how close is close enough?

[Steve Bein]

hope you enjoy this. I was pretty close.

[denise ippolito]

Hey Steven, I am assuming you were using Fractalius. I like how you revealed the snake to show more detail and to separate it from the BG. The one dark straight stick catches my eye just a little. Very nicely done and you were too close for comfort!!! Do you know what kind of snake this is?

[Maureen Allen]

Great work with the diamondback, Steve. I hope you were using a BIG lens

[Indranil Sircar]

Steve, this is little too close for my comfort!! Nice composition and effect.

[Steve Bein]

Not sure, someone asked if it was a Mojave green. It was a rattlesnake, that is all I can attest to. Perhaps someone knows for sure. I will work on that dark stick. I sure as **** was not going to physically move it.

[Maureen Allen]

I'm surely not a snake expert, but I had assumed that was a western diamondback rattlesnake. I've seen eastern diamondbacks up close and personal in my FL backyard. Given your location, I thought yours was the western version. Googling this, it looks like it could also be a mojave green. Seeing the tail would give you a better idea of which one it is.

Whichever it is, I wouldn't have moved the stick either

[Andrew McLachlan]

Steve, this is very nicely done. Agree with Denise on the stick and yes it would not have been a good idea to move it in the field . Looks like a small rattler? Could it be a Pacific Rattlesnake subspecies? Kinda looks like it in my field guides. Don't really know my rattlers well - we only have one in Ontario, the Massasauga, and they are endangered.

[denise ippolito]

Not sure, someone asked if it was a Mojave green. It was a rattlesnake, that is all I can attest to. Perhaps someone knows for sure. I will work on that dark stick. I sure as **** was not going to physically move it.

Hehehe

[Steve Bein]

Removed the stick from a safe distance, also, added saturation, vibrance and a bit of eye treatment. I hope the photo comes through. Thanks for the comments.
Steve

[Kerry Perkins]

Definitely a Western, not a green. The greenies hang out in bushes, of all places. I used to keep a lot of snakes, including an 11-ft Burmese Python, but I'm not crazy enough to keep rattlers. Everyone I know who did regretted it... It is a common misconception that vipers can leap out at you and strike from a distance. In fact, they can only strike about half of their length, as unlike their winged brothers they can't fly.

Love the fract work and the fact that you had the nerve to get this shot. Most people just want to kill snakes!

[Steve Adkins]

Awesome image, Steve! Great DOF on the snake. I like the eye treatment on the 2nd post but if it were mine , I might tone down the saturation as it seems to be adding more to the surroundings than the main subject. So great to see this subject and pose!!!!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Steve, great image. I really like the fract work and the stick eviction looks great also. I like snakes but rattlers make me a little nervous