Project fox photography: my experiences as a newbie wildlife photographer
Foxes have been my favorite animals for a very long time and it’s been my dream to photograph them. Throughout the years, I’ve managed to do so a few times, but the opportunities have always been few and the results never any good. I’d mostly given up on the idea and instead focused on other photography endavours. Until this spring.
After a few random encounters with foxes in the early spring of 2026 in a nearby nature reserve, the dream of photographing them slowly started reappearing. After yet another spontanous meeting with a fox while only carrying a 35mm, totally unable to capture it, I decided right there on the spot to start a fox photography project and finally get those results I’d dreamed about.
It’s been almost 3 months since then and I figured it would be nice to share some of the journey so far, as well as some of the results I was able to capture!
‘Intense eyes’, sibling of ‘dreamy eyes’ (explained later in the text).
Finding foxes
First things first. Finding foxes. Because, as I’d quickly learned, a few spontaneous encounters didn’t quite mean subject and location were now accounted for. Quite the opposite, in fact. As soon as I started showing up planned and prepared, the spontanous encountes were over. I had now bought myself a proper telephoto lens, watched 2 dozen videos on how to use it, researched the best times to spot foxes and how to go about it and for weeks on end, I’d spent countless hours over many early mornings and late evenings around the location where I had spotted foxes before. Nothing. Absolutely zero, not a single fox sighting. What the actual f***?!
And I’ll admit, I was taken aback at that point. I had spent all of the time I could spare out in nature right where I’d spotted foxes several times before, with absolutely nothing to show for it. However, not quite ready to give up, I figured I’d need up my game plan and keep trying.
So rather than hanging aorund at that same location where I didn’t spot a fox in weeks, I started broadening my search area. I scouted along the coast here in The Hague, cycling and hiking through different nature reserves like Solleveld, Westduinpark, Meijendel and so on, hoping my stubbornness would be eventually be rewarded.
And then, one evening in late May, it did. Close to a month into my search (and perhaps closer to when fox cubs usually leave their den to start exploring the world and thus upping my chances), I ran into not one, but 2 fox cubs while on a bicycle trip through the dunes! Hooray!
Two fox cubs before what seems to be a fox den, my first actual sighting since starting this project
Needless to say, I was over the moon running into these cubs (by the way: I’m not sharing the exact location of my fox sightings, for hopefully obvious reasons). The two cubs were quite far away, but with my 200-600mm lens and some cropping, I got a few ok captures. But most importantly, I had find fox cubs! And seeing as they were hanging out in front of what looked like a fox den, this could be a spot were I would be able to come back to!
Well, in a somewhat surprising (at least to me at the time), but perhaps by now not fully unexpected turn of events, I didn’t spot these cubs in that exact location again. Ever. After that initial sighting, I went back there several times, first around the same time in the evening and later at different times as well, but, it seemed this wasn’t their actual den or even a frequent hangout spot. Or it had been, but not anymore?
Either way, feeling hopeful about the broader area, I kept wandering there and would you know, a few days later ran into these two, maybe 500 meters from that initial location:
Getting familiar
Crossing my fingers that maybe this time around I did indeed fing an actual spot the foxes would frequent, I started coming back at that exact spot, trying to figure out where exactly in that area my best chances of running into the foxes would be, at what time of day, etc. As I had hoped, this indeed turned out to be a spot several foxes were hanging out daily and I started running into them pretty much every visit.
I quickly learned that evenings were the best, specifically so the last hour before sunset. The foxes, at least 3 cubs and a mother, tended to make their way out of the dune forest by then and move towards, sometimes even onto, the beach around sunset.
One particular night, after having observed the foxes in the dunes for a bit, I had moved onto the nearby beach to fly my drone and capture a few landscape shots along the coast. Suddenly, I noticed movement below and realized a fox had walked onto the beach just as I was flying over! Although far away, it got me some of my favorite and most unusual fox photos so far:
Slowly getting a better understanding of when to be where, my next challenge seemed to be to get more familiar with the foxes themselves. I was hoping to get close enough to get some actual fox portraits at some point, which so far I hadn’t managed to do. Even with a proper telephoto lens, it was very challenging to come close enough without scaring the foxes away.
