the time because if she didn’t see me for a moment, her instincts whispered she might be in danger. So all that was left was to use the motion sensor and at night, when I slept, the planned image was completed with undisturbed, natural behavior.

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kiringraphics avatar
KC Lancaster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I LOVE the design and framing on this one with the texture of the wood and Roxy's beatific gaze!

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The two things I could advise to other aspiring wildlife photographers are dedication and perseverance. Read a lot about the subject to get to know the details of his/her life, or about the phenomena. Look on the internet to see what has been done on the subject, if you are a beginner, copy it, and if you are advanced, try to make something better and different from what you have seen. And don't be afraid to elaborate, be creative with the light and the composition. If you have all of these, you will be lucky.

#12

Roxy With An Egg

Roxy With An Egg

Roxy comes out of the barn with an egg in her mouth. She takes the eggs to the cubs.

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#13

Photographer Watching Subject

Photographer Watching Subject

Roxy's cub The Little Sausage, explores the yard.

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Zena Marsh
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Watching me, watching you....Glad you got in the picture.

#14

Roxy Watches The Mouse

Roxy Watches The Mouse

Roxy entered the barn and disturbed the mouse that was snacking on sunflowers.

The abandoned barn, built in 1932, was full of mice, so I left the door open at night, and the foxes completely took over the room in three weeks.

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#15

Observing Fox

Observing Fox

Roxy hid behind the pine trees, watching the window and trying to decide if it was safe or not.

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#16

Breath In The Harsh Winter

Breath In The Harsh Winter

She circled in the village for an hour and a half, then appeared in my yard several times during the night regardless of the weather. That’s why I captured her in all the extreme weather conditions.

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#17

Puppy In Garden

Puppy In Garden

Little Sausage, Roxy's second-generation puppy, appears in a garden.

He's not yet 3 months old, but he's already walking around on his own, getting to know the neighborhood, and exploring everything in the yard.

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emily_36 avatar
Epona
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Puppy is not the correct term for fox offspring. The correct term is kit. Fox kit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit (in the category Animals).

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#18

Jump

Jump

Roxy jumping from the trunk in the yard of a cottage house in the middle of the forest.

She always arrived in the yard from different spots. When she came over the wall, she jumped easily over the 120-centimeter obstacle. Upon leaving, she leaped elegantly from the 170-centimeter wall.

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#19

On The Way To Hedonism

On The Way To Hedonism

Roxy living in the neighborhood raided a terrace on a house near the forest to collect the leftovers. Taken automatically by motion sensor trigger.

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KC Lancaster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omnivores RULE! Obvious, I know, but when you're both a cautious hunter and a scavenger, it increases chances of survival.

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#20

Roxy Posing In The Barn

Roxy Posing In The Barn

Roxy watches the flash while posing on the log in the abandoned barn.

The abandoned barn, built in 1932, was full of mice, so I left the door open at night, and the foxes completely took over the room in three weeks.

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#21

Mustaches

Mustaches

Roxy came soaking wet with mice in her mouth to show what she had hunted, just like cats do.
 
In the meantime, she hopes that she will get something to eat, and see if she can stuff it in her mouth.

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KC Lancaster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is an excellent example of why foxes are FAR from pests! They do so much to keep the ecological balance the communities they hunt within.

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#22

Roxy On A Fallen Trunk

Roxy On A Fallen Trunk

In one of the village's courtyards, a rotten tree trunk fell during the night and fell into pieces.

The next day, Roxy examined the new shape and picked out the insects.

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KC Lancaster
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can't pass up a chance at that great protein, and a wonderful photo!

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#23

Roxy Is Approaching

Roxy Is Approaching

Roxy arrives at the yard in front of the traditional, 180 years old cottage house in Hungary. She usually came from 3 directions and always alternated between them.

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#24

Roxy In Garden

Roxy In Garden

Roxy walking through the garden observing what's new in the house.

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#25

Sneaking Fox

Sneaking Fox

Roxy sneaks in front of the traditional house in countryside of Hungary.

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#26

Wild Instincts

Wild Instincts

Roxy seizes the dead pheasant. I set the camera and motion sensor next to a dead pheasant in the meadow near my backyard. The camera sensor recorded interesting scenes of the lovable Roxy when her wild instincts took over.

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Randi Beal
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my opinion editing the photo is less than an honest portrayal of Roxy. Turning away from the good, the bad and the ugly sides of nature , to borrow the phrasing, has brought our society to where we are today. Any attempts to restore the natural order starts with true and honest representation of what we should strive to restore.

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