Don't Tread on Me

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 20, 2012403 views4 comments

Shot this Prairie Rattlesnake this past June in Wind Cave NP, SD. Although Wind Cave was originally created to preserve the subterranean landscape, together with the adjacent Custer SP, it protects some of the last native mixed grass prairie in the U.S.

After almost stepping on this guy (the rattles really do their job) while hiking we were able to settle down and get some shots of this beauty in the classic rattlesnake pose. After a few minutes he tired of the attention and quietly slipped away into the grass.

I'm really interested to know if folks think it would have been better to go with a deeper DOF in order to get the entire snake in focus or if you like the shallow DOF to put the emphasis on his head and upper 1/3 of his body.

Thanks for looking!

Canon EOS 40D
Canon 24-70 @ 70mm
ISO 400
F3.5, 1/640 sec

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on July 21, 2012 at 11:46 AM

Joe,
I like the way you handled the DOF, it is very good with the cover this guy was in.

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 22, 2012 at 4:59 AM

What makes this shot for me Joe is the cool 'figure 8' shape of this snake. IMO the chosen DOF is perfect. Not easy to photograph a snake in high grass like that, but you did a remarkable job.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by James Campbell on July 24, 2012 at 3:16 AM

A really well captured moment considering the environment and the subject! Nice one

Registered on January 12, 2009, 48 Posts, 377 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on July 26, 2012 at 10:48 PM

Thanks folks, appreciate the feedback. I was really hoping he'd move into a spot with a tad shorter grass but he wasn't taking directions real well.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments