Basking in the warmth and light of the fall sun, turtles of all sizes were perched on the logs and other chunks of wood in the muddy waters of a local marsh pond. I was struck by the attitude of this red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans), whose stiff-necked and imperious pose seemed almost aristocratic. He had gained this prime piece of real estate by crawling over one of his fellow turtles and was now standing on that turtle’s back to provide himself better access to the sun.
I have to admit that he is beautiful and I suspect that he would be the first to tell me so if he could speak.
Red-eared slider turtle basking in the sun
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Mike, that is an award-winning photo. Great light!
Thanks, Sue. The subject is pretty ordinary and the muddy brown water in not all that attractive, but the colors and pose of the turtle, the light reflecting off of his head, and the interesting stump (?) on which he is perched make me like this image a lot. I’m thrilled you like it too.
Love the composition of the picture with wood and turtles. On a hike years ago, i found 2 box turtles mating in a ditch beside the old road. There was water in the ditch … and the female was underwater and he was above!
Posh turtle! I love it!! 🙂 Great shot, Mike, I agree with Sue- it’s a winner!
Thanks. It looks like folks like this one. When I saw the pose I knew I had the chance for a good shot. What I didn’t realize at the time was the colorfulness of the shell. It’s pretty obvious he had just come out of the water and his glistening shell is a nice contrast to the dull brown of the turtle on which he is standing.
The colour of the turtle compared to everything else, the alignment with the twig and the overall effect make this a great shot. Nice work Mike.
Thanks, Lyle. I am really happy that the elements worked together to make a relatively ordinary subject into a pretty good image (I still really want to shoot photos of hawks and actually saw one soaring this weekend, but too far away to get a decent shot).
Great photo of the turtles! I love the colors and composition.
Thanks. The colors were a little bit of a surprise, though I saw the composition in my head as soon as I saw the scene. Sometimes things come together nicely by themselves.
Out there, it’s all about climbing the ladder. And this fellow seems to have mastered the process. Perhaps he’s striving for a CEO position . . .