A Few Fungi

With some hefty rainfall, the late summer is producing a good mushroom bloom.  A morning outing yielded some nice finds.   Walking a woodland logging trail, I first came upon this pair slender fungi.  They were selected for their form plus the surrounding landscape.

I spent a lot of time working to create a "close-up landscape" with a wide angle lens. The goal is to show the stalk and caps distinctly, and also show their setting in the woods.  The distant trees don't need to be razor sharp to tell you where the fungi thrive. To do this, three images are made on a rigid tripod.  The first two capture the foreground and mushroom stalks in high definition.  The final one shows the distant areas in soft focus.  Stacked together, the final image is under my control much like it would be for a painter.  See how the mushroom caps are defined distinctly against the soft area behind?

Continuing up the trail, these small orange mushrooms attracted me.

The caps are barely dime size.  The complementary orange and green colors are pleasing.  It was simple luck that the oak leaf landed next to them.

I admit to sometimes being lazy when it suits me.  I did not want to unpack my camera bag, so the 6 year old iPhone 8 was enough for this Amanita mushroom. (If I am right about this being an Aminita,  the answer to a sometimes offered question is:  Sure, you can eat it, but expect a nasty death three days later.)  My interest is in the beauty shown, not what is edible.

Here's a trick. To make the subject really big and the distant background soft, turn the phone upside down so the lens is really low.  Tilt the phone back so only the far trees are seen. They will be soft.  Do be sure the camera can focus on the subject.

Here are another few favorites that have found in these woods on other forays. A cluster of  Chanterelles in a mossy bank beneath an oak tree.

Old Man's Beard, likely Hericium caput-ursi.  Some suggest they resemble teeth. 

 

A common, easily identified mushroom,  Russula emetica.  The reddish cap skin is reportedly very spicy, but the "emetica"  warns me not to try it. 

This is commonly called Turkey Tail. It's a shelf fungus.  This was growing on a dead tree, and after the tree fell to the ground, it continued to grow vertically. 

Finally, here is a really beautiful mushroom which I suspect is another specie of Amanita based on the clusters on the cap plus the ring on the stalk. 

 

If this wet weather pattern continues on the Atlantic coastal areas, the fall mushroom season might be very rich in beauty to complement the autumn colors.

Paul Schmitt