Red foxes and nature photographers have a few things in common.

Both are cunning. Both are quick. And on a recent afternoon in Algonquin Provincial Park, they each took a turn behind the lens.

The unlikely scene unfolded earlier this month on a snow-covered clearing off Highway 60, near a remote fox den that Toronto-based photographer Megan Lorenz happened upon several years ago.

As fat snowflakes floated down around her, Lorenz huddled over her tripod for several hours, her camera trained on her subjects — a pair of rust-coloured foxes she has often visited since spotting them by chance on the side of the road.

Although naturally skittish, the foxes have grown more comfortable around Lorenz, 38, with each session. On that frigid afternoon, while the male — identifiable by the scarring on his black nose — posed under a nearby evergreen, the female crept up behind the photographer.

Lorenz, who was accompanied by fellow photographer Christopher MacDonald, slid slowly to the left, giving the animal an opportunity to explore her gear.

“She approached the camera and seemed very interested — jumping up on it, sniffing at it,” Lorenz said. “It almost looked like she was trying to take a photo herself.”

The foxes had shown interest in her camera equipment before, Lorenz said, but this was by far the most thorough investigation.

“I’m not sure what the interest was. I don’t know if it was because of my scent or just because it was something new in her environment,” she said.

“She didn’t bite the camera, luckily. I was a little bit concerned about that.”

While the fox pawed at the camera, Lorenz snapped a few shots of the furry photographer with a second camera — images that have been picked up by international media outlets, and attracted many fans on Facebook and Twitter.

However, despite the many requests she has received, Lorenz is keeping secret the precise location of the fox hole and its curious inhabitants.

“If a lot more people start visiting, unfortunately it means that will put stress on the fox,” she said. “The next thing you know, the female will likely move its den.”