PHOTO TECHNIQUE QUIZ : Nature Vs. Studio Backgrounds
If you like the following 10 pit viper images because they all appear at home in their natural habitats, that's great! I love showing animals in their natural surroundings whenever possible, though that can sometimes be difficult in the wild. I always carry multiple flashes, an umbrella or two, and a hook to manipulate specimens into the best positions I can get them to settle into for pictures.
Finding and recording wild herps is the ultimate way of recording them, but I can't always find time to do that, or find the animals I want when I do get the chance to go. The next best alternative? Shoot specimens borrowed from collectors and dealers in my home studio. I've collected rocks, branches, leaves, soils, etc. from all over the U.S. and Mexico for years to build up an arsenal of natural decorations to create backgrounds. I also pluck plants from around home to fill in some greenery on some shots. The trick is to use mostly small, generic types that don't glaringly betray the image. Mixing substrates with the variety of 'irregularity' needed to look authentic has also become an art form I continually try to master. In addition, playing with angles and distances of lights to simulate nature has been an ongoing learning experience; I especially strive to avoid 100% balanced light that often looks 'perfectly' fake.
The 10 snakes pictured are identified at the bottom of this page, plus a link to the correct answers.
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THE ABOVE SNAKES, IN THE SAME DESCENDING ORDER, ARE:
1.) Southern Copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix
2.) Trans-Pecos Copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster
3.) Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus
4.) Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus atrox
5.) Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake Crotalus catalinensis
6.) Timber Rattlesnake Crotalus horridus horridus
7.) Blacktail Rattlesnake Crotalus molossus molossus
8.) Red Diamond Rattlesnake Crotalus ruber ruber
9.) Northern Pacific Rattlesnake Crotalus viridis oreganus
10.) Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake Sistrurus miliarius barbouri
www.ReptileRally.com (< Florida 1-Day Reptile Adventures) www.BlueChameleon.org www.CornUtopia.com www.BillLovePhotography.com