Shoot or Strike?

by Judy Kennedy

Title

Shoot or Strike?

Artist

Judy Kennedy

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

The story behind the image: Recently (June 29, 2019), I had the pleasure and capturing a Mojave Rattlesnake on my property and then releasing it back into the wild. This is not an irregular event for me, so I always take advantage of the situation and get some video footage and photographs out of it for artistic and educational purposes. I love these snakes and the mojave (pronounced mohavee with the accent on the “ha”) is probably my favorite rattler because its markings are so distinct and its personality is a bit feisty. Considered one of the most dangerous vipers in the United States, its venom is neurotoxic - meaning that if you’re unlucky enough to get in its way and suffer the consequences, the symptoms include paralysis, difficulty breathing, and even death. So stay out of their way! They were here first, and only strike in self-defense. Now, as you can see by my previous, non-manipulated photos of this snake, they are masters of camouflage so it’s easy not to see them - that’s part of their defense. Most of the time, they’ll feel your vibration and give off a warning rattle before you get too close. But if they’re hiding under some brush and haven’t warmed up for the day, that might not happen. You could get struck if you step on them, so it’s really, really important to watch where you’re going if you’re hiking in the desert. Otherwise, if you’re lucky enough to see them from a safe distance, then enjoy their beauty and grace. They keep rodent populations down and are equally vital for the health of the ecosystem.

The artistic digital manipulation of this image: This is a still captured from video footage that I digitally manipulated for artistic effect. I took several still frames for this purpose. This one is called “Shoot or Strike?” because it looks like the snake and I are in some kind of stand off. Fortunately, there was no striking - only shooting, and with that, only from my camera lenses! Of all the still frames captured from video footage, some of it remote, this one seems the most problematic, posterizing aside, because it really looks like the snake is in striking distance, but that is an illusion produced by the camera behind the cameras so to speak (i was using 3-4!) The safe distance to keep from a venomous viper is two of the snake’s body lengths. I can assure you I was beyond that distance and quite comfortable where I was sitting!

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July 16th, 2019

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