Just a Snake in the... Mud...?

I have often risked my own well being for the sake of a photo.  I have climbed up on places that were not only probably not safe, but certainly not allowed by the venue's rules.  I have gotten myself knee deep stuck in mud, water, or plants I'm allergic to.  I have almost fallen into lakes, oceans, fires, off ladders, buildings, out of trees... if I see a shot I want, I become pretty much fearless.

This shot was taken this past April on a walk with my husband on a friend's property down in Kentucky.  We had *just* finished a conversation in which I stated I really hoped we didn't come across any snakes on our walk because I was sure it would freak me out a bit (we had just been told a pretty graphic story about a turkey destroying a huge snake and I was all paranoid.  I'm not afraid of snakes, I just know that I would never be able to tell you if one I came across was poisonous or not, and that doesn't sit well with me.  Not 5 minutes after we stopped talking about snakes, I almost stepped on this one in the mud on our way back to the house.  Instead of freaking out, I leaned in closer to shoot as many frames as I could get before he skittered away.  This snake was more fearless than I was.  In fact, I have an incredible frame (that is unfortunately not in focus) of this guy lunging at my lens with his mouth wide open.  He was pretty sure he was gonna take me down.  I like this shot the best of the ones I got because of the shadow under him.  Adds drama, and I love me some dramatic shadows!