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I Tried To Make My Way To Get To Red Foxes And I Finally Earned Their Trust To Photograph Them Up Close (30 Pics)
My name is Ian Granström. I come from the most southern parts of Finland. I have always been fascinated by nature and its controllability, and, naturally, I started out shooting nature right away.
In the beginning, I mostly took landscape pictures and photographed small birds and local wildlife. One early morning, when I was out shooting, I spotted a young red fox and got an unsharp photo of it, and I immediately felt like red foxes would be my main subject to photograph.
The road to finally capture a decent shot of a red fox came after 3 years and hundreds of hours of tracking and searching for red foxes in the Finnish wilderness and urban areas, until one day, I finally stumbled upon a nest I had been tracking. I studied the red foxes' behavior and slowly made my way to get up close and gain their trust. After my first session with the fox family, they seemed to get used to my presence and didn't really care about me that much.
I have now learned and mastered the behavior of red foxes and have photographed 4 different families during two springs. Here is the collection of my work—hope you enjoy it!
You can find more of my work on my Instagram!
More info: Instagram | Facebook | iangranstrom.se
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I started photography at the age of 11 when I got my first camera from my brother as a birthday present. The very same night, we went out chasing a thunderstorm. Although I had a 10-year-long break from photography, in the beginning of 2017 I picked it up again and headed full-on into photography and I haven't looked back since.
My first camera was a Canon Powershots A75 and my first ever picture was of a lightning strike. My brother was into storm chasing and bird photography and he always took me with him on his photography trips when I was a child. I learned everything I know about photography from my brother.
The most difficult thing about photographing foxes is to find them and to gain their trust. It is time-consuming to find foxes, especially fox dens. Once you find them you also have to be patient so that the foxes get used to having you there lying around, you don't want to scare them or make them feel insecure.
The most satisfying part is when the fox cubs get curious and start to come close to you to check you out. This gives the opportunity to take intense portraits of the foxes and all the waiting finally pays off.
How long it takes to fully edit and render one photograph depends a lot on the image. Some pictures I have edited for 5 minutes and some pictures for hours.
Usually, I have clear visions of the pictures I want to take and the editing process starts already when I am out taking photos, sometimes the idea can pop up in my head and I'll head over to my computer to edit a photo I have taken.
Gorges shot! It's like I can feel the texture of the fur !!!
*upvotes every single picture* These guys are so beautiful!! So much personality in their little faces. I'm ded. You are one lucky and super talented fella!!
They look so cute as our cutest kittens. U r a AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TIME BUT IT'S ABOUT UR PICS AND UR TALENT AND UR DEDICATION TO TAKE PHOTOS OF THEM. NO WORDS.....WOW...
No but there are foxes who where bred to be more pet- like. I read an article about it. Very interesting.
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Every picture is so beautiful. I especially like the head portraits.
Wow! These photos are absolutely incredible. I feel blessed to see them. Thank you so much!
Ian, please write a story illustrated with these beautiful pictures - how did you track them, make them comfortable of your presence, what behaviours did you see. Then gimme a link to Amazon and I will purchase it on the spot :)
*upvotes every single picture* These guys are so beautiful!! So much personality in their little faces. I'm ded. You are one lucky and super talented fella!!
They look so cute as our cutest kittens. U r a AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TIME BUT IT'S ABOUT UR PICS AND UR TALENT AND UR DEDICATION TO TAKE PHOTOS OF THEM. NO WORDS.....WOW...
No but there are foxes who where bred to be more pet- like. I read an article about it. Very interesting.
Load More Replies... Every picture is so beautiful. I especially like the head portraits.
Wow! These photos are absolutely incredible. I feel blessed to see them. Thank you so much!
Ian, please write a story illustrated with these beautiful pictures - how did you track them, make them comfortable of your presence, what behaviours did you see. Then gimme a link to Amazon and I will purchase it on the spot :)
