First Rattlesnake of the year :-)

[reptileexperts]

Well, I'm off in the southern coast of Texas working on a photography contest with another professional photography friend of mine, and part of the contest includes herps. So I am having a blast spending a couple hours mid day and mid evening working in the field collecting herps and what not, managed a couple lizard species thus far, and one snake (but a nice dangerous one!) C. Atrox, or commonly known - Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. I had been chasing this guy for two days after seeing him flee into a large pack of cactus. Then finding shedding from him the next morning. That afternoon it was ON and sure enough, I had to tip a deer stand but I got him!



then after storing him in a sealed tub indoors with me under careful lock and key, we brought him out for some shots in a controlled natural setting where we could set lighting as needed . . .







and the big finale shot



All in all a great snake to work with, and a real gem of a species. Venomous has always held a special place in my heart, and any time I get to work with a wild snake I am the happiest person alive



Cheers

[bfirecat]

That 4th picture is amazing!!

An outrage if that one doesn't win the contest

[reptileexperts]

Another shot from this morning


and what happens when the rattlesnake decides it wants your camera . . . you go ahead and give it to him. This was moments before he bit the flash twice and almost decided to bite the lens! he was not a happy camper . . .

[I-KandyReptiles]

I had to save the one with the sun setting. That's beyond beautiful and needs to be made into a poster or something!!

[Luciferskeeper]

Gorgeous snake and even better pics.

[gsarchie]

Beautiful snake and great pictures! Love me some Crotalus or any other rattler genus of any kind!

[reptileexperts]

Thanks guys, the photoshoots went fairly well up until he decided to kill my flash! Part of the risks I suppose :-)

[Willie76]

They always look so ticked off though...but love them!

[MisterKyte]

Gorgeous shots there and there are few things more impressive than a pissy Rattler! If you don't mind me asking though, do you have a larger version of the 2nd picture? I'd love to use it for my desktop background.

Once again, great photo shoot and great find!

[reptileexperts]

Gorgeous shots there and there are few things more impressive than a pissy Rattler! If you don't mind me asking though, do you have a larger version of the 2nd picture? I'd love to use it for my desktop background.

Once again, great photo shoot and great find!

www.flickr.com/codyconway the high rez is on there for people to access (not large print quality but higher than enough rez for HD monitors up to 1080p - even retina displays). Just find the image, click it, then click the zoom icon, then select original. Right click - set as desktop.

Thanks Guys!