Pensive

Green turtles can often be surprisingly wary underwater.

This individual was different.

I spent some time keeping my distance and allowing her to become comfortable with my presence. Rather than swimming away, she continued moving slowly through the blue before beginning her ascent towards the surface.

For a few moments there was very little happening at all - just a single turtle suspended in open water, taking her time before coming up for air.

That stillness was what caught my attention.

With so little else in the frame, the photograph became less about documenting a turtle and more about the quietness of the encounter itself.

Pensive is a photograph about those brief moments underwater when everything seems to slow down - when an animal simply carries on with its life and, for a few seconds, allows you to quietly share the space with it.