Lots of herpers get pictures of giant rattlesnakes (or other species) that have been killed and are being posed. These are frequently debunked, with people stating that they use forced perspective to make the snake look larger. That is 100% true. But I thought I could post an example, using my 30-36" ball python. This will help people to understand how much forced perspective can do. The pictures aren't that great, but they don't need to be artistic. And yes the house is a mess. I had my wife take pictures of me holding the ball python from several distances and angles, two shots with me actually holding trouble and several with me using 3' tongs to hold him out from my body.


Here's a picture of me holding Trouble normally. Now, like I said, Trouble is somewhere between 30 and 36" in length. He's a sweetheart despite his name (I got in trouble with the wife for bringing him home, hence the name).


Here's a picture with me holding trouble out in front of me with tongs; I had my wife get all of me, plus some of the house in the frame. He looks substantially larger this way.



Here's a photo with her standing closer, and focusing on Trouble. He looks honking gigantic.


Here's a side shot so you can see how much space was between Trouble and me.


Keep in mind, we did that using 3' tongs. Many of these pictures will have a dead snake dangling off a hoe, or shovel, with a 5-6' handle, so the effect will be even greater. There's no photoshop or editing involved here. This is just playing with your perception. So next time you see a photo with a seemingly gigantic rattler that someone's got at arm's length, or dangling from a hoe...realize just how much that distorts the apparent size. You may also want to keep this in mind for any pictures the fisherman in your life shows you.