Saturday, June 24, 2006

Feathery wonders

(Canon S2IS f/3.5 at 1/250s focal length 72 mm)

(Canon S2IS f/3.5 at 1/1600s focal length 72 mm)

KingFisher
(Canon S2IS f/3.5 at 1/100s focal length 400 mm)


Heron
(Canon S2IS f/3.5 at 1/320s focal length 234 mm)

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Slithering wonders

Rat Snake
(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/100 s focal length 72 mm)

King Cobra
(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/40 s focal length 108 mm)

King Cobra
(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/40 s focal length 69 mm)

Russels Viper
(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/120 s focal length 72 mm)


Well i know a lot of you who see these snaps will not like them. To tell you the truth, i hated snakes before i went on this shoot. I guess this can be attributed to an underlying fear that comes to be associated with anything that is dark, slithery and poisonous. This shoot however changed my perception drastically. Snakes are beautiful creatures. Left alone , they rarely harm humans. Most of them are non-poisonous. They move like greased lightning. They are as graceful as a ballet dancer in movement.

The rat snake is a beauty! Its white underbelly is spotless and she is very graceful and slender. She is non venomous and mostly feeds on small creatures in the undergrowth like rats, frogs , etc. The Russels Viper is a highly poisonous snake. One bite can leave you paralysed for life, if not cause death. Its body has an intricate pattern of scales and patterns.

However nothing compares to the king of all snakes ...the King Cobra! This snake can grow upto 15-20 ft in length. One bite usually means instant death. Less than 3 ml of its venom is enough to kill an adult human in a minute. I am told that this guy can stand up to a quarter of his length. That means if a 5ft tall human is confronted with a 20 ft long cobra, the snake can literally look the guy face to face....Scary or what?!! Capturing this snake made the hair on my neck stand up. It made me go weak in the knees to think that this 12ft long creature was just one foot away from me. The diversity in nature never ceases to amaze me... Although my fear of snakes hasn't left me, i have a new found respect for these creatures. If i can describe them in two words it would be SLICK and POTENT!

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Flowery dreams - part 2



(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/200 s focal length 454 mm)


(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/200 s focal length 919 mm)


(Canon S2IS, f/3.5 at 1/640 s focal length 223 mm)