A Cute Fox Kit Scores a Cover for Anne Bryant

Por Molly Kirk/DWR

When one of Anne Bryant’s friends told her that there was a den of fox kits behind her house, Bryant knew she needed to head out there with her camera. Little did she know that one of the images she captured and submitted to the Virginia Wildlife magazine Photography Showcase issue would end up being chosen for the cover of the 2027 Virginia Wildlife calendar.

“She’s got a pretty long driveway—probably football field long—and as I pulled up, I could see something in the driveway. I said to myself, ‘Surely that is not a fox waiting for me.’ But one of those kits was sitting right there,” Bryant said. “I got out of the car with my 100-400mm lens and started taking pictures. I spent about an hour that morning, watching them play and taking pictures. They’d look at me now and then, and go about their business of playing, scratching, napping, hunting.” Bryant returned to the house later that day with a 200-600mm lens, which is what she used to take the photo that made the calendar cover.

The fox kit photos were some that she took to a photography workshop. “They oohed and aahed over this image,” she recalled. “He had such a cute expression on his face. I loved it and thought it would fit in well with Virginia Wildlife. So, I submitted it to the Photography Showcase issue. I’m thrilled it got selected for the calendar!”

Bryant, 73, of Sedley, Virginia, has been an avid wildlife photographer for decades. “I’ve been taking pictures since I was in high school,” she said. “Between the last 10 and 15 years, I went full frame manual photography. I live in the woods, so I’ve got birds and deer here all the time to take pictures of.” Bryant has also traveled extensively to photograph wildlife, including to Yellowstone National Park, Costa Rica, and the coast of Maine. “I just love seeing wildlife in their native habitats,” she said. “My love is seeing them in the wild.”

Since she retired in 2015, she’s devoted her time volunteering and photography. “I’m in a photography club, and it’s been fun to meet some different people,” she said. “We have a speaker once a month, and so that’s been fun and educational, too.”

Bryant enjoys how wildlife photography can be enjoyable not only on trips to places far away, but also in one’s own back yard. “You don’t have to go to Yellowstone or Costa Rica in order to enjoy wildlife,” she said. “Whether the photo is just in your head or on the camera, you can get a lot of that right in your neighborhood, like I did with the fox kits. I had a lot of joy of watching them and seeing them play. And then when I go to places like Yellowstone, I’m bringing back photos and experiences that most of my friends here in Virginia are not ever going to see. It’s fun to have those and come back and share them.”