I spent much of yesterday sitting by one of my ponds hoping to catch some wood frogs calling. They must have heard that I was coming because nobody showed… I then went wandering and discovered 3 Garter snakes mating on the far side of the other pond. Some internet research told me that Garter snakes mate as they leave their winter hibernation and that often there are numerous males for each female. I also finally found that the females (~ 3 ft long) are notably larger than the males (~ 2 ft long). This fit well with the single large snake and the 2 much smaller companions. A full view shot of all three wasn’t much to look at, but with some patience, I caught this view with all three heads peaking out from beside one of the large rocks lining the pond edge. (7D2, 100-400 @ 400, 1/200 s, f/18, iso 400, tripod)
Great catch Gary! 3 heads are better than 1, especially when they’re all facing the same direction, ha ha. Lighting, exposure, and the sharp eyes seem to be right on point, and I like that you included some of their habitat too.
Ah, spring is coming and love is in the air (and on the ground). Cool image!
Very nice capture, Mark! your patience and foresight paid off. Nice job of using a narrow aperture to get all 3 snakes in sharp focus also.
Very cool, Mark. I really like the array of the three heads. Interesting information on their mating and size differences. Definitely a sign of spring.
Such a wonderful photo Mark. Amazing that you caught all three snakes at once. Sounds like your patience paid off big time. I like the DOF you chose, really helps to set off the snakes. Great capture.