West Desert Great Basin Gopher Snake portrait – Nikon D810, handheld, f6.3, 1/5000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 70-300mm at 300mm, natural light
Two days ago while out exploring the West Desert of Utah I was thrilled to come across a large Great Basin Gopher Snake warming itself on a dusty dirt road. I quickly grabbed my Nikon D810 with a 70-300mm lens attached to it out of my backpack to take images of the snake. My bird gear setup didn’t allow me to get as close to this snake as I wanted to be. My 70-300mm lens did.
Now I know that some people don’t like snakes but I’m a fan of snakes because they are necessary and beneficial for the environment. I give venomous snakes plenty of room and the respect they deserve. On the other hand, I do get closer to nonvenomous snakes for photos.
Great Basin Gopher Snake close up – Nikon D810, handheld, f6.3, 1/6400, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 70-300mm at 220mm, natural light
That morning I had been hoping to find male tarantulas on the move or snakes on the go. This Great Basin Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola) was great find. It can be difficult to spot these snakes on dirt roads that are nearly the same color as they are.
Because I didn’t know how long the Gopher Snake was going to stay I hopped out of my Jeep and hoped that my camera settings would work well. My camera settings worked just fine and I was pleased with the resulting images. I took quite a few portraits and close up photos of the snake.
West Desert Great Basin Gopher Snake – Nikon D810, handheld, f6.3, 1/6400, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 70-300mm at 70mm, natural light
In addition I also backed up so that I could take images that showed the length of the Gopher Snake’s body stretched across the dusty dirt road. After taking the photos I wanted I carefully maneuvered around the snake and headed down the road.
Everything in nature is connected and so is this snake. I’ve heard that some people think that the only good snake is a dead one. That is simply not true.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Gopher Snake photos plus facts and information about this species.
Great pics. Love the close-ups. I agree…snakes get a bad rap. We used to see a lot of Gopher and King snakes when we lived in No. Calif. At the same time we never saw many mice – or rats even ground squirrels – and always gave the snakes credit for that. Thanks Mia.
I give snakes plenty of room – many of ours are very venomous, but do appreciate their beauty. And the job they do.
Great find and shots. Snakes don’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling like they do my daughter but I don’t mind them. I have been seeing a lot of snakes this year. Mostly on roads. The roads I have seen them on have been well trafficked so I usher the snakes of the road. I see to many smashed while still warming in the morning sun and sluggish.
Great shots Mia and I couldn’t agree with you more! I’ve actually stopped and scared Rattlers off the road so they wouldn’t be run over. They don’t chase people and only bite you in self defense so let’s live and let live, they are a part of the ecology!!