In my years of kayaking I’ve come to realize that when snapping turtles get over 10 inches (shell length), they don’t fear much - this one is about that size, maybe a tad larger. I’ve actually glided right over them from time to time as they sit on grasses like this one is doing. I didn’t run this one over, but it was close. I turned and it was pretty tolerant as I maneuvered to boat to a better angle. I was just a few feet from it - it’s basically right next to my hull and I’m facing right down at it. If you look closely at the place where the shell and the neck meet you can see leeches also having a feed. Ew.
I have a shot where you can of most of it in the water, but it’s not all that interesting - just more shell covered in algae and a bit of tail under the tannic water. So this is a crop both in camera and in Lr. Probably later in the year I’ll find more of these guys and want to get better at photographing them. Obviously I can’t clean up the scene or do anything to make them more approachable.
Specific Feedback Requested
Just some thoughts about whether this works as is or if you’d like to see more or less of our hungry turtle? How else would you go about taking pictures with the animals like this? In my time on the water I see far fewer snappers basking than I do painted turtles. They just seem to stay submerged more.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Panasonic DC-G9
Lumix G Vario 35-100mm f2.8 lens @ 93mm (186mm in 35mm terms)
f/7.1 | 1/40 sec | ISO 200
Handheld braced on knees
Lr to manage those highlights and bring up some texture and clarity. Some sharpening and cropping. Took it into Ps to remove two really annoying bits of grass, but I cropped away a lot more distractions.