© Capt Suresh Sharma. All Rights Reserved
SNAKE PHOTOGRAPHY
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A couple of days ago, I decided to have a bit longer night while working on some important issues. At about 0130 hours, I got a call from a young lady, asking if I am Capt Suresh Sharma from the Snake Cell www.snakecell.org First, I was a bit skeptical, as it was worrisome to hear a young stranger girl on phone at unearthly hour. First, I thought it was the usual effect of the snake article of the day in the Times of India, where I was part of the article, usually its followed by few such phone calls. So, I reacted in usual manner and waited to hear her first, to know if there was a snake actually. She told me that there was a snake, I had to assess the situation i.e. the gravity of the emergency, type of snake, whether call is hoax or real, any security required, and made her comfortable on phone that she need not worry about the snake, it will not jump on her or chase her, just stand at about five feet and lest he goes off her sight. Finally, on my arrival on the scene, I caught a small common krait. You may refer this photo www.flickr.com/photos/wildhiss/32788549/in/set-725322/
After delivering a sort of lecture about snakes and snakebite to the family, I got back home at about 0315 hours, by the time I washed my hands and face to get ready to sleep, it was 0340 hours. Thought, I should check my mails etc. before I go to sleep, as I would be getting up late in the morning. The moment I sat in my chair, my telephone rang up once again. Now, I got a bit jittery, suspecting the call from the girl who called me for snake rescue. As I know, this act of handling snakes mesmerizes young girls and they do get swayed. To my surprise, there was another call for ‘snake rescue’, I had to ask the gentleman that what was he doing at 0330 hours. He told me that while he was going to washroom in his house, he heard a loud hiss under the washbasin in veranda. He was quite shaky when he spoke to me. I asked for transport as I was too tired to drive my own. On my arrival at the sight where snake was hiding, I discovered it was a big healthy cobra hiding behind a flowerpot. I coaxed him to come out and he did oblige me like a gentleman. Now we both were face to face, me with tong and hook, cobra equipped with his well hidden lethal fangs inside his nice hood. Being a gentleman, he warned me enough to be left alone in peace. It was looking majestic, a handsome cobra indeed. I bagged the cobra and left at the same house under an iron pot, to pick up during the day.
Next day, I invited Gurbir Singh Brar a very spirited, passionate and enthusiastic Flickr friend. He loves photography as much as I like and love it. I like two things about him, he is passionate about photography, secondly he loves to work with good camera equipment. It’s a very good quality, which many people do not have, in spite of the fact that some have money and love photography.
Early morning, we were out and had a nice session with our handsome Cobra model. It was challenging me with its loud and clear hiss, majestically erected hood. Suddenly, with heavy overcast, light had gone bad and had to use Speedlite flash. I treated him with water to drink, so he was ready to pose. Not to miss, I sprayed some cool water for bath and to calm him down. Now, our model was looking fresh !! After some time, cobra understood that we mean no harm to him and was quite calm and gentle. It’s a technique to communicate and assure them that you mean no harm.
It was the first photo session for Gurbir Singh Brar with any snake. He was quite excited. More you may ask him yourself flickr.com/photos/gurbirsinghbrar/.
To most of you, it will look like a risky photo session. Most will say, I must have overlooked my safety book Snake Photography No, I will never overlook that.
I love this shot.
SNAKE PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG
PRINTS OF THIS IMAGE ARE AVAILABLE ON PHOTO PAPER AND CANVAS
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