This is certainly a portrait moment, taken near Morinville, Alberta. But the element that really makes this photograph is the low elevation side lighting. The light warms up the coyote's body, adds a highlight his left eye and casts a very long winter shadow across the ice surface of the prairie pond. The coyote’s tracks lead from the bottom edge of the photo to shadows of all four legs. While the photograph is great, the shadow makes it remarkable. It’s a wonderful moment and a connection with nature and with the wild.

Shadow

Is It Safe?
The mother fox has dug a burrow under an old homestead building and the wooden foundation, casts a shadow over half of the fox's face, increasing the intensity of its eyes. There is innocence and wonder in the image, but the shadow adds a sense of mystery as well.
Great Egret - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Many photographers would suggest that noon is not the best time for photography. The light is too direct and too strong. This image though, suggests otherwise. The S curve of the egret's neck is doubled by it reflection and then repeated again by its shadow in the water. Three S curves from one subject. Extraordinary! And then, as an addition, we get the fish in the egret's mouth which tells us a story, this bird is a hunter. The ripples in the water add to the story. Learning to see reflections is an important part of our journey, but so is learning to see shadows.
I'm Back
The summer of 2005, we had a pair of Great Egrets nesting on Big Lake, Near St. Albert, Alberta. Very Rare. I spent most of the summer out at Big Lake, watching the pair who eventually raised 4 chicks. Again we have nice sidelight, that warms up the white body of the mother egret, but interestingly, casts a shadow of her neck and head on the underside of her wing. Remarkable.
Trumpeter Swan - Elk Island National Park
Similar to the previous shot, light from the upper right hand corner of the image casts a shadow of the swan's neck on the underside of its translucent wings.

Wonder
A cold winter morning in Jasper National Park. Back lighting outlines this bull elk and then highlights its breath. That alone would make a great photograph, but remarkably there is a shadow cast by one of its antlers, in its cooling breath. And how did the eye facing us and away from the light, pick up a highlight. Wonder!