A Green Snake in Cerro Cora National Park
A lot goes into making a photo. So, this series takes you behind the photo making and mindset of the images I take when I travel. This snake in Cerro Cora National Park was absolutely beautiful, I couldn’t resist an image.
The Set Up of the Photo
This photo comes from the infamous stream of travel photos from Cerro Cora National Park in Northern Paraguay.
As I’ve mentioned countless times now, there is an article which will be published in an online magazine soon which I will link to soon, for now you’ll just have to deal with the photos.
In short, my hike through the park was spent with my nerves quite high as there was an obvious presence of some serious wildlife in the area. I spotted a number of tracks and even a couple droppings from what I assume was a jaguar. At the end of the day, my experience was safe.
This snake, I will tell you though, is what really set off my nerves for my hike. I’m not afraid of snakes by any means, but seeing this snake right before I walked through knee high grass wearing shorts in the middle of nowhere didn’t help. In the end, my hike through the great Cerro Cora National Park will go down as one of my better experiences ever.
If you’re curiuos, the snake is a Philodryas. Likely a “Green Racer” – as I’ve learned later via google. It is generally a harmless snake, but does have a mildly venomous bite.
The Photograph
Sometimes, when photographing wildlife, the photo just appears and you have to be ready for it. On this occasion I had my camera in my right hand, and nearly stepped on the snake before I noticed it. I took a photograph quick, and then the snake slipped into the grass. Ideally, I would have liked to get really low and shoot the snake from its eye level, but I didn’t have time. You win some and you lose some in photography. I guess the only thing you can do is make sure you’re always prepared and keep your eyes peeled at all times.