First post. A close up picture of a neonate Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus).
Welcome to NPN, Joshua. What a great first post, and that is coming from one who is not real fond of looking at snakes. The details are very good, and the motion of the tongue really adds to this shot. The shallow depth of field works well with this shot. I am glad that you didn’t get bit! A 90mm lens this close in, I would think means you were very close. Looking forward to more of your photos. Great shot.
1 Like
Thank you for the welcome and the kind words. Safety of myself and the animal is always priority number one. There is nothing that will ruin a trip quicker than a bite. Reptiles and amphibians are my passion, and I hope to shine a positive light on them.
Joshua, welcome to NPN. This is quite a dramatic first post. The details in the snake and catching the tongue are great. It’s pose is at least somewhat relaxed, which shows that it didn’t feel highly threatened. Or are the neonates a bit more relaxed than a bigger one?. Having taken a few Rattlesnake shots, I have some sense of the mix of excitement/trepidation involved.
1 Like
Welcome aboard! Cool post. How close you must be is crazy, but the image sure works.
1 Like
It is definitely a unique feeling interacting with them. This was shot early on a cool morning which helped the animal be relaxed and safer to photograph. It was thermoregulating as I was photographing, and eventually warmed up enough to go into its outcrop. Rattlesnakes are almost always the easiest snake to photograph. The others never like to sit still.
Josh: Welcome to NPN and thanks for a fine first post. The capture of the tongue is excellent. At max magnification the eye is a little soft. I’m not sure this is capture related or processing. Otherwise your DOF works for me. One other thing I want to mention is your posting size. Try not to upload full resolution files. It takes up server space and makes things easier for image pirates. The posting guidelines recommend a posting size of 1500 pixels on the long side of the image. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to more.>=))>
1 Like
Welcome to NPN - That’s a fantastic shot, I am not fond of snakes, but that’s a really nice shot.
1 Like
Hi Josh,
This is a nice mugshot of this rattlesnake. The eye is nice and sharp and I hope that you will get a longer lens for capturing these guys. You may want to use an off camera flash with a large diffuser to help bring out the details in the scales and eye. Otherwise, an excellent shot and well done…Jim
1 Like
Thank you for that information. I will watch for the image size on the upload. As for the eye I noticed that as well. I think there was some cloudiness developing as part of either a shed process. Any tips on how to recover some sharpness there?