I started posting daily pictures of foxes back in June 2005 as a way of keeping up with the number of pictures I was getting. Back then I was using an Olympus C370 pocket camera, which has 3x optical zoom and 3.2 megapixels. A genuine point-and-shoot camera, but capable of decent results. I upgraded the camera in December 2005 to a Canon S2 IS, which has 12x optical zoom, 5 megapixels and a lot more (including image stabilization). Since December 2006 I've been using the Canon EOS 400D with (for the foxes) either the EF 70-300mm DO IS USM or the EF 24-105 F4 L IS USM lens.
So over the past couple of years I've uploaded over 700 pictures to the Fox of the Day page, with each picture being linked for about 24 hours before it disappears. The pictures have remained uploaded, but generally inaccessible without a direct link. That's all changed. Using the new JAlbum software I mentioned a short while ago I've created a complete index which (with luck) I should be able to keep updated with the minimum of fuss. The main work involved was sorting the images chronologically. Over the years I've slightly altered the file naming format which threw parts of the automated sorting out of kilter. I finally uploaded everything last night.
The quality of the photos varies (a lot), but I'm still more than happy with some of the earliest ones taken on the cheapest camera. The series also shows changes in editing style (I was heavy handed in the early days and some are quite nasty). The 'old dog fox' features from the earliest days. The cubs vary (naturally), and there is a smattering of vixens in there somewhere. In most cases the photo featured was taken the day previous to posting (or at least earlier the same week), but during the winter months I tended to raid some summer photos to fill gaps when the foxes weren't visiting. I've also skipped a few days here and there.
This is the very first photo featured in the series (taken on that handy C370 pocket camera). The photo was taken on 16th June 2005, and was the Fox of the Day for the 17th.
The Complete Fox of the Day starts here.
anonymous
2 Jun 2007Zachary writes:
Thanks for your work compiling and then presenting this huge archive of fox pics. It's a good resource for an artist too.
Words
3 Jun 2007Zachary, it seemed crazy to leave it all just sitting there. The problem had been trying to do it by hand. Even at 2 or 3 minutes a page it was going to take about 35 hours of coding (and plenty of errors). I guess the re-sorting and playing around with the template took about 3 hours spread over a couple of days. Much easier!