Behind the Shot: The Island Fox
Finding a Quiet Moment
By Sam Bugas - May 2022
San Juan Islands, WA
Why “Behind the Shot”?
Behind the Shot is an opportunity for every artist or art lover to maintain an appreciation for what makes photography special. There is no right or wrong in art, although I sometimes struggle to accept this. Instead there is depth, or a lack thereof. With AI generating art at an unrelenting pace, and with the power of editing and composite work producing otherworldly, beautiful images, the key differentiator must be story. It is story that provides depth to every great painting. It is story that keeps us awake, next to a fire in the woods, gleeful for the opportunity to adventure. It is story that we must rely on to keep photography, in its purest sense, relevant. Behind the shot is where I will write about the stories behind my favorite shots, or vis versa, the shots behind my favorite stories.
The Location: The San Juan Islands
As an adventure photographer, almost all of my favorite work comes from moments I seek out and travel to. In this case, I spent years looking at the wildlife photography work of some of my favorite photographers before settling on a trip to the San Juan Islands. I noticed that many of these photographers had notable portions of their portfolio dedicated to red foxes, which in and of itself is not in the least bit surprising; they are spunky, beautiful, wildly complicated little animals. After digging into all the information I could find about these photographers’ adventures, I found a common destination they were all visiting on a near annual basis: the San Juan Islands. It doesn’t take much homework to learn that these islands have become famous as a result of the plethora of wildlife that inhabit the waterways around them, the full extent of their shores, their skies, and the land they account for. Atop the list of wildlife you can find, and most commonly present on San Juan Island (one of the many islands in the San Juan Archipelago), is the Vulpes vulpes, the Red Fox. Unlike the majority of wildlife on the island, the belief is that the foxes are non-native, and were first brought to the island in the early 20th century to stave off the rabbit population. Ironically, it’s now believed that they are fairly poor rabbit hunters. A single ferry ride that lasts less than two hours puts you on the shore of San Juan Island.
A lone parent hunting along the road just before sun comes up…
A growing crowd near the most accessible den…
The Controversy
The unfortunate nature of a place like this is that popularity doesn’t come without consequence. Over the last decade, the popularity of San Juan Island has grown such that the island, and even the whole archipelago, has had to work to keep up with the infrastructure change necessary to accommodate a massive increase in visitation. For the most part, the ability to house, feed and entertain the increasing crowds has been well managed. However, the Island’s ability to handle the increased traffic through its meadows, around and in its woods, and along its shores has proven a major challenge. In the last two years, the regulatory body on the island voted to introduce measures to protect the meadows famous for housing the red foxes. For years, common practice was to visit the island, and to wander its meadows with an eye for wildlife. If wildlife was present, you were lucky, and respectfully you may view and photograph the wildlife, making sure to keep adequate distance (previously 25 feet). However, several variables began to strain the island, and in turn the fox population.
First, the meadows themselves were undergoing increasing trampling. Simply by walking off trail, visitors were scarring the landscape. This serves to force fox skulks (groups of foxes) to reconsider where they will birth and raise their kits. In the last several years, the majority of foxes have been raised in exposed meadows to avoid the higher traffic areas, which has an unforeseen, tragic consequence. The bald eagle population quickly adapted to take advantage of the newly born kits wandering in the open spaces, and began plucking them off the ground one by one. This has resulted in an extremely low survival rate for the young fox population. Additionally, the photography community is far more challenged in finding a vantage to take photos of the foxes. This may seem unimportant given the foxes matter far more than our photos, but the change in regulation has resulted in hot spots (clusters) of photographers. Crowding around small dens, you can find dozens of photographers in one spot, doing far more damage than ever before, and causing undue stress to specific skulks. There is an ongoing debate as to whether the changes in regulation have had the desired impact, and I encourage you to comment your opinion, perspective, research, etc… below. The Island benefits from the increased tourism from an economic perspective, and if we assume that it will continue to encourage visitation, then we cannot rightfully say, “just ban the photographers/visitors.”
The second major consequence of increasing human presence is the comfort foxes have come to feel around humans. Many locals, as well as visitors, have been known to feed the foxes anything from popcorn to turkey legs. I personally saw both a local living next to the meadow, as well as a tourist group, use baiting to lure the foxes out into the open. These foxes then, generation by generation, lose their natural hunting and scavenging instincts. They also spend more time on and around roads where tourists are most often located, which has resulted in more collision-based deaths. The only caveat when considering this point, though, is that where humans are present, eagles do not hunt near as actively. When people were wandering the meadows without restraint, the foxes were hunted significantly less than they are now. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
As new solutions to these questions are employed, I encourage any of you who have any interest in seeing the foxes to research best practice. There are new articles posted frequently, and the San Juan Island Visitors Bureau (https://www.visitsanjuans.com/) should be continuing to update official regulations.
