Dina came running upstairs telling me a snake was outside. A snake? Not sure what to do, but grab my D300 with my Sigma 150mm macro and get shootin’! She stops me at the door as he is right at the foot step. I carefully open the door and and walk over him. Finding out he was a northern brown snake I wasn’t as concerned about being bit. They normally eat soft bodied creatures such as slugs and earthworms. They still look pretty cool being over a foot in length though.

Shooting at f/2.8 gives this amazingly fine depth of field. I made sure to watch my film plane to my subject as well so I would get his whole face in focus. If the film plane or back of the camera was on an angle to my subject and not parallel I would only get a section in focus and not a horizontal stroke. Plus shooting at f/2.8 helped when hand holding the lens although there was enough light to stop down if need be. Another key with using a wider aperture is to block out that unappealing back drop. Could you be sure this was at my doors footstep and welcome mat without me telling you? I’d bet not without analyzing it. As for getting that tongue where it is? Ripping that shutter release button and trying to anticipate the release. Luck doesn’t hurt either, but we can help to create some of that by being prepared and using our knowledge/experience.

As he felt the tension was too much he decided to head back to the garden. Revealing to us as we moved the mat there was another northern brown snake. Amazing what we can find in our backyards at times. I don’t have much grass in the NYC concrete jungle, but apparently just enough. My next quest will be seeking out snails after a good rain.

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More to come. Working on a new portfolio through Smugmug. Not a fan of Zenfolio anymore. Stay tuned!