Portrait of a Rattlesnake

I went to the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains over the weekend with a fellow photographer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27336152@N00/), and he introduced me to this spot in the desert.

It was not a particularly warm day, but the sun came out for a while toward late morning, and we found several rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the rocks. One in particular was surprisingly cooperative, allowing us to take our time to get the shots framed and focussed.