Pop Goes The News — Nova Scotia photographer Ian Murray has won a big prize in the 2015 National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest.

His image of a red fox with one of her five offsprings earned first place in the Baby Animals category in the 45th annual competition.

Thousands of entries submitted in seven categories were judged on “originality, technical execution and true-to-nature accuracy,” according to the federation.

Murray trained his lens on the fox family from May to July in Wallace River, about 70 kilometres north of Truro on the shores of Northumberland Strait.

His winning photo will be published in the December/January issue of National Wildlife magazine.

The non-profit federation is based in Virginia.

Murray, the only Canadian winner in this year’s photo contest, founded Wallace River Photography in 2009. Raised in Toronto, the former transit worker moved to Nova Scotia in 2005.

Photo courtesy Ian Murray / Wallace River Photography