A fly crash lands on the head of a Cope’s vine snake, Oxybelis brevirostris, in the Choco of Colombia.

Story Behind the Shot:

We came across this vine snake in the rainforests of Choco, Colombia. The way the snake was sitting, head up and alert, body coiled behind on a green and yellow leaf, offered the perfect photo opportunity. I lay down on my belly in front of the snake and composed the shot so that the eyes were on a level plane and in sharp focus, and the head was framed by the curled body behind.

I set the aperture to f/10 to blur the background but retain enough depth of field to get the eyes in focus. At this close range, depth of field is usually especially narrow so it is often a compromise between depth of field and getting a fast enough shutter speed. As I clicked the shutter a fly decided to use the head as a landing pad for a hot second. At this point I had to try and keep my composure and get the shot. One shot, and then the fly was gone, but luckily I had managed to freeze the moment.

Equipment and settings: Canon 5D MkII, 100mm f/2.8 lens at f/10, 200th second.