Wolf IV by Miguel Angel de Arriba Cuadrado

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I think this is a good example of a very appreciated kind of photography. It is representative of Miguel's overall approach and is consistent with much of his portfolio, which shows a lot of precision, clarity, attention to detail, sense of magnitude, often a sense of the iconic, the stilled moment. A lot of the work will impress.

Considering there is a lot of life in these photos, I don't find them very lifelike. It's like visiting a museum or a series of diaramas. There's little sense of anticipation, little of the more extemporaneous side of life. For me, too much perfection. Too much idealism. I like more breath.

There is an illustrated quality to this photo in particular, partially because of the close-up and tightness but also because of a flatness. There's a bit of Rousseau, the painter, in this photo, especially in terms of the color and lack of depth. It doesn't have the sense of context or action that many Rousseaus have. Rousseau's style was intentional and related to his subject matter almost ironically, in a sense a static view of action. The style here seems to to fall into a pristine sort of trap.

I'd characterize this and many of Miguel's nature photographs as wildlife portraits. They largely do not include much of the animal's habitat, but rather are photographs primarily devoted to the animal itself. In this way, I think they have much in common with traditional human portraits, intended to be a very good likeness of a person(s), but really representing not much more than that.

Having said that, I think this particular portrait and many of his other portraits are very well done. He usually catches a pose (e.g., the eyes of this wolf) that communicates at least a part of the life of the animal, just as a good human portrait might do. Seen in the light of a traditional portrait, I can better understand and appreciate Miguel's approach to nature photographs. For what Miguel's portrait does not do with respect to a photograph of an animal, I can better understand that as well.

For me, very much an amateur, this photo captures perfectly the conceptual wolf. Shy yet fierce, curious yet cautious, always wary in its contact with humanity. I can imagine Miguel approaching this animal, its head slouched, profile reduced, inspecting him as he approaches for signs of danger. A theme these days in both wildlife management and wildlife photography; Animals regarding humans warily.
Without even delving into any technical aspects of the photograph this image is something that I want to stare at and something that I would want to own because of what is says to me (and probably many other wildlife enthusiasts).
As such I agree with Stephen. This is a portrait and one that captures the spirit of the wolf excellently as far as I am concerned. From my vantage point wildlife photography can ignore some of the traditional ideas of photography and as a viewer I am more forgiving of any subtleties that may have been missed. These photos aren't posed, they themselves are wild and uncalculated and I always look at them that way.
Not sure if this is the kind of comment we are looking for in this discussion but nevertheless there it is.

Olá Miguel!
You have captured the most important (for me) part of any animal species: the eyes! In this case, I presume it is a captured (or borned) wolf in a protected environment...anyway it shows us the beauty of his scary eyes...it is a wonderful black wolf (remembers me a very similar black dog I had), who deserves, for shure, protection and sympathy!
Besides the technical aspect of the photo (good depth of field, nice green part in such a dark picture), you took us far away from that: you got the most important and in a wonderful way: the eyes and the expression of the animal! Good work!
Regards
Joao Barros

Is this a composite? Something doesn't sit right regarding the DOF. I also would have expected to see some of the wolf on the other side of the tree. I still like it, though.

I'm not sure if the wolf was added in between the trees or not. Either way, it's an interesting shot with the wolf peering out. Other than that, it doesn't do too much for me. I just find too mant distracting elements in the photo as I try & focus the wolf

I'm caught somewhere between what Stephen said, and what Fred said. Yes, it is an excellent portrait of a wolf, and original in not trying to isolate the animal, but showing it as part of its environment - to me it conveys more the character of being a stealth predator. I like the tonality, and I think the perspective-flattening of a long lens here helps the composition. But as Stephen said "...but really representing not much more than that".
This is where it touches on what Fred said in the first post. It's a wolf. Not much more. It's not a lifely picture, the eyes speak directly to the viewer, but the rest of the image does not really seem to play a role. I like the environment showing, but it plays no role. To me, it looks as an image of a predator, except it does not look like one... it seems a shy animal, afraid to show itself instead. It's a still-life where 'action' seems to be more logical. As a result, the image intrigues, but just very briefly.

Looking through the Nature images in Miguel's portofolio here, I find many images much more captivating than this one.