As I was exploring yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park, I came upon this Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus) stretched out in the thorns at the edge of one of the fields. My first instinct was to move in close, but I actually remembered to take a shot of the entire snake before doing so. The “wide-angle” shot was taken with my 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens, which gave me a slightly wider view than the 180mm macro lens that I used for the close-up shot.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
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These are wonderful, Mike! What a beautiful green and yellow.
Thanks, Pete. Most of our snakes are much more muted in color, but this one really stood out.
The snake is a very vivid green against the darker greens of the grasses. I love the composition in your close up shot, the way the snake curves into frame (and with that pleasing kink in its line too) and it then intersects with the curving lines of the thorn branches. As ever, your sharpness capturing the detail of the snake is wonderful.
Thanks, Laura. As an artist, you seem to have a particular sensitivity to color and composition. I was thinking of those very elements when I selected the image to work on from the many I of the snake. It’s interesting that you noted many of the same things that I did, such as the contrasting shades of green and the kink in the snake. Photography is rspecially enjoyable for me because it lets me be both creative and technical and an image like this highlights both of those aspects.
I think that is one of the things I enjoy most about your photography – your deployment of your technical skills to work creatively.
I’m green with envy, Mike! I spotted a Northern Rough Greensnake at Dyke Marsh during the summer but it was moving too fast to get a shot.
This one was lounging on the thorns and was still there when I left after getting some shots of it–it was a nice surprise to find a cooperative member of the species.