Carpet pythons are great snakes; Non venomous and kill by constriction. We frequently cross paths in my paddock. I recently rescued one from a cranky neighbour’s roof.
Anything
ISO 3200 70-200@200mm f5.6 1/320s
A little bit of grass trimming done behind his head.
A really interesting shot of a snake Glennie, (I thought it was a tortoise at first!) and all the better for it. It’s great.
The framing and shallow depth of field draw the viewer to look closely at the head. The detail in the scales is wonderful, and the head is so well defined that it almost seems to be made up of pieces from a model kit!
The simple colours complement each other well, and I love the eye.
As I sit here looking at it I think that there might be a slight greenish cast (possibly the colour reflection from the light on the grass) and I wonder if you could just take off a little from the bottom of the frame to reduce the out of focus grass slightly.
I really like this image. It is incredibly sharp and the rather narrow depth of field really helps highlight the snakes head and details. Also, the low perspective makes the observer really feel close to the animal. One suggestion would be to remove some of the dark objects on the right side of the screen. I found them to be slightly distracting. I at first thought your composition would be better with the snakes head being in the right 1/3 of the screen, so there would be negative space in the direction the snake is pointing. However, I tried this and I find I like your composition better. Great capture!
Glennie, the details in it’s head and eye really stand out. Good that you got low to minimize the grass contribution and help let the head stand out. In the larger view, the nose is just tiny bit soft, so with the beauty of hindsight, a somewhat smaller shutter would have fixed that. Of course, I’m a sharpness nut, which is why I shoot so many stacks…
Thankyou @Ryan_H ! There is a greenish cast. An easy fix. I do believe its the reflection from the grass. And, yes a bit of OOF foreground might be of benefit.
Thankyou @Willemd ! Snakes make for tricky composition. I do agree in most cases, having more in front is better. And maybe the darker leaf should disappear.
Thankyou @Mark_Seaver ! I tend to shoot wide open most of the time for birds and wildlife. I like what I’m looking at to be sharp and the rest fall-way, but something I should experiment with. I suck at stacks!
Not sure what I can add to the other comments. I am mesmerized by the green slit eye. I like the crop suggestion, but perhaps not as extreme. Great low angle shot.
