To find his subjects, Laita initially got in touch with a snake collector in Los Angeles, who led him to another in Florida, who sent him to a buddy in Texas. Each snake connection earned him a couple more. "They all know each other," Laita says.
To take his photos, Laita had to go to the snakes instead of the other way around. He visited snake collectors and breeders, zoos and even venom labs, bringing his black fabric to photograph the snakes on-site where they are in their element.
Laita says the best location he found was a reptile gallery in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky.
Red Spitting Cobra
Naja pallida
- Distribution: East Africa
- Habitat: Dry savanna, semi-desert
- Length: Up to 4 feet