Description
LOCATION: Florida, USA
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: My lifestyle hasn’t allowed for pets since I was a teenager. As a photographer, I’m constantly on the road, either shooting new images, or exhibiting the art, and it would never be fair to leave a cat alone that much. But over the years, many times, I’ve found a supermodel subject like a particular shark or barracuda who lived in the same spot for months or years, allowing me to create really special images. And I have a policy – do not name the wildlife! They’re not pets, and it my responsibility to stay objective and not anthropomorphize, for their benefit & mine. But I have a neighbor who’s 4-year-old has always been so curious about what I saw on any given day in my backyard on my shallow Lauderdale by the Sea reef, and I’d show her photos of the same turtle time after time. So it wasn’t me who named her, you see…. it was my neighbor! And from that day forth, this turtle has been known as Effy.
Effy is a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and for several years, I’ve been able to locate her on about half of my backyard snorkels and scuba dives. She spend most of her day munching on grasses and algae. When we first met, she was naturally apprehensive – I’d be a little scared of me too! But as time went on, she learned that the only problem I present was that with my camera right in her face, she had to sometimes get underneath me to get to her meal! I feared the day she might disappear, but until the time I moved to Indonesia in 2025, she was still around. Yes, I had definitely become attached, and I hated that. She’s wildlife – not a pet. And I should know better. But damn she became friendly over the years – I never touched her, I never fed her, but I did get close – reeeeeally close, and she’d very often run into me, and occasionally (as green turtles often do) she’d bite my lens. We don’t really know why they do that – some theorize that it’s the reflection in the glass, and others theorize they’re just in chomping mode and sample everything around their grasses. Either way – with different individuals, I’ve learned that yes, a turtle beak can scratch a glass lens, and can also most definitely remove a finger. But it makes for some crazy photos when they do!
So about the title… Anyone who knows me well has probably heard my most broken-record line – ask me “how you doin’?” and you’re guaranteed to be met with “best day ever!” as my reply. So when I caught Effy in this pose with her hands thrown up in the air just like mine when I say it, it’s all I could think of! It’s a positive, uplifting portrait of a girl who I’ve tried not to call my pet, but she really is, and I think of her like anyone else thinks of their cat or dog. and So we hope this adorable new smiling green sea turtle print shares his infectious smile with you and helps you have the best day ever as well. Now that I’m living in Indonesia, I think about her every time I see one of her kind, and sing that little song by Fivel from An American Tail…
TO PURCHASE THIS PRINT: Best Day Ever is intended to be a vertical image, but if your space requires another shape, it is quite flexible for cropping into a square or even a horizontal, because I originally shot it as a horizontal and cropped it into the vertical you see here. Purchase 3:2 ratio vertical prints online here, or contact our design staff to inquire about it in custom sizes or shapes.