Snake (of some sort)

[Nancy Bell]

This is a small, but feisty snake I found along the foundation of the motel I where I was staying in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in mid-August. I really have never seen the split tongue of a snake before, so I was glad to get this image. I laid on the ground for this perspective.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 100 f2.8 macro, 1/200, f4.5, ISO 1600

C & C most welcome.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Nancy, BIG congrats on the OOTB Mod position!!! What you have here is a Garter Snake...there are numerous sub-species throughout North America but I am unsure which sub-species this would be. Yes they can be a little feisty at time, especially the smaller ones, but they are harmless, have small teeth and seldom bite. I love the tongue and the details in the head and especially how clean and shiny the snake's head is...I am wondering if it has just recently shed its skin. Nice capture :S3:

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you Andrew, twice! Now I'll have to turn this into an OOTB image!

[Diane Miller]

Very nice -- the tongue flicking is hard to catch.

Anyone who would lay down next to a snake has my respect, but we've all done some pretty strange things to get a picture...

[shane shacaluga]

Love this image! The fine detail on the focused scales and shallow DOF really works for me on this one

Tongue flick makes it even better

Good work and TFS!!

[Carl Walker]

Super shot Nancy. I like the detail in the head and the comp. It does look shiny and clean. TFS

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you everyone! I was just thinking about that tongue and that it is red, a danger color often used in nature. That snake probably thought I was the dumbest thing around not taking the hint:eek3:!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the sharpness and details on the head and eye. The red tongue stands out well. Dof works for me very well and I like the oof body. I was thinking about composition....and I think you did well...Very nice image!

[Mitch Haimov]

Great subject, pose, and POV, Nancy. Curves fading into BG work very well. The only thing I can see that would have made it any stronger (IMHO) would be if you had moved your camera a little left and down so as to keep the sharpish coil in LL corner entirely within the frame and move the somewhat sharp UR section of BG out of the frame. Of course, that is the kind of thing that is easier to see while looking at a photograph than while laying on the ground eye to eye with a snake...

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very well done Nancy, snakes and to some extent lizards can be very tricky to photograph even if still. Finding the right angle and perspective then hoping to get the tongue flicking all takes time patience and some luck. I try not to read previous comments but as I was typing I noticed Mitch's words which are very much what I would have suggested.

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. Mitch & Jonathan, I see what you are saying about moving my position somewhat. that would strengthen the image. I remember this snake never stopped moving and I worked to keep the eye in focus. Took lots of images but the tongue was out in only some of them.

[Mitch Haimov]

Understood. And it's certainly successful as is.

[Diane Miller]

Cropping a little off the top, or darkening it there with a gradient, and blurring the LL would come close to incorporating Mitch and Jonathan's suggestions in PP.

[BillTyler]

Amazing capture. Catching the tongue out like that is fantastic timing. The warm almost metallic colors of the snake and the bright red work really well together. You absolutely nailed focus as well. Beautiful. If I were to change anything, it would be to make the upper right corner less prominent, perhaps by darkening and/or some local blurring.