Waterfront Highrise?

[pixlbandit]

At the exhortation of one of my last semester's students, I went to an art exhibition held in a botanical park about 1 1/2 hours away. Of course, the wretched child was not there, and the exhibit wasn't really worth the round trip, but I did manage to snap a picture of these fellows (girls?) enjoying themselves in the sun. I decided to turn the snap into a painting. I'm not sure what kind of turtles these are, but lately I've noticed other pictures of their brethren in the galleries.

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=22451

Comments on the piece and the identity of the turtles welcome.
Vicki

[AngelicKim]

Vicki, that was so funny. Nice shot though, and the painting effect looks great for it.

[Chuck S.]

I'm not sure what kind of turtles these are, but lately I've noticed other pictures of their brethren in the

Their common name is Red-Eared Slider (aka Trachemys scripta elegans).

:)

[ronstelzy]

Love your title "Highrise". Very good shot.

[Wendy]

Oh that is a good image :)

Wendy

[ladybug]

made me laugh. I guess they must be really close friends.

[Cmcburnett]

Nice shot, thanks for sharing.

[kroberts]

:):) Nicely done!

[pixlbandit]

Thank you (Angelic) Kim, Chuck, Ron, Wendy, Ladybug, Charlotte and Kim (Roberts) for your kind remarks about my picture.

According to the Wikipedia article on "red eared sliders" (thanks Chuck for the ID), these guys commonly bask on top of one another--I guess it depends on the amount of rock real estate available. There was another rock in the same pond that had a two-turtle pile, but they weren't as photogenically arranged as these guys were. Chuck, if my memory serves me, you have done a fair number of fauna IDs here. I appreciate the shared knowledge.

Happy Fourth for those here in the US. It feels like it's going to be "hotter than a firecracker" later this afternoon (at least for Southern California). Stay out of trouble, y'all, and eat some barbecue for me.
Vicki