Laptop Screwdrivers

These are some photographs of laptop screwdrivers.  I don't know if that is the official name of these I just know that we most commonly use these screwdrivers to work on laptops.  These tiny tools are able to remove the tiny screws that laptops generally use.  They are not small enough to fix eye glasses though.  I just did a quick couple of photographs of these screwdrivers as an example.

Black and yellow laptop screwdrivers

Three black and yellow laptop screwdrivers.

Shotgun shell photographs

These are some photographs I took of shotgun shells.  I haven't shot a shotgun in ages but I had some ammunition around and decided I would photograph it.

The first couple of photographs are shotgun shells isolated on a white background.

Shotgun shells on a white background

Four shotgun shells

It was rainy this weekend and I couldn't do any hunting or fishing.  I took some photographs of different bullets including some 30-30, 22 caliber, 9mm, a 44 magnum and a 223.  I also took these photographs of shotgun shells.

Green, yellow and black shotgun shells.

 There were several different gauges involved as well as shot and a slug.

Three shogun shells with poker chips.

Ammunition photography

These are some photographs of ammunition I did over the weekend.  Some 9mm, 7.62, 44, .22, 30-30 and 30-06.  I photographed them using my Canon 5d Mark II with a kit lens and an Alien Bee 800.  It's been a long time since I I have gone out shooting.  I need to go out this year.  I want to do some more shots of the ammo but I didn't have time this weekend with the kids around and the Superbowl coming on.

Steak, Pork chops, Chicken and Kabobs

The family decided to grill up some food before the Superbowl.  We had some steak, pork chops chicken and some vegetable kabobs.  It was a little cold grilling outside and the wind was terrible but the food was excellent.

Construction Barrel Dragon

I was driving south on Highway 35E and exited Garden Ridge in the north Flowermound area.  On the frontage road there is a bunch of construction going on.  This weekend I was driving down the frontage road for the first time in a long time.  I looked over right as I exited and I notice the construction crew has built a dragon out of construction barrels.  They did a really good job.  I had to come back a day later and take some photographs.  Below are the photographs of the Construction Barrel Dragon on 35E.

Christmas Baby pictures

This last weekend I did a photoshoot of my son.  He is now 8 1/2 months old.  These were shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and an Alien Bee 800 flash unit.

Two Water Moccasins fighting.

I was on vacation in the Austin area with family.  We went to Lake Buchanan to catch some bait for fishing and to see some land a family member used to own around the lake.  I had my camera with me like I normally do.  Its a Canon 5D Mark II.  On the way back from the lake, we were heading to Kingsland.  I was watching the roads looking for stuff to photograph.  We drove over a creek.  Off in the distance about 100 yards up the creek I noticed two slender objects sticking out of the water and were twirling around.  We were travelling about 45 miles and hour and the opportunity to spot these objects from 100 yards away couldn't have been more than 1-2 seconds.  It took me a few seconds to process what I saw and asked my dad to turn around.  I wasn't sure at the time what I had seen.  I thought it might be two ducks submerged or possibly two snakes fighting.

We pulled over and I got out while everyone else stayed in the car.  I walked down the creek and first spotted a small ribbon snake in the creek which quickly took off into the brush.  As I approached what I saw, I started to get excited.  I peered over the edge of a small rock cliff and confirmed that it was infact 2 Water Moccasins.  I went back and got my camera as well as informed the rest of my family.  We all took our time getting down to the area so as to not disturb the snakes.  I filmed about 6 clips of these two male Water Moccasins fighting.  At first I wasn't sure is they were courting or mating, or actually fighting.  I later learned they were fighting over mating rights to a female that was likely in the area.  I have lost all but one of the clips when a hard drive crashed.  I was using a kit canon lens, I believe my 28-125mm.  I shot this hand held with no tripod.  I wish I could visit the spot again in the future but I have several issues.  First I probably couldn't find the spot again even if I tried.  I am not familiar with the Austin area at all.

During the 10 minutes or so that I filmed and photographed these reptiles, not once did they notice my presence.  I was as close as 3 feet during some of the filming and they were too busy fighting to notice me.  This has been one of my favorite things to film.  It's not often you get to witness this behavior for yourself.  I have seen less than a dozen Water Moccasins in the wild.  I have caught hundreds of water snakes but very few are Water Moccasins.  Unfortunately to most people every water snake is a Water Moccasin.  They don't care to properly identify the snake and often it is killed for no reason except some naive person believes it is poisonous.

Water Moccasins are thick bodied and stubby.  Usually dark brown with darker stripes that are usually uneven.  They have cat eyed pupils as all pit vipers have.  When harassed they will coil up and open their mouths which is pure white.  This is where the name Cottonmouth comes from.

The Blotched Water Snake and the Diamond Back Water Snake are often confused with Water Moccasins.

Here is a video I took of a Blotched Water Snake.

I don't have any videos of a Diamondback Water Snake, but here are a few photographs.  Notice in the first photograph of a Diamondback Water Snake the pattern is very different from a Water Moccasin.

In the photograph below you can see the Diamondback Water Snake has eaten something.

The eyes are round and not cat shaped.