The parents taking a quick break to breath, show some love, and enjoy the sun…
The Shot
Like many other photographers, the new restrictions made it quite challenging to find shots in the open meadows. In most cases, foxes were 50-100 meters away, and given my setup of a canon EOS R5 with the EF 300mm f2.8 attached, I only had so much reach to use. I quickly found myself gravitating to a den near one of the more popular prairies. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, this den’s accessibility resulted in a growing cluster of photographers and visitors hoping to see kits playing and parents hunting. Morals aside, I find very little gratification standing amongst a dozen other photographers taking photos nearly identical to the photos taken by the people next to me. Morals in mind, I grew increasingly aware that by being in that cluster, I was a part of the controversy. In an effort to find some semblance of originality, while maintaining the required distance from the skulk, and with a heavy sense that I needed to get away from the crowd, I wandered along the trail, past the cluster in place, to a position further from the den with no obvious activity. Once here, I picked out a small window into an otherwise densely wooded spot along the trail. With no other photographers around, I set up a tripod, framed my shot, and waited to see if any activity in or away from the nearby den would wander my direction.
After a couple of hours, the sound of a slight rustle in the woods caught my attention. I am typically an impatient photographer, which is why I most often shoot on the move. However, this time, I told myself, I would be different. I would stay perfectly still, trusting my framing. I felt confident I wasn’t in a space that would make the animals uncomfortable. Furthermore, I wasn’t surrounded by other photographers, and any shot that would possibly happen in that moment would very likely be unique. With the rustle persisting, and my patience feeling as though it may be rewarded, a breakthrough would soon occur. From the thick of the woods, one of the larger red foxes sauntered out as if they’d only just awakened from their afternoon nap. In tune with its surroundings, and seeming perfectly relaxed, I knew I didn’t need to pick up my gear to give any more distance; we were comfortable with each other. They continued to wander, nimbly dancing along tree branches as if this heightened space was the second floor to their wooded home. Finally reaching the exact center of my frame, they peered through the foliage, took in the sun, and closed their eyes. It was harmony, and with their bliss on display, I took the chance to make my photograph, which is shown at the start of this post.
The Gear
For the most part, I believe any camera would have done a great job of capturing this moment. Far more important was the lens choice. I’m not a photographer that can afford the big telephoto primes, but I save so that on occasion I can rent one. In this case, the photo wouldn’t have worked without the depth of field created by a telephoto prime. I had the 300mm F2.8 attached to my camera with a 1.4x teleconverter, which resulted in a 420mm F4 equivalent. This length and aperture helped melt away any distractions in the dense foliage, and let in enough light to capture a clean, bright image in an otherwise dimly lit scene. I typically suggest that photographers get telephoto zooms to save money and retain versatility, but there’s no denying the impact a large prime can have in the right circumstances. My full equipment list is as follows:
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 300mm F/2.8 is ii USM
Canon EF 1.4x iii teleconverter
Canon EF-RF mount adapter
Peak Design Travel Tripod (not ideal for wildlife shooting, but it did the job this time).
At some point, I’d like to shoot with a canon 400mm f/2.8, as I believe it would be the perfect tool for this environment.
The kits taking a break from playing to let me know that they are ALWAYS watching…
About Me
I have shot photos for around five years, with a consistent focus on capturing moments of action and environment while I am outside. I’ve dabbled in quite a few different genres of photography, and I’ve found that my favorite moment to take a photo is when the wind is whipping, the air is freezing, and I’m hanging onto a steep slope or wall by crampons or an ice axe. However, the last two years have brought a lot of change to the way I want to shoot, and the subjects I’ve sought out. I want to shoot for a reason, to find and create impact, and I believe wildlife need the benefit of representation and conservation more than anything else. As I grow with a camera in my hand, I intend to spend an increasing amount of time around what makes the world so perfect to live on, wildlife.
With that in mind, I’d love to chat! Please comment below or email me at swbugas@gmail.com. I know some of what I wrote above is controversial, and I’d love to chat and learn. I’m actively trying to develop good practice so that I can shoot and story tell while benefiting the environment rather than trampling it or perpetuating inaccurate, false, or weak information.