Eastern Garter Snake
Dec, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at the family cottage, on an island in the Kawartha Lakes area of Ontario. This fellow was taking a nap in the pump shed. We moved him out onto some rocks in the sun and he was quite cooperative about posing for photos. I really wanted to get a good shot of his tongue flicking out, so I was pretty much right up in his face for about 20 minutes and he never struck at me or made any effort to leave.Time
The photo was taken in the mid afternoon, in the summer.Lighting
It was very harsh light, in a dappled shade area, so I used the camera's built in flash just to add a bit of fill light.Equipment
This photo was taken with a Nikon D3200, 55-300mm kit lens and a canon macro filter (which screws on to the front of the lens). I was zoomed in to 195 mm, 1/60 sec, f/18, iso 400. I think that if I were taking this photo now, I would raise the iso to try and get a faster shutter speed, but I was very new to my DSLR at the time.Inspiration
I love taking photos of nature and wildlife, so this was a great opportunity. It is not uncommon to see snakes on the island, but it IS uncommon to find one so willing to hang around and get his portrait taken!Editing
The only post processing done on this photo was some basic RAW processing in Lightroom to boost the contrast and a bit of noise removal.In my camera bag
These days, I shoot mostly with a Nikon D7100. If I am doing a portrait shoot, I will probably take my 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens, a couple of speedlights and a reflector. For landscape and nature photography, I will usually bring my 70-200mm f/2.8 and my 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5. Sometimes I will bring along the old D3200 so that I can just switch cameras instead of having to swap lenses quickly in the field. I also have a canon macro filter that screws on to the front of my lens. I love it for when I want to be able to zoom in and focus close on small flowers or insects.Feedback
Snakes like warmth, so if you can safely place the snake on a nice hot rock, it may be more likely to stay for you. Watch the body language, though and if the snake wants to leave, just let it. It is not fair or safe to harass wild animals and a snake bite, even from a non-venomous snake is like getting an injection of bacteria and can lead to a nasty infection. A telephoto lens that will allow you to keep some distance between you and the subject is also very helpful.
