Took this photo of a visitor that showed up at our doorsteps after a night of heavy rainfall. Our apartment is at the heart of galleria area in Houston, TX with a creek running adjacent to our apartment building. Many a times when there is heavy rainfall and the creek overflows, we see animals and insects around our apartment.

Took the photo with the following camera settings:

Focal length: 50mm
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter speed: 1/80 seconds
ISO: 800

Camera used: Canon T3i, Lens used: 18-55mm basic, Tripod used: No

Explanation

Selected a large aperture to reduce the depth of field and blur the background.
Increased the camera ISO to 800 as it was a cloudy day with less natural lighting.
Chose an appropriate lower shutter speed of 1/80th of a second, as I was kneeling on my elbows and knees taking this shot which could have brought in camera shake due to my hand movement.
Also applied a warm filter using a photo editor to give the photo a yellowish tinge that would complement the yellow and green color on the turtle.

How this image could have been better

This photo could have been better if there was more natural lighting and with the use of a tripod. However, since the turtle was moving every few seconds I was unable to use the tripod.

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As a photographer who is always learning from others, I like to share the technique behind my shot with fellow enthusiasts and learners. Any comments/criticisms are most welcome.

I maintain my photography profile on the social site VIEWBUG.COM

Heres a link to my bio on viewbug - https://www.viewbug.com/member/Krishna_Kumar#/Krishna_Kumar/bio

This photo originally uploaded by me on Viewbug, Apr 2013 - https://www.viewbug.com/photo/3337023

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