"The ease of a snake lies in its patience; its strike is swift but never rushed."

I needed a lot of patience to capture this snake with it's tongue out.

It is extremely difficult to take a photo of a snake, they move fast making it difficult to focus on their eye. Add into the equation a dark shop...

I resorted to using a flash (having checked with Jordan that it was ok) but positioned the off camera flash away from the snake to minimise the impact on the snake. I had a mini softbox that just fitted over the flash in an attempt to diffuse the light and reduce the harshness of on camera flash. I had to use settings suitable to using flash (my shutter speed was 1/160 sec. with ISO 100 and an aperture of f/8).

I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at Reptiles and Exotics Dublin and am very grateful to James and Jordan for letting me take photos of many of the unusual creatures in their shop in Fishamble Street. It was also great to chat to them and the customers about the numerous pets we all have - certainly a very friendly place to spend a few hours.