When the weather is sunny, turtles at local ponds often bask in the sun in large groups. Sometimes the turtles are packed in so tightly that it looks like a mall parking lot at Christmas time. The turtles seem to have no concept of “personal space and often are leaning against each other.
I spotted a few turtles on Wednesday at Prince William Forest Park and was struck by the fact that all seemed to have chosen solitude over solidarity—they were perched by themselves.
The first one, a small Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) was perched on a small log in the shallow part of a marshy area. I really like the limited color palette of this image, made up of mostly earth tone. If you look carefully, though, you can spot a few red markings on the turtle’s neck.
The second turtle, a much larger Painted Turtle, had crawled entirely out of the water and appeared to be napping on dry land. The greenery in this image gives it a much more lively feel than the first image and the bright red markings on the turtle’s neck are much easier to see.
Like these two turtles, I tend to avoid crowds and like to be myself when I am pursuing my photography. Go with the crowd? No, I will leave that to others.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 