Fungus Frenzy II

Although it is still very dry and the heavy autumnal rains are yet to come, in several local forests it is hard not to find any fungi and toadstools. I went to a mixed beech and oak forest on Friday, and a mostly coniferous forest on Saturday. Both yielded huge amounts of fungi, but both offered completely different species. I will be going back over the next few weeks to check for other species. I would love to see and photograph a Porcelain Fungus, but they are very rare around here.

Of the many species I did find, I liked the small mycenae best, with their delicate forms and translucent hoods. A small change in the direction and quality of light can produce a completely different photograph with these fungi. I find it much harder to create a decent photograph from any of the larger toadstool species.

As for the technique: there is (literally) a day and night difference between the light levels on the hood and underneath. To overcome this issue, you can use some sort of a reflector. I brought a folded first-aid blanket, with a gold and silver side.

The gold side produces surreal colors and warmth. Too surreal to my liking hence I hardly used it. The silver side however produces stunning clarity and some sparkingly fresh colors. I also experimented with indirect flash, by firing the flash into the reflector and back onto the subject. More ideas in my brain, I hope to bring these ideas to life in the next few weeks. As I also re-opened the forest feeding station, it will be hard to divide the sparse sparetime between subjects!

Fungus species; Canon 1D Mark III w. 150/2.8 and extension tube; 0.4s at F2.8 and ISO 200; Tripod and remote release, mirror lock-up and reflector

Written By Marijn On 04/10/2009