Why did I cut off the most distinctive part of the rattlesnake? Good question. Sigma 180 5.6 macro, tripod, Velvia. Exposure data unrecorded.

-- Peter May (peter.may@stetson.edu), April 19, 1999

Answers

Well I'm a sucker for any herp picture, so I don't mind the missing rattle. In exchange, we get a tighter close-up view of the head and body. Great lighting, focus and DOF. I like the way he's curled around the single blade of grass. I wish the blade of grass in the lower left of the picture weren't there, though. Your Eastern diamondbacks sure have more well-defined diamonds than our Western diamondbacks.

-- John Sullivan (sullivan@spies.com), April 19, 1999.

A beautiful picture of a beautiful animal. I was at a snake-exhibition two weeks ago and the rattle-snakes impressed by having this look of raw, inherent power (even though they were sleepy at the exhibition).

On the Q&A forum the question "what's the advantage with a 105/200 macro compared to a 55 macro?" often shows up; just add a link to this picture, no words are necessary!

-- Peter Olsson (Peter.Olsson@sb.luth.se), April 28, 1999.