Last weekend, I visited the annual Reptile Fest in Chicago in hopes of capturing some interesting photographs. At first, my time at Reptile Fest was rather disappointing from a photography perspective as most of the reptiles were housed behind glass. And, the place was mobbed with people which made it difficult to set up any pictures.

Just as I was about to leave, I decided to push my luck a bit. I asked one of the woman who was working the tortoise exhibit if she would mind if I took some photographs of the turtles. Before I knew it, she was picking up various turtles (some of which weighed more than 60 pounds) and positioning them on a table for me. After a few shots, some of the other workers expressed interest in having their pet turtles photographed. Seeing the willingness of the participants, it wasn't long before I had one person grab a black tablecloth and another standing behind the turtles with a black cloth. Effectively, I created my own little studio at the crowded Reptile Fest with my Nikon D800, 105VR macro lens and one Nikon SB-900 flash unit!

African spurred tortoise