On a recent paddle up the Somo river I was able to sneak up on many turtles sunning themselves on lily pads. Only the little ones can do this and they’re so cute. This one was eyeing me suspiciously, but I don’t think it dove for cover. I hate to disturb them. Check out the optical illusion at the end of the shell. Pretty cool.
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Is this a composite? No
Handheld in the kayak, elbows braced on knees, B&W CPL -
Processed in Lr to crop out a big spatterdock flower that overwhelmed the little guy, but did provide some scale. Also tweaked white & black points, clarity, contrast & curves. Brought into Topaz Sharpen - motion blur and very noisy auto settings.
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Good catch, and the reflections are quite a touch! I wonder about lightening the dark lily pad but maybe you did as much as you could. Maybe a slight crop from the left to remove a bit of busyness?
Turtles and frogs are my nemesis – never been able to get close to either.
I seem to have decent luck with turtles at least - check out my Turtles All the way Down post for more close encounters of the Testudines kind.
I took a bit off the edge on the left, but left the leaf the way it was. Posted in OP.
Sneaking up on them in a kayak can be done, but you have to be really careful to see them and slow up or freeze before plop in they go. In areas where boats are common I find they are less wary.
A nice capture and well composed, Kristen! I actually prefer the first version as it is more obvious that the turtle is on a single floating leaf (thanks to the edge on the left side). I also like the optical illusion that you mentioned. Great detail on the turtle also. Well done!
