Friday, June 24, 2011

After a Long Wait, Russells' Viper Ablazes the Ramp Under Our Elinchrom...

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© CAPT SURESH SHARMA. All Rights Reserved.

PRINTS OF THIS IMAGE ARE AVAILABLE ON PHOTO PAPER AND CANVAS

Eversince, I got my Elinchrom set up, I have been dreaming about my much cherished photo shoot with this handsome snake, Russell’s Viper. Its a challenge as well, herpetologists will agree with me. I have dreamt about this shoot, many times, even while being in deep sleep, such has been the mesmerizing effect of this handsome snake’s beauty on me. Also, I must admit, I just can not stop shooting snakes till my camera batteries or memories cards exhaust. Love it all the time !

This kind of shoots are carried in mind all the time, till accomplished and are refined in mind almost everyday. I executed this shoot with meticulous planning and preparation. My wife did the `model management’, choreography and `cat walk’ for this handsome young Russell’s Viper. Good stage management! Its not easy to manage a Russell’s Viper for a shoot, especially young ones. The easiest to shoot with camera is the Cobra.

We had to set up the stage and every piece of equipment was in place and displayed in a tidy manner, can not afford any confusion whatsoever, when shoot is in progress. We had to wear ankle shoes and proper thick trousers, which I have earmarked for such shoots. Its not that snakes will pounce on us or chase to strike. Its always better to be well prepared, to prevent accidents. Even our Sawyer snakebite first aid kit was placed in such a manner that its clearly visible. We had discussed everything in detail before the music of loud hiss was brought on the stage. First, we had to extend some hospitality to our model i.e. arranged a visit to a special Spa, served him a drink, etc. We had to arrange a rest room for our model, so he could take rest for a while, between the shoots and we could reset the lights and stage. It worked smoothly. We had to make him comfortable, that is by assuring him that he is in the company of safe people, had to negotiate with him, tough to negotiate. Probably, all the animals say, never trust a human being!

We did this kind of shoot after a long time. All of you can do it if you understand snakes and the subject of Snake Photography. Good discipline is the key to successful snake photography, no magic.

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TECHNIQUE FOR THIS SHOT: This snake was rescued from a house. Shoot was organised indoors, under Elinchrom strobes. No artificial background was used, though was ready in place. Controlled light, just like spotlights, was managed with the help of snoot and grids. This kind of well controlled lighting made the background dark and this effect of black background was achieved.

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