October 23, 2011
Prairie Rattlesnake in Custer State Park, South Dakota

Two days ago in Custer State Park, I came across a prairie rattlesnake on a dirt road. I quickly stopped, set my molar beanbag on the ground near the minimum focus distance of my 500 f4, focused while still standing up, then put the camera on the beanbag and photographed the beautiful snake. Placing the long lens on the beanbag is a quick way to support it near ground level to get eye-level shots of reptiles and amphibians on a dirt road. Plus, it tends to turn the dirt road into just a sandy area because tire tracks are obscured. It's useful to prefocus before getting the camera close to the ground because it's easier for the autofocus to lock on because at such a low angle, there isn't much behind the subject and it would take quite a while for the autofocus system to find the subject near the minimum focus distance if it was starting from a focus point much farther away.