A Flick of the Tongue

[Steve Canuel]

Fall brings these rattlesnakes back to their winter den sites, and during the recent warm days I've been able to get a couple of shots as they enjoy the afternoon sun. Predicted snow later in the week will probably drive them into the den until next spring. I watched and waited for the tongue to pause in this position as the snake tested the air before pressing the shutter. Could've shot a burst but that wouldn't have been any fun. 5DKIII, 1-400L, f8, 1/250s, ISO 800, HH, pretty big crop (to just over 4 mp), processed in DPP and PSE10.

[Charleen Ratcliff]

well, I am not partial to snakes, but this is an excellent shot!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice low angle and earthy tones here, Steve. How close were you???
Overall detail and contrast is just great. I too enjoy waiting for that moment to press the shutter more than following a "spray-and-pray" approach...

[Steve Canuel]

Thanks for the look Charleen and Morkel. Regarding distance, I was just outside the minimum focusing distance, about 6 ft. This was a smaller snake, close to 3 ft long.

[Loi Nguyen]

Steve, you have better nerve than me. No way I was going to lie on the ground to capture a close up of a rattler. Love the position of the head in the frame and the details are excellent. TFS. Loi

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome image with that bi-fid tongue sticking out. Nice low angle and sharp! Well done!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve, definitely better you than me so close to one of these. Great low pov and sharpness. The outstretched tongue makes the image. It held up to the large crop pretty well too.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Steve, one critter you are not going to get me to shoot, or be near, so kudos in this capture.

Perfect low angle, snake height and good patience to wait for that flick of the tongue. Personally I would like to have had a bit more snake in frame. Hope to see more, but safety comes first! BTW do they get slower & more cranky as the Winter, cooler temperatures begin to set in?

TFS
Steve

[Steve Canuel]

Thanks for the comments. Really no danger as this snake was coming out from between a couple of rock slabs and I was partially obscured by a tree trunk. Didn't get any other shots as he just sort of stayed put and I wanted to continue my hike. Steve, they do get slower with the cold weather but I've never found them to be aggressive even in the warmer months of summer. They will warn you if you do get to close though. Warm temps in the 70s during this shot, tonight its dropping into the 20's so I don't really expect to see them again until next year.

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Steve, still think I'll keep to looking at them on a screen, will lookout for your entry in the Reptile section of WPOTY 2015.

[Carl Walker]

Great framing here Steve. Great detail and capture. Look quite similar to our puff adders here. At least yours give a bit of a warning.