Garter in the garden

It's not often I find a wild animal willing to hold still while I

fumble with my camera, so when I do I have to wonder if something's

up. My wife came across two garter snakes basking in our flower garden

this weekend. Naturally, I went to grab my camera. As I moved in to

get this shot, the more brightly colored of the two slithered off, but

the duller one stayed behind. While I worked on angle and zoom and

focus (manual) and exposure adjustments (-7EV in an effort to cut the

glare) down on my elbows, the brighter snake came back and crawled

right on top of its companion. This photo mostly shows the duller

snake (head and lower coils) but the body behind the head belongs to

the brighter snake. My wife suspects the duller snake may be preparing

to molt (note the film over the eye), and I wonder if this could

account for the more sedentary behavior as well as the duller

coloration. Any thoughts on this and/or any critiques are welcome.

Nice tight crop. I love this composition. Looks like a bit of a tangled mess but that's what stands out about it. Good dof to bring focus to the head.

I love snakes, and this photo really brings out the beauty in these Garters. Great shot!