Monday, October 24, 2011

Behind The Design - Garden Snails

Snail Mail Greeting Card
When you see an intriguing keepsake or greeting card, do you ever wonder: "What's the story behind this one?"



Nearly every day, my children come running to me, "Mom! We've got a photo opportunity for you!" On this particular day they were especially excited. "We found SNAILS!" So I grabbed my camera and headed outdoors. This is one of the photos I took. It looks so elegant and lovely, but that's not how I felt about it that day . . .




Now imagine my surprise when I stepped out onto my front porch and was greeted with a scene like this:




Snails EVERYWHERE! The 14 snails in this picture were just a few. Altogether there were between 35 and 40 of them. It looked like an infestation. I like little creatures, but 40 is too many even for me to handle. EWW! They were climbing all over each other, up the walls, in the grass . . .


Then one of my children pointed at our picnic table. "Mom, it's a snail race!" And sure enough there was a team of them racing to the top:




 Looks like number 5 is burning rubber! Nothing left but the trail (right)


After I got over my initial shock, I settled in for a photo shoot. One of my sons picked a flower and set it on the ground. Within a minute they were there to devour it:



Needless to say, I won't be looking at snails in the same light again!


Greeting Card Universe offers a variety of cards featuring snail photographs. Take a look at these and wonder, "What's the story behind this one?" Or better yet, DON'T!:


 



Of course I have to share a few of the gift items I designed for this set: 

And this one is my favorite:

Garden Snails On Gerbera Daisy Fine Art Photograph wrappedcanvas
Garden Snails On Gerbera Daisy Fine Art Photograph by PhotographyTKDesigns

You can view the complete set here: Garden Snails On Zazzle 
Follow my 365-Day Photo adventure on Facebook!


2 comments:

  1. What fun to read the story behind this photo! You're right, your final shot is one I loved when I first saw it. To hear about 'the snail encounter' and the role your kids play in your life is quite enjoyable!

    Doreen
    www.SalonOfArt.com

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  2. I saw your post on the GCU forum and decided to take a look...I'm sure glad I did! What fabulous pictures and I enjoyed the story as well. What beautiful shells your snails have...I've never seen striped ones...ours here (Northern Virginia) only have plain brown ones! At any rate, your photography is beautiful and I wish you lots of snails...ooops...I mean sales!
    Kathleen

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