I like the rich colours in the reflections, that nice big tree and the diagonal line made by that log, but then, in the next second, looking a bit closer,... there's a surprise with a big aligator on the log !!
Wow, I'm glad we don't have those down by our local stream !
As you said, I guess the turtles know what they are doing :-)
In just about every seaside town in the U.S. there's a store that sells "seaside memorabilia" including faux-weathered signs with directions "To the Sea" or declarations that "Surf's Up." There's also a selection of "artistic" driftwood.
Sometimes such "knick-knacks" occupy a corner of an otherwise serious art studio type of establishment - the work of a "serious" craftsperson/artisan who scours the beaches for such objects and "refines" them for sale. (I've been told that there's actually an industry for this type of thing. Tree limbs and other nondescript chunks of wood are chained behind power boats which drag the debris through salt water and sand to rapidly create "art."
I bought my prize sometime in the mid-1970s in Laguna Beach, CA. It looks like it's been turned on a lathe, briefly and it's been given a coat of some kind of wood finish. It's graced shelves and mantels in every house in which I've lived. I think the wood is Yew. It's about a foot high.
I searched for its "best face" for a few minutes before taking its portrait. It's sitting on a chair with a white tablecloth as a drape, looking a bit like the fine white sand of a pristine beach. Lit by two strobes fired through umbrellas.
Nicely-composed abstraction of both form and color, anchored by a human figure, giving scale and reality, but also increasing the ambiguity of the scene.
The composition is great. It's one of those situations where one has little say in the matter and the lines, form and color are just there and just "work."
The image tells its tale very well - It's a very tough existence.
I like it too.
It's definitely a good looking, eye catching piece of "natural art", with lots of details and texture.
The way you've arranged the lighting to show some reflections and shadows on that shiny surface help a lot to define its 3D shape.
An excellent photo.
Composition, colors, mood: everything is consistent.
The dark areas in the background are a sign that the photo has not been improved to make it worse.
LOL warm tones ... but without all those winter clothes everyone in the picture would be pretty cold! 😀 -- which is, I suppose, not a totally harmonious ensemble...