Box Turtle (II)

• Series: Photo of the Week • Tags: wildlifeturtlestelephotoEastern Pennsylvania

Some people say that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

Well, some people are wrong.

Quite possibly my second favorite animal that I had the pleasure of photographing this summer was the box turtle seen in these photographs.1

This time, the turtle was younger, more orange, and more skittish.

oranger, younger box turtle

I was out strolling with my parents to the cul-de-sac and back. Towards the rear, someone spotted an unusual shape in the distance.

I took a look at it through my camera, and yep, it was a box turtle.

He wasn’t the most receptive to photography, but he didn’t shy away from me either, in part because I was able to keep my distance.

A profile shot. Check out that shell!
A profile shot. Check out that shell!

He may have looked a bit askance at me when I was more head on…

This turtle might know what's going on...
This turtle might know what's going on...

And, once my folks and I moved on, he moved on too.

Photo of the Week: EXIF DATA
Time StampSunday, August 02 2020
Camera MakePanasonic
Camera ModelDMC-GX85
Focal Length221.0mm
Apertureƒ/6.2
Exposure Time0.003125s
ISO3200

About this lens

I was using the Olympus 75-300 II lens for Micro Four Thirds, a relatively light-weight telephoto with quite a long focal length (equivalent to 600mm on a full-frame camera.) When the lens is at 75mm, it’s roughly the size of a soda can.

It does have a learning curve and can be unforgiving. It’s an older design, with a slower aperture than anything at a similar focal length (but then, of course, that’s why it was a good price.) It lacks any optical stabilization, other than the in-body stabilization offered by the GX85.

The long and short of this, is that I get better results when I use the shortest shutter speed possible, and it is good when the subject is relatively still, like this turtle was. That gives me the opportunity to retake a duff shot, as I hone my skill using this thing. :)

Bye bye, box turtle!
Bye bye, box turtle!

1 Second, of course, to the majestic turkey vulture.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy these 5 similar posts: