Scandinavian summers are short and there is a lot to photograph. This summer has been especially rainy. Moist weather is good news for snails and mushrooms which I was just about to experience on July 31st.
Whilst photographing mushrooms in the nature reserve Drakamöllan at the Swedish east coast I came across these two mating Burgundy Snails. This was the first time ever, that I have seen mating burgundy snails. They were making out close to the parking lot when I arrived at the reserve, and there were many other contesters around the loving couple. As a wildlife photographer, I just could not let this occasion pass. It took me about half an hour to get the photographs I wanted. A ground tripod and a 2.8/150mm macro lens on my Canon EOS 7D did the exposure job. The snails were so busy that I could choose different angles, in order to get a nice background.
I then left the tender couple alone and went deeper into the wildlife reserve in order to photograph mushrooms. Amazingly, the snail couple was still making out at the same spot when I came back about two hours later. It must have been love…