Mozambican Spitting Cobra ( M'fezi)

[Dumay de Boulle]

M'fezi ( Pronounced uhmf- eh-zee) is the local name in Shangaan ( A language widely spoken in the NE of South Africa, Kruger National park, surrounding reserves and Limpopo) for this particular Cobra.
I caught this guy at our lodge and went out to release him back into the park.
The shallow DOF was what I was going for here...I was 2.8m away from this guy which is within spitting distance...I was wearing my snake glasses but had to take them off for this shot. He had spat at me a few times, but never caused any harm. If you look on the right (your left) upper lip you can see a drop of venom and a tic just below the right (your left) eye.

Canon 1D MKIII
Canon 300 f2.8 L IS + 2x Ext
ISO 800
AV f10
TV 1/640
Subject distance
Evaluative Metering
AWB
RAW processed in CS5 iMac

thanks for viewing...Comments and crits appreciated

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Excellent stuff Dumay, brave to get so close and so low Great idea to use a shallow DOF, like the way only the top of the head is sharp TFS

[Harshad Barve]

Terrific image Dumay , Agreed with Vivaldo , I cant go close to small snakes forget about cobras :eek:
TFS

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Dumay, nice strong shot, you got enough DOF to get the snout and eyes in focus, also like the good (or bad if you are a rodent) eye contact...
Well done
TFS
Grant

[Ken Watkins]

You are certainly braver than me , I could never get close to a snake, even a "non-biting" one.

I would have preferred a little of the hood sharp, but as it was not raised up, I suppose that was not very likely.

Very bravely done

[Morkel Erasmus]

I was nearly bitten by one when I was 8 years old (I never saw it and nearly stepped on it right outside a homestead in Mpumalanga)...you are a brave man! super details and DOF

[Steve Kaluski]

I am happy just to view it like this Dumay, in a more relaxed and controlled environment, in front of a 24 inch screen.

For me, I do find the dead space to the right a little too much and perhaps you might like to tone down slightly the highlights to the left on the body, but for pure bravery and cool nerve, it's way up there and a testimony to your skill and overall handling.

DOF is always difficult with something like this and no real time to look and assess, especially with a subject like this. I would be very happy with this result, if that counts.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Dumay - I would hate to encounter one of these (or any venomous snake really) at a lodge. I know they're around, just prefer not to see them up close. I really like the DOF here and how the snake's oof body winds through the image. Looks big. Well done.

TFS,
Rachel

[Dumay de Boulle]

Thanks everyone...All in a days work here in the African Bush...Rachel, these snakes dont get too big...This one was about a meter, they to about 1.2 meters long.

[Hilary Hann]

Dumay, excellent image. Nice complementary tones which I like. DOF is entirely appropriate. In a perfect world I would love to see the tongue!

[Todd Frost]

Very nice Dumay. I'll leave the snakes to you. As mentioned dof works well here. Sharp where it needs to be. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Russell Johnson]

Great depth of field and POV here.

TFS

[Steve Canuel]

Great low angle. I really like the colors and angle of the head.