Your opinion? Garter Snake and Me...Face to Face

[Tina Boes]

This is a Garter Snake, harmless unless provoked. Not normally a Macro subject, but this one let me lie down on the ground and get within inches of his face. When he finally decided to move on he wound up under the jacket I had laid on the ground to lie down on.
I had just hit the woods for a mushroom photo hunt, and this is the first thing that I saw.
In the first photo it looks like he has a trail of smoke coming out of his mouth, I believe that is the light trail from his tongue flipping back in.
The second photo is just to show his colors. He has patterns of bright red in a line down the body.
The third one I call "Snake Eyes". LOL Too bad that snout was a bit out of focus, but I sure got those eyes staring at me.

Nikon D7100, 85mm macro lens, manual focus and handheld, F5.6, ISO320, 1/160 sec.

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[Andy Smith]

You gotta love snakes, but they are tough to photograph close up like this. You did a good job with a willing model. Would have been nice if the third image was all in focus like you mention, but yes those eyes are great.

 

[Helix_2648]

Wow! I love these photos! Especially the third one! You were really lucky to find such a beautiful snake and that it was patient enough to let you take some photos of it!

 

[Greg Shchepanek]

I absolutely love capturing snakes doing their thing in the woods. Love the eye focus, he looks like he is a big one ?

 

[Tina Boes]

I absolutely love capturing snakes doing their thing in the woods. Love the eye focus, he looks like he is a big one ?

These are very common here and not usually very big. They eat small toads/frogs, worms and all kinds of small rodents. I think they keep the moles and small mice in check here. This one was larger than most, about a foot and a half long and very healthy looking.