Sometimes, you just have to look close. A friend and I were walking the main trail in the the Oostvaardersplassen in the Netherlands between rainstorms looking for birds, when, somehow, this fellow caught my eye in the reeds. It was so dark overhead and so dark down in the reed bed that I had to use the flash. Actually the tangle of reeds served as an ideal diffuser and made the lighting look very natural.

This is a macro at 24mm equivalent plus 1.5x digital tel-converter…which is my favorite macro combination…allowing a good image scale and a comfortable working distance.

I do not know what kind of snail it is. If I had taken it around home I would have looked it up, but I am not yet ready to go looking for Dutch snail sites on the internet.

f2.7 @ 1/60th @ ISO 125. Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.  Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.