Rattlesnake

[gslaten]

I haven't seen a rattlesnake on the property for probably 5 years, but yesterday two showed up. Bad mistake on their part. This guy, minus head and rattles was close to 5' long. I walked up on him without noticing til he coiled and rattled, which caused me to beat a quick retreat. Once I started breathing again I had the presence of mind to get the camera. The lighting was not ideal, with the sun low in the west, and I couldn't get him to pose. This was taken hand held from about 10' away. Thank goodness for Image Stabilization





Canon EOS 5D
Canon 300mm f4 +1.4X extender
ISO 200
1/60, f16 Autofocus and IS
About 25% crop.

[Ken Ramos]

Nothing like shooting them in the wild, eh Gary! Seen a few rattlers but have never came upon one unexpectd and hope that I never do. The image seems a little hot Gary and I think it is because of the Auto Settings on the camera. There is probably a way around that but I really don't know, I had the same results with my macros when I first got my 20D and used it in Auto. Now I have started using the manual settings and have not really had a problem since. I believe it is attributed to that 1/60th of a sec. shutter speed more than anything else. Try shooting in manual at 1/200 or 1/250 sec. @ f/11 and see how it turns out, experiment a little bit. Other than being a little on the hot side, you got yourself a pretty good close up of a rattler for sure. MikeB shoots them from behind a glass partition, so I guess we could call you the "Marlin Perkins" of macro. Thanks Gary!

[Mike B in OKlahoma]

Good job on the photo!

Ken, I think I'd be more the Marlon Perkins of ratttlesnake photography, and gslaten would be more the "Jim Fowler" of rattlesnake photography! He can get out and wrestle with 'em, while I'll stay back with the camera behind glass and narrate, thanks.

[Ken Ramos]

Yeah Mike, I think your right. "Just look at Jim (Gary) wrestling with that 5 foot rattler. I bet right now, he could use some insurance from Mutual of Omha!"