Cottonmouth Water Moccasin

Well from the forum there are several that have run across venomous snakes recently.

Here is a rather rare capture I got of an ole cottonmouth actually out in the gravel road soaking up some heat I imagine as it was a rather cool morning.

Please comment and make suggestions as I am not pleased with what I got, I know I should have changed my White balance, to "shade" and adjusted my iso as I had been shooting Dragonflies and Butterflies and most of these were shot at iso 400, f-5.6 at 1/400.

Should have mentioned that he was not harmed and barely harrassed!

I was by myself and even though I really wanted a shot of him with his mouth open, I was not going to "press" that issue!

ducklabdad wrote in post #8554666
Should have mentioned that he was not harmed and barely harrassed!

I was by myself and even though I really wanted a shot of him with his mouth open, I was not going to "press" that issue!

you didn't pick him up by the tail and say he was a "little cranky" ? good going!

ed rader

I have handled snakes my whole life but after seeing what a large diamandback did to a friend (lost two fingers,and badly damaged his remaining nerves in his hand), she made me promise not to handle any poisonous ones so I "try" to be a good boy!!!

Gorgeous animal!

Maybe just me but these look like cell phone shots

Flo wrote in post #8559391
Maybe just me but these look like cell phone shots

Ouch!!! that really hurt, but I agree, got any suggestions!!!! My other shots from that day are good quality!!

They are not cell phone shots, and as I "asked " for suggestions as I was not satisfied at all with these shots.

I know that my White balance was off and I shot a couple with flash as I was in very heavy shade on a clear bright sunshine day shooting a very dark animal.

Any "suggestions or advice is appreciated very much"

Maybe part of it was me shaking a little due to lying in the road 12 miles from the nearest residence trying to get a closeup photo of a Poisonous snake!! Ha!!!!

Every one of the photos looks entirely different? The focus is off,I don't know how much time you had to "setup" something to focus on . like the road infront of the snake maybe?
Sorry, didn't mean to come off as harsh, but there is no detail whatsoever in these photos...
I understand seeing the snake causes one to be careful and keep a distance.

What type of camera / lens were you using? Knowing this will help with any advice or suggestions.

My first reaction was that it was tough job to get excellent pics with what looks like 4 different sets of lighting conditions in quick succession..

Rebel XS with a 70 300 Quantaray lens. I know its a low end lense but its what I have
Bright sunlight day but in heavy shaded area, as can be seen in the first shot with only small holes of light coming through.

Snake is almost black on light gravel, and had no real set up time, jumped out of the truck when I realized what it was and shot what I could. IS0 was on sunlight.

Second and third shot were with flash turned on as I knew light was an issue with this dark snake and hoped it would pull out some detail, (bad choice with just flip flash).

1 was shot at 400 shutter speed iso 400 at f/4 and 70mm

2 was shot at 200 shutter speed iso 400 at f/5.6 at 300mm with flip flash
3 was shot at 200 shutter speed iso 400 at f/5.6 at 300mm with flip flash

4 was shot at 400 shutter speed iso 400 at f/4 and 70mm

5 was shot at 400 shutter speed iso 400 at f/5.6 and 300mm
I also shot these with manual focus and in all honesty I may not have had my glass's on as I was driving and do not wear when driving. (So may have answered some of my own questions!!

Here are two photos taken with same camera and lense, one before thes shots and one after.

Its not the lens that makes the photo...the last two are still OOF....

I would like you to go out and take a photo of something inanimate.a leaf...a tree.something where you get to set up the shot.and see what you are dealing with?

My guess is that, in the main, you have answered your own question. I find that with my glasses.

Shots 2 and 3 will, I guess, also be at risk of being soft with your camera being hand-held and shutter speed being slow relative to the focal length you are using the lens at. The rule I have been taught is that to eliminate camera shake it is necessary to have a shutter speed that is at least the inverse of the focal length (i.e. @400mm : 1/400th or faster, @100mm : 1/100th or faster). Either that or the most steady hand....

The idea of checking out with something inanimate in a good light will help resolve any camera issues too.

I'll chime in and share one of the most valuable pieces of information that was given to me when I first joined this site.
Use manual focus and when shooting closeup shots of animals focus on the eyes.
At first it seemed like a pain in the rear but I quickly learned the technique and my photos have greatly improved.

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Luvthemtorts wrote in post #8571916
I'll chime in and share one of the most valuable pieces of information that was given to me when I first joined this site.
Use manual focus and when shooting closeup shots of animals focus on the eyes.
At first it seemed like a pain in the rear but I quickly learned the technique and my photos have greatly improved.

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Nice capture!

Wanted to say thanks to all that responded.

In playing around with the lens I have found that I have some focusing issues with some settings and it is going back to the manufacturer.(Then I will probably sell it).

I have rented another lense to play with for a few days and make sure that I am not havings some other issues.

Very nice copperhead shot glynnr.

Thanks,