Hand held shot because the turtle was too low to the ground to set up a tripod. Shooting this image was a most interesting experience because the turtle was an ill tempered critter who snapped at me twice. That was a tad unerving because he was sizable with a 6 inch open jaw. Fortunately, I was quicker than he was and avoided being bitten. However, I did come home with bug bites galore from sitting in the grass. What we won't do for our art. This is totally just one original photo - not a composite.

It was my first encounter with a Snapping Turtle. I'd never seen one before. So I had no idea that he wasn't just a cute reptile (but much bigger) like my pet turtles of childhood had been. After getting this intimate macro, I then did some research and learned why the turtle seemed so ill tempered. It was in his Nature.

I now realize how I was very, very lucky to not have gotten bitten: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57z6ya-rnA The Snapping Turtle in my photo was quite a bit bigger than the one in the video.
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