After a big dinner here on Oahu’s North Shore, the extended family went on to look for the locals’ favorite shave ice place, while the photo nerd chose not to waste one of a handful of sunset opportunities and passed on the famed syrupy coldness. I jumped in the rented (insert non-sensical and unpronounceable VW model name) and headed for the shore.
Always on the lookout for an interesting foreground element to add that extra dimension to what I hoped would be a colorful sky, I thought a nicely round rock in the distance might work. That rock turned out to be a turtle. Every few minutes it would lift its head and look around, then go back to sleep, or so it appeared. I was reminded of the time we stayed up very late in Costa Rica to watch the turtles come ashore to bury eggs, but tonight I saw no evidence that this one was thus concerned. It seemed simply to be tired out from a long swim and wanting a rest from the motion of the ocean.
As often happens, the presence of a camera on a tripod attracted a crowd to see what I was up to, and immediately the turtle took center stage. I was pleased to see how respectful the humans were of the resting turtle, taking photos from distance, or just sitting quietly to observe and enjoy the unusual moment. The folks were kindly respectful of the photographer as well, because at the time of this 20 second exposure, there were 10 or 12 people standing or sitting just out of frame on either side.
