The Western Ribbon Snake, a species of Garter Snake, has excellent vision due to it’s large eyes. Up to three feet in length, but very slender, their diet consists of tadpoles, frogs, toads, fish, and lizards, and are usually found near a water source. They will bite if disturbed, but are non-venomous. They are very fast and difficult to catch. This one was passing through my yard yesterday while I was doing yard work.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 60D
Canon 70-300mm IS USM @ 200mm
f/8
1/180 sec.
ISO 2000
Hand Held
Processed in ACR and PSE 2020 for exposure, sharpness, and cropping. Topaz De-noise applied.
Terry, the close-up is a fine view, showing the snakes markings and some good details in the tree bark. Is the snake’s belly as blue as this looks? The large view looks much whiter where it’s catching some light, so the blue tone is likely the sky reflection in shadow. While that blue is there (as the camera records), we humans compensate our interpretation and adjust to see it as white.
Hi, Mark. His belly is quite blue - almost an iridescent blue. I didn’t pick it up as well as I would have liked, since it was overcast and he was in the shade. I tried to herd him out where their was a bit more light, but he refused to cooperate. He was a beautiful color.
A gorgeous snake and I love the first shot because it’s so unusual. The vertical orientation of the snake and that it looks to be climbing a tree…well that’s so interesting. Great focus and details. The larger view is great, too, so we can see the full range of colors and that sinuous thing that they do so well.
