Friends ??

Haha, best buddies! That's definitely a once in a lifetime and an interesting moment for sure. Better to be under the jaws than between them I guess....

Friends?.....I think not, but maybe a good chin rest. I bet the turtle is not really liking this much.
Nicely done, Mark. Caught this in some nice light too.

I'll bet the turtle's heart rate was a Leeetle up there

Beautiful Mark. Certainly never seen this before! The colored background adds a lot to this image. Wonderful composition.

Mark,

I bet you do not see this too often, just the type of image I like

Neat capture Mark, I don't know if it had been possible to maneuver a little to the right to get more of a side profile of the alligator, I think that would have made this even better. I could see including more reflection at the bottom and cropping a bit from the top if you have the space down there. I saw something similar here in Texas once but the alligator was much smaller than this one, although still quite a bit bigger than the turtle. Sadly, it was one of the few days I didn't have a camera in the car's trunk when I went out walking, I tried to get the shot with my I phone but I couldn't get close enough. Anyway, a very fun capture.

Hey Mark,

This is cool! What I'm left wondering is if the big guy is going to take his pillow along when he/she swims off (not to eat it, but just to use on the next log he/she rests on!).

I guess in a perfect world it would be nice if the subject was pointed a bit more towards you, but overall this image definitely still works as posted. Nice job on the exposure too - this scene would be easy to "get wrong" in the field (exposure-wise).

Cheers - thanks for sharing this one - good fun!

Brad

Good job with the dramatic difference in lighting between background shade and the main subject. The shapes make for nice composition. I agree it would have been ideal to have a slightly different perspective to see a wee bit more face/eye.

Love the setting and the perfect exposure that shows off the nice detail throughout. A bit of a head turn by the gator would help but somehow for this species it works ok, can expect him to be somewhat indifferent to humans with cameras.

Cool moment here Mark, and good exposure control in a scene with quite the dynamic range!

Great sighting Mark ! I do like the setting in this image

Techs look great Mark, I agree it's an interesting scene you two came upon..
What's the turtle thinking? He's hoping his job as head-rest will last longer than the gators appetite

Hey Mark,
I see now why you called the bow seat on the boat, you got to all the action first. This is another outstanding capture from our trip that you managed to nail perfectly. Must be nice to have a good boat captain at the helm - - Toot - Toot ! (That was my own horn). I don't believe we could have manuvered for much more side view on this one without spooking these two in the current we had this day.
Well done and I can't wait to see what you post in 'Avian' from this trip . . .

Very cool framing and moment, Mark!