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05/27/2005 10:54:07 AM · #1 |
First I hear my wife hollering at something, then I hear her hollering for me to "come here quick"!
This black snake decided to feast on some bird eggs in our back patio area. The nest is at the storm gutter junction with the roof. The adult birds were going nuts, my wife noticed and tried to intervene...too late, eggs devoured.
Emergency over I run upstairs to grab my camera. Then a ladder to get closer. I really wanted to get a super macro of this guys face, but he liked the camera so much (I think it was his reflection on the lens) that he kept trying to climb on top of it everytime I got close.
resized w/o edits
quick and dirty selection and crop
Considered reworking this for the 'Beauty' challenge, but then figured not many would consider a snake beautiful. ;^)
Thanks for listening. The kids got a few funny shots (I hear - haven't seen yet) of me on the ladder chasing this snake around with a camera. I'll post em later...now it's time to mow the yard.
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05/27/2005 10:58:43 AM · #2 |
Well, I do think he (she??) is stunning. I really like the tight crop. just need to work on the masking a bit, it's too sharp. While you're mowing the yard, try not to mow the snake! Been there, done that, made me feel really bad.
Message edited by author 2005-05-27 13:09:36.
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05/27/2005 10:59:41 AM · #3 |
| ok first thing i would have done is call a realtor....color me gone...no turning back....buzz has left the building !!!!! |
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05/27/2005 11:00:00 AM · #4 |
Where do you live that you have snakes on your roof?
Yikes! |
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05/27/2005 05:28:54 PM · #5 |
Ok...here's a couple of the pictures the kid's took.
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Justine - We live in central Virginia out in the country. Lot's of fields and woodlands...
Amy (buzzmom) - we would have called a realtor a long time ago...last year we had a black snake IN the house, last year one of the dogs was bitten twice by a copperhead, two years ago there was a copperhead in the stairwell going up to my office...a few years before that a timber rattler made an appearance behind the storage shed... Care to come out for a visit? ;^)
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05/27/2005 06:32:00 PM · #6 |
I for one would've shrieked like a friggin schoolgirl; snakes are on the top of the list of things that make me jumpy. Cool shots, especially of the snake's head close-up. You got big cojones amigo; going up to a reptile like that. |
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05/27/2005 06:37:55 PM · #7 |
| Did you set if free, or make snake soup? |
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05/27/2005 07:24:05 PM · #8 |
It eventually tired of our game, dropped to the ground and slithered off. Where it is now...not sure. ;^)
Originally posted by Riggs:
Did you set if free, or make snake soup? |
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05/27/2005 09:38:34 PM · #9 |
All of the snake-phobic people here should keep in mind that black snakes are good to have around (believe it or not). They're known to prey on other, less desirable snakes (like copperheads and small rattlers) as well as rats and mice (which can carry disease).
Please do not kill black snakes.
Thank you.
Sara
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05/27/2005 09:44:48 PM · #10 |
| I don't like snakes but this is a good photo. |
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05/27/2005 09:58:10 PM · #11 |
You're right Sara - We don't mind seeing them at all. In the past we've had problems with mice finding our cars a warm fuzzy place (trunk, glove box, engine compartment), but that's been several years ago now. The snake in the photos did not seem to be afraid or threatened by me at all - actually quite the opposite!
Roni (groggyfroggy) - Glad you liked the pic. Thanks!
Originally posted by saracat:
All of the snake-phobic people here should keep in mind that black snakes are good to have around (believe it or not). They're known to prey on other, less desirable snakes (like copperheads and small rattlers) as well as rats and mice (which can carry disease).
Please do not kill black snakes.
Thank you.
Sara |
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05/27/2005 11:46:03 PM · #12 |
Bump for night crowd...talking about this guy. Couple more shots in first posting.
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05/27/2005 11:57:53 PM · #13 |
| That's an awesome shot!!! |
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05/28/2005 12:04:01 AM · #14 |
That's a great shot and great story. I would have been hesitant to approach the snake; are they not venemous? How did you know he wouldn't strike?
I am always fascinated by Steve Irwin; only he could be standing next to a black mamba with a big enthusiastic smile on his face and saying "She's a beauty!". |
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05/28/2005 04:59:23 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Bump for night crowd...talking about this guy. Couple more shots in first posting.
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I donno about other voters, but if you put a little more fine-tuning into this it liekly would have made an 8 in my scoring on "beauty". I think that's avery beautiful snake, and for me the challenge is (or ought to be) to make others see beauty where they might not ordinarily find it. I'm not gonna be too inclined to give high scores to "beautiful subjects" unless I see that the photographer also brought something to the party. In this case, you certainly did...
Robt.
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05/28/2005 05:33:22 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by nshapiro:
That's a great shot and great story. I would have been hesitant to approach the snake; are they not venemous? How did you know he wouldn't strike?
I am always fascinated by Steve Irwin; only he could be standing next to a black mamba with a big enthusiastic smile on his face and saying "She's a beauty!". |
Blacksnakes are not venemous. As a matter of fact, they help control the venemous snake populations.
Sara
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05/28/2005 08:55:40 AM · #17 |
Thanks Robert - I was considering it but had concerns about what I would have needed to do to make it stand out AND stay legal in advanced editing. What I did with this image is pulled a tight crop from the roof shot, selected the snake, inverted, and changed RGB to (0,0,0) to make the background black.
I asked a SC member about blacking out the background and it was a maybe on whether it would validate or not - therefore I didn't go any farther with this image and shared it. I'll probably finish doing some cleanup (redo selection - smoother, better feathering, etc..) and put it up with my prints. Again - Thanks for the feedback.
Originally posted by bear_music:
... I donno about other voters, but if you put a little more fine-tuning into this it liekly would have made an 8 in my scoring on "beauty". I think that's avery beautiful snake, and for me the challenge is (or ought to be) to make others see beauty where they might not ordinarily find it. I'm not gonna be too inclined to give high scores to "beautiful subjects" unless I see that the photographer also brought something to the party. In this case, you certainly did...
Robt. |
edits - can't type! ;^)
Message edited by author 2005-05-28 08:57:37.
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