Photos Natrix Natrix

I had a lengthy photo shoot with this lovely model this summer. It must have been over an hour and we were about 1 meter away from each other









Again, C&C more than welcome.

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Very nice specimen, I especially like the bottom one because the yellow really comes out

 

Yeah, he or she is quite a beauty

Also very tolerant, I think that in one point my lens was about 25-30cm from its head...

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Looks like some type of Ringneck Snake...Where was it photographed? Also, what did you use, as far as equipment, to shoot him/her with? As for C+C... I like the last shot best as far as subject matter goes, but am not entirely in love with the crop (a little more room to the left side of the frame may help--maybe even a shift to the lower-left as well). Be careful with flash, as you can see the highlights on the eye and snout (easy enough to clone out). If #4 had been cropped would you mind posting the original? I know this may come off strange, but you will find that you can accomplish better shots if you learn to think along with the subject...try and manipulate it as much as possible to get ideal posses. For instance, if the snake becomes threatened it will generally spool up for you and give you a strike pose OR it will use another defense--playing dead is one tactic ringnecks use to fool potential predators, they also like to twist their bodies to reveal the bright underside as a deterrent as well. FWIW you may want to pick up a guide or memorize poisonous varieties to avoid getting bitten

 

I like number 1 very nice

Josh

 

The snake was photographed in Finland where I live. It's actually one of the two species we have here and yes, it is the non-poisonous critter of the two

Equipment used was Olympus E-520 accompanied with the 70-300mm (140-600mm equiv.) lens. And no flash was used, those highlights came from the sunlight which was a bit harsh, but I couldn't ask the snake to meet me back there in the evening

The photo is actually a slight crop, so I'll PM you in a sec with the address for the original photo.

As for getting it to pose for me, I really didn't want to disturb it since it was soo patient with me (about 120 photos worth ).

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You NEED to disturb it Snakes and other reptiles/amphibians will tolerate you as long as they realize you are not a threat...but you must interact with them in order to get the shot. Sure you can wait until it moves into a certain position, but to create an image of the snake ready to strike or playing dead/displaying that's when you've got yourself the gold. I'm not telling you to hit it with a stick or anything...just work him/her a bit. Unless it's in the middle of a meal or has a great pose to begin with, it's OK to 'bother' them a bit...just like any other model--both human and animal.

 

I get your point, maybe I was just having too much fun sitting beside it and admiring it.

Also those buggers are quite sensitive, so if I had disturbed it the chances were that I would have gotten a photo of its tail vanishing in to the bushes

But yeah, next time I'll take my chances and work his nerves a bit

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Janne, I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty to show my vision of #4. It's not perfect, but this is what I came up with in about 10 min. Don't mind the sharpness--this is just an example of crop and some retouching.