I was driving the asphalt section of the auto tour road at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma when I came upon a Water Moccasin (Cottonmouth). As soon as it saw my pickup it stopped and raised its head. I exited my pickup and took a few photos before it finally went on its way.
The Water Moccasin is the only semi-aquatic viper in the world, generally found in or near water, especially in slow-moving lakes, rivers, and marshes.
The Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge is where the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers meet. This refuge has lots of water and these snakes are abundant. I see them crossing the roads often to get from one pool of water to another. They can also be seen warming themselves on this road.
How I Got The Shot – Water Moccasin Crossing Asphalt Road
As soon as I spotted this snake I stopped my pickup and exited with my camera and beanbag. I rested my Fujifilm X-T3 camera with a Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens attached with a Fringer EF-FX Pro on the bag. (The beanbag supports and protects my camera and lens.)
After getting a couple of photos I would move closer to the snake. I continued to do this until I got the closeup I wanted. After photographing this snake I went back to my pickup and waited for the snake to safely leave the road.
Camera Settings
- AV Mode
- Back-button Focus
- Auto White Balance
- Multi Metering
- Single Point, Continuous Auto Focus
- Aperture f7.1
- ISO 1000
- Shutter speed 1/420 of a second
- 0.3 exposure value
- Focal Length 400 mm
Post-processing was with Luminar 3