Malabar Pit Viper

Dear Frirends,

A short visit to Amboli & this is what I found, perched on a fence just outside my hotel. EXIF as following :

Canon 550D, Tamron 90mm VC, f/11, Tv : 1/200, ISO :1600, On-Camera Flash with Plastic Diffuser.

Regards/Anil Kumar Verma

Amazing sighting. Is this full frame? I would have liked a slight more space especially at the right top corner. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Mrudul. Minor crop from 3 sides. Do agree with your comment on space.

Another shot at f/16, Tv:1/200, ISO 1600, Flash fired, Full Frame

Regards/Anil Kumar Verma

I agree with Mrudul regarding space in the first photo. Increasing the contrast a bit more in the second and reducing the brightness slightly would be better. In these kind of situations one can simply rotate to create a vertical shot and that will also work because we don't find any leaves. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Thanks Dada, Appreciate your feedback..Another rendition enclosed.

Regards/Anil Kumar Verma

Reminder: Unless you are posting differently edited versions of the same image, please post them as separate threads - it helps to critique better, without switching references between images in one discussion. :)

I wonder if you have slightly differently composed shots like the first one, which is a close-up of the head. That shot looks interesting to me. The second shot has the lighting too bright, so you may not be able to correct it in PP.
Pit vipers are never easy to photograph in artificial light. If you find one in the daytime, it goes without saying that ambient light (with a bit of fill flash if necessary) is the best way to go. If you've photographed any specimens with and without flash, you will notice that artificial light completely throws off the natural colours. If you have no choice but to use flash, you need to watch out for the lighter scales and the eyes, which can easily get blown while the darker patches remain dark.