We meet again? (now with rework)

With the log & reflection taken down more in Lightroom (linear gradient) -

The same log on the same river and look what I saw - a wood turtle. Could it be the same one I photographed last year? Possibly given they don’t have large territories and don’t venture out of them if food and mates are plentiful. This one is the same size and absolutely on the same spot.

The timing was perfect - I watched her climb up and out of the water from the other side and paddled by her slowly as she got some sun. A pontoon boat even went by a couple times and she didn’t move. Neither did the painted turtle further up the log. This time I got a great plastron shot. So orange!

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Other shots with a full reflection of the turtle were softer than this one so I went with this rather than include it and have less detail. I also felt a reflection took attention away from that regal pose. Thoughts? Oh and how did I do managing this huge dynamic range?

Technical Details

Handheld in the kayak, I think I had the CPL on as well to reduce some of the glare

image

Lr for initial work to smooth that huge tonal range - took down highlights and blacks, raised shadows and whites. Cropped a bit to exclude reflection. Used a linear gradient to further darken that log and its reflection. Topaz Denoise and then Photoshop to remove some distractions in the background and introduce an s-curve to the orange color in the plastron and carapace.

Wonderful capture, Kris. Don’t know how you manage to get so close without the turtles slipping back in the water? Every time I’m even close to the water with turtles, they are gone in a heart beat! You must be very stealthy. Love the look and the perfect angle of the log. Nicely done.

Nicely done, Kris. This is an exceptional portrait of the turtle.

Oh believe me, I hear a lot of plop/splash when I’m paddling, but I think the boat reassures them a bit. If a population is really isolated and doesn’t see boats much, they can be pretty chill, but sometimes they just freak out at the mere sight of watercraft. Like ducks that way sometimes. But other populations are more used to humans and the way we get around the water. This river is narrow, shallow and bendy so motorized boats have to go slowly and of course I was pretty slow in my human-powered boat, too, so I didn’t appear threatening. I just sort of drifted up to her and then zoomed in. This is a crop, but not by that much.

Thanks @David_Bostock - she is a beauty and I swear it’s the same turtle, lol.

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I just love the pose and the eye contact !
You may tone down the log and the reflection.

Thanks @JRajput - she is so regal and calm, hardly moved except once to try to snatch a bug out of the air (she missed). I put a 2nd shot with the log/reflection reduced in exposure. Does it look weird? It started to if I went further. Full sun is a pain!

It certainly looks better, but you can try ‘burning’ it further.

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