Shadowed Turtle

I had heard that a pool of crystal clear water wells up out of a lava field right at the edge of a small lagoon near an ancient site steeped in Hawaiian history. I found the pool , sometimes called the Queen's Bath ( there are many!), and it would be hard to imagine water can be any clearer.

This whole area used to be a sacred Hawaiian site. Close by I came upon a narrow canal that connected the lagoon to a small pond. This baby sea turtle was in no hurry to decide where to be next.

This image has a deep resonance for me. Many beautiful layers of the three dimensional landscape are overlayed to form this visual world. The green reflection of the trees above, the sky, and clouds, merge at the water's surface to float above the turtle gliding just above the gently lit sandy bottom. The water’s surface creates the intriguing fusion of these visual planes.

When I shot this, there was a sense of time slowed down. With the subtilest movement, the turtle adjusted her position. The turtle has not changed much over millions of years. It is a being of great endurance. Here, in an unconcerned moment, she hovered just above the sand adjusting her position with an almost imperceptible move of a flipper. I knew I was witnessing a being with practiced presence.