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Location
I took this photo during the hiking (Called Bushwalking in Australia) in Gold Coast hinterland. Just around the carpark. The carpet Python snake is a common snake in the area. Lives in open forests, rainforests, coastal heaths, rural lands, park lands and suburban gardens.
Time
It was almost 11:00 AM and the snake was crossing the grass area very slowly due to hot weather. As it was too slow, I had the courage to lie down in front of the snake and take this photo.
Lighting
I used natural light photography, spot reading using the focus point on the head of the snake. The shutter speed was 1/320 sec @ f2.8 with ISO 200 in Aperture mode.
Equipment
I used Nikon D810 with Tamron 70-200 f2.8 G2 series, hand held but lying down on the ground to position myself at his or hers eye's level. No flash has been used, but the cloudy day made it perfect to have a soft light on subject.
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Inspiration
It just happened as I was thinking about if I need to carry this heavy lens with me to hiking trip or not, suddenly my 5 years old daughter noticed the movement and I was so excited to see this snake on track. It was moving very slow and I had the chance to lie down on the ground and wait for the moment to take various photos.
Editing
I edited the photo in lightroom CC , tweaking of highlight and shadows, clarity and toning. Then I exported to Tonality CK to create the black and white version with high contrast.
In my camera bag
I usually have Sigma 50mm F1.4 and Tamron 70-200 F2.8 G2 for almost every photography assignment, plus ND filter Hoya 8 stops, shutter trigger cable release and MANFROTTO MK190XPRO4 for landscape photography.
Feedback
You need to know the snakes, do not risk getting close to the snakes, even if they are not poisonous, but they bite really bad, the wild reptiles can be really fast creatures, always do your risk assessment to make sure if it's worth the risk, do not engage or harm the creature, and try to stay away from them and let them be in their natural habitat. Use shallow depth of field, eye level and zoom as far as you can.
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