Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I was walking along the canal bank trying to follow a muskrat at our local NWR. It was cruising down the opposite side of the canal and I was trying to get ahead of it and find an open spot where I could get a shot. As I was getting ready to step off the open path into the low grass, I happened to glance down and thought I saw a nice big gopher snake curled up in the grass. I backed up fortunately and took a better look. These two small Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes were cuddled up in the deep grass just as quiet and content as could be. The temperature was in the low 60sF and the sun was just starting to peek through the high overcast. They did not rattle once in the five or ten minutes I walked around them trying to get a decent shot with my zoom lens of them curled up under the grass. After about ten minutes the smaller (? 2 feet long, assuming the male) just slithered off into the deeper grass, followed shortly after by the larger/thicker (? 2.5 feet long, assuming female). Neither made a sound.
Specific Feedback
I think I was only about ten feet from these snakes. I got a reasonably good focus on the males head, but the female’s head is somewhat OOF.
Technical Details
Canon 7DMii, iso 1000, f8, 1/1000 sec, -0.3 EV, 100-400/1.4TC at 560 mm.
1 Like
Ed, thankfully you saw them before they became too alert. This image provides yet another update of the annual “opening days” of our rattlesnake season here California. Only in the last week or so more and more news updates sharing most recent encounters here in So Cal. I’ve come way too close of being bitten a few times over the years with my many encounters. For many years now my brother and I wear snake guards in the desert areas for prevention from the snakes as well as Cholla cactus encounters.
Thank you @Paul_Breitkreuz. I hear you on the desert snakes and cholla. I’ve had a Mojave Green rattlesnake actually come after me after I walked within about three or four feet of the bush it was in out at Corn Springs.
Ed, a couple side notes. There was an NPNer named Rudy Ruberti that had a close up of a Mojave Green that he almost stepped on. He said as he was photographing at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve he came across the MG. What was scary was the kids running all over the place at the same time.
Secondly, was a tv series called Wild America with Marty Stouffer who was a wildlife cinematographer. Anyway, he had a show from the Black Hills in South Dakota where he went into a hole in a hillside with hundreds of rattlers hibernating. After seeing that show I did not sleep well that night at all.
Thirdly, was my own face to face encounter with a diamondback as a teen. I was within two feet of him and saw his tongue whipping the air looking for a target…YIKES.
Ed, this shows the pair nicely hidden amoungst all of the fresh greens. I’ve had several rattlesnake encounters over the years. An important bit of knowledge is that most of them can’t strike more than 1/2 their body length, so it’s not hard to get uncomfortably close and still be safe. (Diamondback’s are said to be able to strike 2/3 rds their body length.) @Paul_Breitkreuz 's use of snake guards is an excellent idea if your bushwhacking through rattlesnake country.
Thank you @Mark_Seaver and @Paul_Breitkreuz. My son has Gators he wears out in the desert. I’ve had several rattlesnake close encounters over the years. One as a teenager backpacking with buddies where I straddled one of several logs set around a remote camp firepit. It was a one button snake that came crawling out from between my legs. That and fishing a creek with deep grass alongside where I couldn’t see the snake but sure heard it! I’ve heard that less rattlesnakes are giving the warning buzz now a days due to selective thinning over the years.
Ed: that’s a good capture of the two rattlers. Lucky that you were able to spot them as soon as you did and another good reason to use zoom lenses. 
Richard
Thank you @Richard_Sandor. Good reminder to watch where we’re going even if we’re trying to get a shot at something else.
