After-hours wolf of the Kabetogama (pic added)

[Steve Foss]

I saw this fella near Kabetogama Lake after sundown on the way back from a wedding on Lake of the Woods this evening. A tough go, but it's always better to ramp up iso and get a usable photograph than worry about noise.

I swear his legs looked eight feet tall when I saw him standing there. He was so high I thought at first he was a deer. At our closest, we were 30 feet away from each other, and at one point I just lowered the camera so we could have true eye contact. What is it about wolves that leads a person to keep moving toward them?

Canon 30D, Canon 200 f2.8L, Canon 1.4 TC II, iso3200, 1/250 @ f4, handheld, manual exposure settings, Ai servo focus mode

[USRanger]

What a great feeling to have had that eye contact that close, Steve. I had eye contact with a chipmunk yesterday....chilling! Great capture in the wild flowers.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

awesome pictures steve

[mmeyer]

Nicely done Steve. Most of us would be filling our pants with a wolf looking at us but not you. You get closer and take pictures. What a Man!

[Canon Guy]

Love those!

[ShawnZ]

That second image is very striking. Great sense of space conveyed with a lovely look back from the subject. Nice capitalization on the opportunity presented.

[eyeguy 54]

Cool! Nice job.

[Yellowhead]

I think the dogs we love so much today are the direct result of the affinity man feels for wolves.

[panthrcat]

wow your blessed to see him!! great images!!

[Jim Almquist]

It seems strange to see a wolf and not have a forest type background. These shots are very sweet with the wild flowers for a background and that "stare" in shot #2 is awesome.

[Catmendo]

Nice work! Amazing, the difference between their winter & summer coats isn't it!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, everybody. You wouldn't believe the noises I was making to get him to turn and look at me. I'm sure he thought I'd lost my mind. Probably he was right. You've got to be a bit crazy to run alongside 30 feet from a trotting wolf as it's getting dark, trying to get ahead of him again for a different picture angle.

I did manage that angle, but the 30D with the TC on and Ai servo in that horrible light weren't up to the task of nailing focus on the wolf when he was heading toward me. Or maybe at 1/250 sec after dashing ahead, my technique handheld wasn't good enough. The second image came after he veered away from and passed me and turned one more time to look back before ambling into the woods.

[Steve Foss]

Here's a bonus shot with the wolf at his closest point.

[panthrcat]

stunning!!!

[Jim Almquist]

Wow Steve he looks a little PO at you in that last shot. You really can tell that that guy has some long legs when most of the deer you see have about the same amount of back showing when they are feeding. Good looking stuff Steve and thanks for sharing.

[Muskie456]

That is Awsome

[finnbay]

Hey, ol' buddy. I see you've been wearing your prime rib cologne again! Nicely done!

[Dbl]

Really like that second one Steve. Such diversity in the northland!

[Islandlaker]

What a great feeling to have had that eye contact that close, Steve. I had eye contact with a chipmunk yesterday....chilling! Great capture in the wild flowers.

[JayinMN]

Sweet shots Steve. The second one really stands out.