Now that it is spring, I have started carrying around my macro lens, which I was able to use to get this really close-up shot today of an Eastern Garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) at Huntley Meadows Park, my favorite local spot for nature photography. The snake was curled up in a mossy area and seemed to be a little sluggish. Consequently, he did not slither away when I got down low and moved in close to take this photo.
CORRECTION: Fellow photographer and blogger Walter Sanford, who is much more of an expert in snakes than I am, has identified this snake as a Common Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus), not an Eastern Garter snake.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Great photo, Mike!! Well-composed. Fun shot!
Thanks. All winter long I have relied on my telephoto lens. It was nice to be able to have a subject close enough that I could use my 180mm macro lens.
Where are the shots of the snake’s flicking tongue, Mike? BTW, now that I see a close-up view of the snake, it is clearly a Common Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus) as indicated by the absence of “dark vertical lines on the margins of the supralabial scales.” Source Credit: http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/reptiles/snakes/common-ribbonsnake/common_ribbonsnake.htm
I’ll look tomorrow at the shots again to see if any of the flicking tongue shots are worth sharing. I think that depth of field was an issue in many of them, causing the tongue to be out of focus even when the head was in focus.
Snakes alive, it must be spring there! Interesting pose by the big guy.
It was in the fifties today and there were snakes and even a few spiders out today. This was a pretty small snake. but an interesting pose that I photographed from about a foot away.
Great shot! It took me a couple of seconds to realize it was its body and not a tire in the background!
Very cute and photogenic snake.
Definitely cute (it was a little snake) and cooperative. Most of all, though, it’s non-poisionous, so I didn’t mind getting in close.
That’s great. The large, surprised eye and pursed lips give this snake all kinds of personality. He’s probably thinking, “What kind of macro lens is that?”
Thanks. There were a few moments when the snake was a little agitated and stuck out its forked tongue a lot, but I was not in a good position to capture those movements. The snake seemed to feel more curious than threatened. For the record, the macro lens has a huge hood that makes it look pretty impressive. The snake probably noticed that I had a Canon and was wondering why I was not using a Canon lens.
Great photo Mike although I’d have thought it was a garter snake to begin with too!
I’m not very good at identification in general and snakes are not something that I have spent a lot of time with. I like the way that the shot makes it look like the spider has lips–they remind me a little of Mick Jagger’s.
This is so 3D I was taken aback
That’s one of the joys of a macro lens–it has a really shallow depth of field that helps to separate the subject from the background in many cases. The down side, though, is that it’s hard to be sure that the important things are in focus. In this case, I wanted to have the eye in focus and some of the other elements of the snake’s head are not so sharp (and the body is very blurry, an effect that I really like).
That’s a great shot. I’ve never been able to get that close to a snake!
The good news is that this macro lens (180mm) lets me get close-up shots without getting as physically close as a 100mm or 60mm macro lens. I suspect that the temperature was low enough that this snake was not in any hurry to move and like the spot that he was in, where he could bask in the sun.
A really wonderful shot. This snake look like it has a personality!
Thanks. I have a few more fun shots from that little session that I may post a bit later.