Portraits aside, what I also hoped for was capturing natural fox behaviour, rather than just an animal standing there, frozen, staring at me as it was trying to figure out if I was a threat (or already having decided I am, I guess). Now, as you may have gotten from all of this, I’m not exactly an expert in wildlife behaviour, so I had to try and figure out an approach as I was going.
The biggest leap forward probably was when I managed to contain my exitement once they showed up and just quietly sit down, waiting for them to come closer to me. No staring into their direction, just sitting there, looking elsewhere, seemingly uninterested in them. Perhaps that sounds like a no-brainer to you, but it did take me a little while to get past the “OMG OMG THERE IS MY FAVORITE ANIMAL OF ALL TIMES!! LOOK AT IT! IT IS AMAZING! I MUST CAPTURE IT BEFORE IT’S GONE!!” and let common sense take back control.
Once I did though, the foxes started to be more at ease and rather than me being able to get closer, it was them getting closer to me by their own decision.
At some point, one of the cubs came so close a few times, that it was hard to frame it and get it in focus with my 200-600mm. Of the initial three cubs I had seen, most of the time it was only two of them at the spot I frequented. While one of those two was usually the first to approach, the other one often waited a bit before it came out of the bushes. But when it did, it would usually hang around for quite some time while the bolder one was already gone again. Both cubs seemed quite unbothered by my presence, as curious about that human with the big white lens sitting there every few nights.
A bit too close to properly catch focus on its eyes
That curious cub, with its particular, almost ‘dreamy’ eyes (I’m not sure if it has some kind eye defect, an infection or if it’s just a normal variation) quickly became my favorite. Not the boldest per se, but certainly the curious and observant one. A kindred spirit.
Dreamy eyes’ sibling, the one usually first to show itself and just walk by mostly uninterested and just going about its own business, has very intense eyes. Especially when the light hits its pupils, like on these golden hour captures just before sunset. I didn’t get too many chances to properly portray it as it usually didn’t stay around quite long enough, but this young fox could have a very successful modelling career if you ask me.
‘Intense eyes’, perhaps practicing its stealth movement for future hunting here?
They see me roaming…
Moving into July, now a month and a half into the project, the young foxes started getting less predictable in their whereabouts. From spotting them either nearby, or at leasr from afar every visit (usually a few times a week), I started seeing less of them. The area became busier as well in July, more tourists, and hot summer days (and nights) brought more people to the beach altogether. I’d already learned that the foxes only came close to the beach and onto it when people (and dogs) had left.
I also found that the foxes were roaming around further from their usual spot and were now exploring seperate from each other as well. Perhaps projecting here; but as a father of an almost 12 year old, it seemed to me these youngster were craving to broaden their horizons, looking for adventure and new experiences.
Roaming along the beach
A fan of environmental portraits, I was really pleased to capture this fox on a dune, right next to the beach. I’m not sure if this is one of the youngsters from the family I was following as it was maybe a kilometer away from our usual meeting point and quite a bit earlier than I’d normally spot them.
Much like the foxes, my own attention went elsewhere as well throughout July and early August. As for me, I wrapped up work before the summer holidays and then went on a family vacation the Eifel region in Germany (quite photogenic as well). I still managed to get out into the dunes a few nights before and after, to see if I could catch up with the youngsters. And I did, though infrequent and even when I did, often just briefly, as they seemed to be on their way, busy with things, much more so than before.
Going forward
At the moment, it feels like the first chapter of this project is done — I looked for foxes, found them and was able to photograph them quite a bunch already. Going forward, I’m not sure how this project will evolve. It seems the foxes are getting ready to hive off, and our frequent meetings near their den might come to an end. Then again, perhaps at least one of them might stick around? I know dog foxes (males) are likely to roam further, in search of their own territory, while vixens (females) often stay closer to home, at least for the first year. I don’t know if the cubs I’ve observed over the past months are male or female, I wasn’t able to tell just yet. I’ve also never followed foxes over a longer period of time, so I’m not quite sure what to expect.
The siblings, Intense eyes & Dreamy eyes, late june 2026.
However, what I do know is that this project has sparked a curiosity that’s far from exhausted. I’m very much looking forward to find out what the foxes are up to in the coming months, how they evolve as they grow older, if they will leave the area and so on. Furthermore, there’s still loads to improve in my fox photography and I hope to be able to work on that. Once I have, I’ll make sure to report back.
