Since my earlier snake post prompted some discussion about snake photography, I thought I'd post this one; even though snakes are a rare subject for me. This is a much different composition and situation.
I watched this guy swim across the Buffalo National River here in Arkansas and go into some brush on the other side.
I waded the neck deep water with my camera held above my head until I could find a rock to stand on to get my chest up out of the water. In the mean time, the snake had found a nice limb to lay on to sun and seemed quite content getting his picture taken and soaking up some rays.
Attempting to leave his tail in the bottom of the frame introduced a lot of clutter, which actually blocked the view of the tail anyway. When I tried to add a little more to the left instead of clipping the edge of his body here, the same thing happened. So much cluttered brush was visible that it just didn't work.
Shot with Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 100-400 (at 400mm), ISO 400, f/11 at 1/160th hand held.
Good job. Water snakes laying in trees are TOUGH to get a clear shot of... Good job on getting a nice, sharp eye handheld with that lens at that shutter speed! I love the colors on him - especially his cheek scales!
The clipped tail doesn't really bother me that much because it is so out-of-focus. I can also imagine this shot with that tail completely gone... The bright green leaves do bother me a bit, but they also show the kinds of places these guys like to be...
I really like the position of the snake and seeing the snake in the tree is interesting and tells a story.. The OOF FG leaves are a bit distracting maybe a change or camera positon could have helped. Most llikely it would have brought distractions into play.. Sounds like you did the best you could. Sometimes you just show em where they live the best you can..
The perch certainly makes this an interesting photograph and does tell a story. However I do find the OOF leaves a bit too dominant in frame. I wish you could have recorded this with a bit more DOF, but since you were already on f/11I don't think you could have done much more.
Northern Water Snake
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