Animated Parrot Snake
This guy was a total blast to shoot but was extremely animated with his mouth wide open almost all the time and always moving. So with a 100mm macro lens, you c...
Read more
This guy was a total blast to shoot but was extremely animated with his mouth wide open almost all the time and always moving. So with a 100mm macro lens, you can only imagine how much I was dialing that barrel for focus! Add to that, I was in a boat! So, the boat was moving, the snake was moving, the air was moving and I was moving...it doesn't get much harder than this!
Read less
Read less
Feb, 2017Views
8725
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Animals In The Wild Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 5
Contest Finalist in Reptiles Photo Contest
People's Choice in Slithering Snake Photo Challenge
Honorable Mention in Snakes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Snakes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3
Peer Choice Award
Featured
Winner in Snakes Big and Small Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Wildlife Photo Contest 2017
Winner in Rule of Thirds Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Magnificent Capture
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Virtuoso
Genius
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Platinum
Ultimate
wild-west
November 13, 2017
Got to work with this snake for about an hour. Very risky once the snake is in his element being on a tree and just below him is water. A lot of options for the snake. You have to work fast!
Platinum
Ultimate
Ultimate
Platinum
Ultimate
Ultimate
Platinum
Platinum
Ultimate
PRO+
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
KislerCreations
November 05, 2017
This image deserves more than just a peer award ... If I could give more than one award I would give it a Magnificent Capture, Superior Skill, & Top Choice. Great Job!!!
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Platinum
Ultimate
JBordons
November 06, 2017
A remarkable image. Love the composition and capture. You really nailed the focus on the snake's head! Love the shallow depth-of-field.
Ultimate
Platinum
Mark73
November 06, 2017
Congratulations for 'scare the crap out of me' contest. Stunning image. Nicely done.
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Platinum
Ultimate
Platinum
Ultimate
Ultimate
Premium
Ultimate
Ultimate
Ultimate
Platinum
SchulzeHa
February 11, 2018
Love how in focus the head is, but the body gradually blurs. Unreal shot very skillfully done.
xxBohemianBlondexx
April 13, 2018
I mean this in the best possible way... that looks terrifying! Awesome picture, LOVE how the body is blurry
PRO+
sharonmitchell
September 17, 2018
Sorry can’t give you more awards! Just stopped me in my tracks as i scrolled through. Just looove it! Fantastic! what a shot!
Platinum
Eddieuuu071
November 08, 2019
Thank you for submitting you wonderful photo to my Best Nature Photo challenge! Best of luck!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Just imagine being on a very long semi-skinny powered by a single engine boat and you're motoring down the Amazon river in Ecuador. Your eyes are wide open to see anything and everything. Then all of the sudden your very talented guide spots a snake. This is what actually happened.Time
Working in Ecuador on the Amazon was an incredible treat and to be perfectly honest I did not miss a sunrise while I was there. Each and every one of those sunrises was so special and the light was so special and same went for sunsets. I did not miss a single one. My snake shot was just after the sun got going in the morning. LOL.Lighting
My crew and I attempted to use a soft gold flex-fil and we had a ring light with multi-colored filters just in case. The flex-fil was the fastest and nicest light but when we got caught with clouds or rain we went to the ring light. On this morning we were able to get just enough from the flex-fil.Equipment
The camera I used was a Canon 5D mark 2. The lens of choice was a Tokina 100mm macro 2.8 prime lens. I was hand held in a boat semi-parked at a tree that hung over the river. So you have a moving snake, a moving river in a moving boat and my camera is moving because of it all. Doesn't really get more challenging!Inspiration
The morning and evening light on the Amazon river in Ecuador is beyond beautiful. Everything I wanted to shoot had to be in this light if at all possible. So you can see in my photo that the sunlight just dances through the leaves in the trees and that's what gives you the tremendous depth of field. The story behind the snake is that my very talented guide had showed me some pictures of snakes and this snake was at the top of my list to try to find. The luck of the Irish we found one.Editing
I love using Photoshop and Lightroom and for this photo I only had to use very basic tools in Photoshop. Highlights and the black level were the ticket for this photo. Right out of the camera it was spot on. I did very little.In my camera bag
When I travel internationally I attempt to take as much as I can fit in my bag. Besides my Canon 5D, my lenses of choice are the Tokina 16-28mm Aspherical wide angle 2.8, the Canon 75-300mm 5.6 and the Tokina macro 100mm 2.8. Along with those items I always carry my GoPro Hero 5. Also in my bag is a ring-light, polarizing filters, filters for my ring-light, lens clearing solution and lens paper, media card holders for my cards, media cards themselves and extra batteries for my ring-light. I also have a Zacuto viewfinder for seeing in bright sun.Feedback
This shot in particular is an extremely advanced shot. You have everything against you. You're in a moving boat. You have to direct the boat driver to go where you want. Maneuvering the boat for a delicate shot like this one is very challenging. Then you have an ever moving snake and usually the smaller snakes move a lot more than the bigger ones depending on what is going on. I was going for details in the snake so I was shooting with a 100mm macro prime lens. If you haven't used a macro lens before, you've got your hands full. You're going to be turning that barrel like crazy. There is no way that auto focus is going to work so definitely turn that off. Pre-set the color temperature, the ISO and the shutter speed. At the very minimum 250 shutter. The F-stop is either buried at 2.8 or as high as a 4.0. A huge part of this whole equation is get a great team to help you. I had the genius guide, a fantastic boat driver and a very good camera assistant. All the best to you!
