More on Ethics: Did I do wrong?

Recently while on a photo trip in Algonquin Provincial Park I had the opportunity to photograph a large snapping turtle laying eggs just off to the side of the highway that runs through the park. I photogpraphed her from quite a distance using a 300mm lens with a 1.4 TC. I got some great shots and as far as I could tell she did not notice, or did not care about, my presence. About two hours later, on my return, she had finished laying and I found her about a quarter of the way accross the highway. As I did not wish to see her get crushed by some speeding vehicle I used a stick to prop her up and slip a floor mat under her. After moving her to what appeared to be her destination on the other side of the road I went back to my car to get my equioment then set up in the lake she was headed for and got some more great images of her entering the water. This is obviously manipulation, but should I have passed up the opportunity? I am fully confident that taking her off the road was the right thing to do, but should I keep those images to myself because they are of a set-up situation?

Yes, you did a terrible thing & need to pray for forgiveness & send me a check for all your earnings for the next 10 years.

Relax-you are fine and if the images turn out, market the heck out of them. Don't get too caught up in all the overly sensitive BS that passes for 'ethics'. It is as stupifying as trying to figure out which church is 'right', whether or not Bill Clinton is more of a crook than Richard Nixon or if either used to ogle pinups of J.Edgar in his red dress. You got the photos & nothing is hurt. Its nice you care, but don't get paranoid.(yes, I know that just because one is paranoid doesn't mean thay are not out to get you) Anyway, shoot away & avoid harming the subject. Observing, photographing, etc does not normally do any harm. Think of helping the turtle as a good deed in that you kept her from getting run over by a big redneck or a drunk tourist or having a crazed baptist spray paint "Disney-NO" on her back. Enjoy life, take photos & relax as far as 'ethics' are concerned. You haven't harmed anything.

If it's ethically wrong to keep an animal from getting ran over, than there's really something wrong with the world. I think you did the right thing.

Sorry, I hit the button to soon.

 

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As for the images, you would have gotten the same images if she had made it on her own right? Therefore, I think there OK. If she had gotten run over, you wouldn't have gotten anything.

I see nothing wrong with helping the turtle across the highway. Given that road as highways have made animal migration tough on many species I think what you did was "good". Please allow me to impose my morality on you this time.

As far as the photos are concerned, I assume that the lake is part of the turtles natural habitat and that the turtle was behaving naturally in the lake. That seems OK to me. Now if you had digitally cloned the turtle and then digitally put seven turtles sunning themselves on a snowman in the Yukon during winter, and you tactfully forgot to mention the manipulation, then you would not want me to impose my morality on you.

I think you are worrying too much! You didn't manipulate the scene

in order to get the photograph and I don't see the scene as a setup.

I've moved turtles off busy highways myself including a small

snapper. If this was a sizable snapper, it must have been an

interesting encounter - those guys can really do you a lot of

damage if they get hold of you!

Thanks for your replies. I actually agree with the sentiments expressed above. In fact I have the pictures back and several mwill be submitted to my stock agent next week. The example I gave is factual but is obviously at one end of the scale. However, not all situations are so easy to resolve. Please see my subsequent post. And to Bob, she was about 15" accross. I would estimate that she had been laying for about 3-4 hours and was quite exausted when I found her on the road. She only gave the stick I used to prop her up a half harted nip. Plus my front floor mats are about 30" long. That gave me a bit of a safety factor.