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19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Snail on Fungal spores

A Snail walks on a dead log covered with fungus releasing spores. This fungus was an active releaser of spores, which means it released spores continuously without any external stimulant. Snails mostly feed on this fungus as there were quite a few of them roaming on this dead log. These fungal spores, when lit up with an intense light from a certain angle, produce such amazing colors! I had never observed this before, but when I saw the spectrum of colors with bare eyes just by firing a low intensity flashlight, I was amazed at the vibrancy of it! So I fired an intense flash from the opposite side to bring out the colors and the details in the spores. When zoomed at 100%, you can see amazing variety of colors in each individual spores. This indeed is a miracle of Mother Nature.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2021
Photo Location: Shahpur, Maharashtra, India
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Copyright: © Prathamesh Ghadekar