Burnsville photographer wins national recognition for fox photo

Benjamin Olson didn't expect the fox to stick around.

A conservation photographer by trade, Olson, 29, had spent an August day on the Gunflint Trail fruitlessly scouting for moose.

Driving away, he spotted a young female fox hunting. He waited for the animal to bolt off, and when she didn't, he started snapping photos — first from his car, then from a roadside ditch.

"The only conclusion I could come to was that she had never seen a human before," he said.

One of the photos from that day — the fox in profile, yawning — went on to win an award from Nature's Best Photography magazine.

Now in its 21st year, the magazine's Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition draws submissions from around the world — typically between 20,000 and 25,000 annually, said Deborah Freligh, art director and co-publisher at Nature's Best.

There's one grand prize winner each year, plus winners in categories such as oceans, birds and landscapes. Eighty-two images — including Olson's, which won in the wildlife category — were chosen this year for an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The clarity and lighting in Olson's photo are a combination that a photographer may capture "once in a lifetime," Freligh said.

Nature's Best previously recognized Olson for his photo of a snowy owl, taken during the infamously harsh winter of 2014.

The recognition is a boon for Olson's photography career, said his mentor, wildlife photographer Melissa Groo.

"A lot of people enter, and only a few — very few — make it to the very end. And he has twice now," she said. "So I would say that's a pretty remarkable achievement."

Olson, who lives in Burnsville, was always interested in the outdoors. But it wasn't until he was a teenager — after his grandfather gave him a camera — that he developed a passion for photography.

Olson received a biology degree from Bemidji State University and an associate's degree in photography from Dakota County Technical College.

He's been a professional photographer for about six years.

Though he travels for his work, Olson has a particular passion for photographing the wild places of Minnesota, Groo said.

"He seems to have a real special connection to the wildlife of Minnesota," she said, "and a real art and skill in going out and finding it."

Emma Nelson • 612-673-4509