Front Yard Snake Gardner
May, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the front yard of my house in Clearwater, Florida. I have loved photography and have been a photographer since a small child. I have worked my way through film and darkroom to digital capture today. On this day, as I always have a camera ready, I grabbed it and ran out the front door passing my family that all were screaming for me and shouting that I had to see what was happening out on the front lawn.Time
Florida is a wonderful place to photograph with beautiful clear days and wonderful animals and beautiful green and blue landscapes to capture. I had seen the snake a couple of days earlier stretched out sunning itself on the top of some evergreen bushes I had across the front of the house. It was a good snake that kept the area around the house clean of pests and was harmless. So I left it alone. The bird did not. That afternoon I caught the struggle going on and it was not an easy or quick battle for either of them.Lighting
I don't remember the lighting that day. I was too involved in looking through my viewfinder, zooming in and out composing, and pressing the button.Equipment
I will tell you right off I am a Sigma Foveon Sensor fan. I have purchased their cameras since they started with that sensor. No apologizes, that sensor--to me--produces the most wonderful colors and often the most magical photographs I have dreamed of taking. For this photograph, I had the latest Sigma SD1 Merrill camera, hand held, with a Sigma macro APO zoom 70-300 lens. For the details,they are as follows: F7.1, 300mm, 1/500 sec, and the date was 4/26/2015. A beautiful time in Florida to take pictures of flowers, birds, and sea and beach landscapes.Inspiration
This photo is a rare view of nature and most especially as it was in my own front yard. As I watched the battle I sometimes rooted for the snake that almost got away and for the big bird that was working hard to win a prize meal. I took about twenty single-shot pictures. It was a prize fight in the real sense of the word. It is not something I would hang on my wall, but it sure is great to share with the world.Editing
I think the photographers eye and mind are the artist of the capture process with the photo the canvas. Unfortunately the camera does not yet see what the photographer sees in his mind, but it does capture all of the information so it can be brought out later with post-processing. I do use software to bring out the details the camera recorded. I have all kinds of software, but my most favorite and most often used is an old piece of software that was released for a short time and quickly removed from the market. It was Snapseed for the Desktop by NIK software. It is not the same as the app available today. It contains a mix of the most adjustments I use and has Upoint technology control points for macro adjustments in the image. The others I use to remove spots and adjust for noise.In my camera bag
In my bag I now carry two cameras. The new Sigma SD Quattro H and the Sigma SD1. I have about 20 Sigma lenses. I usually carry the 18 to 250 macro and the 50mm prime and another wide angle or prime depending on what I am going out to photograph. I also carry and own Nikon cameras and have a set of Nikon 1 V1, V2, and J5 with lenses when a large DSLR is just too large and heavy to lug around and not right for the circumstances of what I intend to photograph.Feedback
All cameras, including cell phones, can take a great picture today. Always carry a camera with you every day. Yes, I have a cell phone, but I usually have a pocket camera with a zoom on me too. It is usually a Nikon Coolpix S02. You never know when you can see and capture something incredible right in your own front yard.
