Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are some more 05 thayeri--all males, photographed last weekend.

Produced by Dan Vermilya

Produced by Tim Gebhard

Produced by Josh Martin...and I've dialed down the colors already!

Produced here from VR parents

Enjoy! Will post more as weather conditions allow outdoor shooting.

bob

NT

Bob,

As a friend, I must tell you that you have full-blown "Mexicana Mania." All the symptoms are there. Most herpers don't realize they have it until it's too late. I should know.....

Your wife called last week upset and worried. She said you don't come out of the snake room for days. She also wishes you would stop blasting mariachi music and dancing around the house with mexicana in your hands. The kids are scared Bob.

If you need someone to talk you down, give me a call. Stay well amigo.

Dan ;^))

Hey Dan:

Yeah, it's bad. I sought help from a friend (Brad), but he fell into the same mess. I put salsa on everything I eat. My wife's okay with it, as long as I survive the Mexico trips--of course I don't tell her about any of the bad things that happen down there!

Cheers,

BH

How can someone with "Mexicana Mania" talk someone else down from it? Isn't that like the fox watching the hen house?

Incredible pictures Bob, can you come over and give me lessons? I can ply you with Thayeri.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

Yeah, but at least Dan accompanied me to the methadone clinic! Glad you liked the pics--the little guys are definitely easier to wrangle than the adults.

cheers,

bob

I took this one (and others) Friday evening. I am getting better, but I a still taking pictures of logs (bark) with a thayeri in the way. Some of you's guys (Bob, Mike, Tim, Dan, etc.) are just outtanding at getting good pictures.

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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

I wish I lived close enough to give lessons. I'd love to check out these animals in person.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

>>I wish I lived close enough to give lessons. I'd love to check out these animals in person.
>>

I wish you did too. Part of my problem is the snakes themselves. Not sure why, but I get much cleaner pictures of my wifes (and my) bearded dragons than I can ever get of my snakes. Probably has something to do with movement and lighting.

Here's a good pic, sorry it is not a mexicana, I certainly wish I had a mexicana pic with this kind of clairity

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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

It is very difficult to capture the true beauty of the mexicanas. However, if you want to see the best pics, this forum is the place to be.
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

Part of the reason that lizards are easier subjects than snakes are is that a lizard's head is easier to put in the center of a photo where most modern cameras will try to focus. Furthermore, the head is often the most interesting feature of the lizard, so having the focus on the head makes a good picture in most cases. With a snake, the center of mass of the snake is often at a spot that's not located on the snake's body. Getting the focus correct on any one point may not get the focus right on the rest of the snake, and the snake is interesting not only for the head but also for the pattern on the body.

If you have a camera that lets you adjust aperture, you should set the aperture to as high a number as you can without making the shutter speed too slow. Higher aperture means more depth of field which means that more of the snake is in focus. Another trick with an autofocus camera is to put the snake's head in the center of the frame and halfway press the shutter button so that the camera will establish focus on the snake's head. Before pressing the button further, turn the camera to frame the picture as you wish, but don't release the shutter button. Then finish pressing the shutter to take the picture.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

>>Part of the reason that lizards are easier subjects than snakes are is that a lizard's head is easier to put in the center of a photo where most modern cameras will try to focus. Furthermore, the head is often the most interesting feature of the lizard, so having the focus on the head makes a good picture in most cases. With a snake, the center of mass of the snake is often at a spot that's not located on the snake's body. Getting the focus correct on any one point may not get the focus right on the rest of the snake, and the snake is interesting not only for the head but also for the pattern on the body.
>>
>>If you have a camera that lets you adjust aperture, you should set the aperture to as high a number as you can without making the shutter speed too slow. Higher aperture means more depth of field which means that more of the snake is in focus. Another trick with an autofocus camera is to put the snake's head in the center of the frame and halfway press the shutter button so that the camera will establish focus on the snake's head. Before pressing the button further, turn the camera to frame the picture as you wish, but don't release the shutter button. Then finish pressing the shutter to take the picture.
>>
>>
>>Bill
>>-----
>>It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Thanks Bill,
Some of the photos I took Friday night do have the snakes’ head in focus but the body is blurred (just like you said). I have been trying to keep the head in the center of the focus spot (per your earlier advice). My camera lets me adjust more things than I can figure out how to adjust while trying to keep little snakes from departing confinement. I’ll try setting a larger f stop next time. Wouldn’t it accomplish the same thing by setting the shutter speed at 125 and letting the camera adjust f stop based on available light at that moment? Much slower than 125 and any movement will make the pictures look as out of focus as most of mine do anyway.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

I keep forgetting about the challenge presented by a moving snake. I've occasionally wondered whether JETZEN shoots all those pictures of his snakes eating because swallowing a mouse slows them down enough for him to focus.

Your idea of setting the shutter speed at 1/125 and letting the camera go to the best aperture available is good. If that strategy doesn't give you at least an f5.6, you should consider increasing the film speed setting to get higher aperture and more depth of field.

Another trick you could try would be shooting with the flash but using something to diffuse the light from the flash. For instance, you could cover the flash with a layer of white plastic from a plastic grocery bag. The plastic bag may diffuse the light enough to give you softer shadows. You could experiment with other things like tissue paper or a translucent plastic from a food container. Another thought is to buy an actual photographer's light. They tend to be hot, and you'd have to have someone flick them on only long enough to take the shot. However, adding more light would allow you to get faster shutter speeds at higher f-stops and prevent blur from movement and blur from a small depth of field.

Ultimately, the most fun would involve using a camera with a flash sync and using off-camera flashes, but that's probably more trouble than you want to undertake.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

But I like the one you produced best. Really nice colors.

Thanks Mike. There is no shortage of variety in thayeri, as the pics on this forum attest. It's one of the more remarkable examples of color and pattern variation in a single kind of snake.

Cheers,

Bob

wow those really look great. You and Brad must have taken the same photography class Hows the Oakland Raider Thayeri doing?

Merry Christmas,
Russ

Russ:

Thanks for the comments on pics. I am definitely feeling more comfortable with that camera. Your male thayeri is doing fine. He is transitioning to cooling presently, as I have at least one female in mind for him come springtime.

Cheers,

Bob

they don't get much better than that. It's so hard to do justice to the beauty of snakes with a photo, especially when you've held, have, and seen great thayeri like that in person too.
Nice job,
Uncloudy

I love the first one. He's what I think of when I think of this species.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.