Meet the Real Slowskis

For the last 20 years I have been riding my bike in Annadel State Park. To get there, I ride by Santa Rosa Creek and every year on warm days I have spotted one to three Western Pond Turtles hauled out in the same area, sunning themselves. The Western Pond turtle is an especially wary animal. At the slightest movement by a visitor to their world, they make an instant dash for cover underwater. I have tried many times to photography these turtles over the years and finally captured a pair hauled out, covered in late season algae. The original photograph was cropped quite a bit even though I was using "Big Bertha", my 500mm lens. I had to set up across the channel some 50 feet away for fear of disturbing the sunbathing pair of turtles.

Photo Info: Canon 1D Mark II, ISO 100, Aperture Priority, 1/800sec, f/5.6, Canon 500mm lens with 1.3 Teleconverter for an effective focal length 700mm.