Asian Vine Snake

I like this photo very much , the 8 shape of the

snake is fantastic well done

Feels like 3D studio MAX if you ask me, not a picture taken with a camera, but I could be wrong...

thanks for the compliment Stefan, but this is a 100% photograph

Is the Vine snake a pet, or was this shot on location? As I recal that is not a native US species.(neither is the bamboo for that matter LOL). I think you captured a perfect pose. If it were my shot, I would rotate the bamboo till it was verticle, but this is a personal preference only.

We've seen some very good snake pictures lately, but I think this is possibly the best. Wonderful lighting, complementary yellow and green colours and a gravity-defying pose from the snake which highlights its sinuousness to great effect. It's a rare example of a studio shot of an animal that creates the illusion of a natural environment using simple means. A flicker from its forked tongue would have made it perfect!

Thanks for all comments.

Heron, yes this is juvenile specimen of Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasinus), not my pet and yes picture was done in controlled environment if you can only control a snake. In fact I rotated a photo little but stop at that pose as I didnt want to get snakehead too much off the horizontal position which is most natural position. Bamboo wasnt too straight so I had to compromise (I will appreciate more comments on what is a better choice straight bamboo or level head). Bamboo grows here in Texas in city parks but we dont have vine snakes :).

Trevor thanks a lot for your comments. When I am taking photos of snakes, macros etc., and using flash in most cases (here too) I am using dedicated Oly flash with diffuser on extension cord so I can control direction of light I usually hate straight flash from the top of the camera, as the shadows look very unnatural.

 

Not correcting the angle of either subject is a great choice. This method describes the random behaviour of nature. Bamboo rarely grows perfectly vertical and usually kinks somewhere, whereas snakes are always twisting and turning, so it is good to leave a somewhat random feel to the photo.

 

As for a previous comment, I have to admit, it DOES look startingly like a 3D CG picture. But by the artist's plea of innocence, it just comes to show how accurate and realsitic CG images are becoming.

If you look at Mark's excellent portfolio you'll see the high percentage of animal work, making the reality of this obvious in context.

 

Absolutely fantastic shot. What more can I say?

tak trzymaj

Excellent shot. The colors complement each other and the curve of the snake is beautiful.

 

The viewer's eye ends up resting on the snake head. Therefore, I think that it should be in its natural pose. I would suggest rotating it back a touch, and let the bamboo orientation be non-vertical.

Wonderful one!

I have to agree with stephan. this doesnt look real at all. it looks totally 3-D studio max. The more I look for clues that it is a real photo the more it looks like 3-D to me. Weird.

One more time. THIS IS A 100% PHOTOGRAPH. Only changes to original: curves were adjusted in PS, photo was slightly cropped and slightly rotated. Sorry, but I don't even know how to work in 3D programs :)

at first sight i could have sworn that this was a CG picture. really crazy job you did! i posted the link to this page on a message board and the responses are about 50/50 of those thinking real or fake.

 

this is the first time i have ever seen a photo look so much like CG. i think it has to do with the vibrant color of the snake's skin and the uniform lighting.

 

 

Matt, I would like to see the link to this forum. Please post it here or email me. Regards, Mark

I'll admit, on initial view of the thumbnail I thought "great digital composite". Then I read the thread and investigated the image carefully. I looked at Mark's portfolio of snakes and you can see the seeds of this excellent image in some of his other photos.

 

This is what photography is all about - making photograph after photograph, experimenting with various techniques, and then one day all the elments come together and you create an image of great power.

 

Digital photography and photoshop are pushing photography into a new realm of sharpness that traditional methods (unless you're shooting 8x10) can't reach. This image feels so sharp (the lines of the snake) combined with the dynamic colors and additional sharpness created by the flash push into the realm of the unbelievable.

 

Exactly what great photography should do.

http://boards.gamers.com/messages/message_view.asp?name=elitegamers&id=zpxjc

 

there's about 10 responses.

 

 

 

 

Thanks Matt, I will soon try to post a few more photos of this snake taken at the same time to show that this is not a 3D creation but real snake.

OK, one here, why wait. Larger version I will upload to Snakes folder

Real wonderful

Ok Buster, we've met. . .now goodbye!

Wonderful

Xtreme good work!

....EXTREME !

Great colors, good composition, nice shadow.