Photographing my first Hot

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Soopaman
Posts: 924
Joined: March 18th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Photographing my first Hot

Post by Soopaman »

I went to a new area today, just about 10 minutes from my house in a rural part of Montgomery county, Texas. I was hoping to come across C.c. anthicus, one of my favorite snakes in the area, but got a couple more surprises instead.

After working my way along a creek (public land) I came to an sunny open area and decided to explore. I soon came across some well buried tin, and further inland, what appeared to be a hurricane debris field of hundreds of tires. Further exploring yielded lots of tin, dishwashers, car seats (not for babies, for people), refrigerators, and heaps upon heaps of just general junk. After hearing voices in the distance, I figured I had come across someones far backyard and a treasure trove of artificial cover. Not wanting to trespass, I went and found the property owner who was thrilled to explain where all the junk had come from (flash floods and previous property owners). After discussing what I was doing and what I was looking for, she gave me permission to look all I wanted. As we parted, she shared her experience with snakes, and noted where she usually sees certain snakes. She mentioned coral snakes near magnolia trees.

I perused the junk a bit more, then decided to head back home for dinner. On the way, I pass a trail with a lot of magnolias, and decided to head down it, just for grins, and saw a perfectly good log just off the trail ready to be flipped.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a coral snake, but a very beautiful A.c.contortrix! These are all too common around here, but I have yet to photograph one. I've been on the lookout the last couple of weeks and was very happy to come across this guy as the rest of the day had been uneventful.

First two photos are in situ, the latter two are after moving him to better lighting:
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Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix - in situ by Kyle L.E., on Flickr
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Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix - in situ by Kyle L.E., on Flickr
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Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix by Kyle L.E., on Flickr
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Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix by Kyle L.E., on Flickr
rtdunham
Posts: 219
Joined: January 11th, 2011, 2:43 pm

Re: Photographing my first Hot

Post by rtdunham »

Good for you. That's a beautiful animal.

To put into words the lesson to be learned from your photo experience: when moving into "better lighting", be sure to pick a spot where the light is uniform: It looks like your specimen ended up in sorta blended light, with the anterior in sun and the posterior in shade. (btw, for glossy snakes i find indirect or shaded light superior to direct sunlight; for your copperhead full sun might be a fine choice too). I look forward to more neat pix of neat snakes from you.
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Soopaman
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Joined: March 18th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Photographing my first Hot

Post by Soopaman »

rtdunham wrote:Good for you. That's a beautiful animal.

To put into words the lesson to be learned from your photo experience: when moving into "better lighting", be sure to pick a spot where the light is uniform: It looks like your specimen ended up in sorta blended light, with the anterior in sun and the posterior in shade. (btw, for glossy snakes i find indirect or shaded light superior to direct sunlight; for your copperhead full sun might be a fine choice too). I look forward to more neat pix of neat snakes from you.
Thanks for the tip. I struggled a lot with the lighting as it was 6pm when I found him in the middle of the forest. Everytime I got to a sunny area and set up for shots, the angle of the sun would change and my sunny spot would disappear. Or the snake would move. I'm going to go out earlier tomorrow to the same area and hopefully I will be able to work on getting shots in good lighting. I am very new to the camera thing, so any tips can help! Also, very good to note about the glossy/matte difference in the snakes, I'll be keeping that in mind.

K.E.
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monklet
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Re: Photographing my first Hot

Post by monklet »

Dappled lighting is so tough to get right with a moving subject, but when you get it right, and the exposure is well balanced, the focal point in the bright portion, etc. ...it's my very favorite. That last photo is so close, but the snakes head is in the shade, and that is key. If it were the other way around, with light on the face, it would be superb ...as is, just a really nice, very natural looking image.
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