Fungus Frenzy

Autumn is getting closer by the day. Although temperatures are still very pleasant during the datytime, nights are getting quite chilly and leaves are starting to loose their color. A good time to start looking for the first fungi and toadstools.

We set out with a small group of photographers from our local nature photography club and went to a very nice beech/oak forest. Normally a perfect spot for fungi and toadstools. But there is always a but: it has been an exceptionally dry summer. Water levels are very low wherever you look. A huge water expanse I regularly visit is now divided in two parts by a grass trail and several streams have run dry. And so was the case with the stream that runs through the forest we visited. The result: hardly any toadstools or fungi to be found as they need moisture to thrive. But then, you often only need one.

I found a small group of small fungi along a ditch and spent most of the morning at that spot. I got down low in a ditch to photograph the fungus from a low angle.

I positioned the camera so that the fungus was placed in the spotlight of a circle of light that shined through the canopy. The upper part of the frame consists of an out of focus patch of blueberry and part of the canopy. I rendered the image B&W in postprocessing, as I am of the opinion that the color takes away from the essence of this image.

Fungus at sunrise; Canon 1D Mark III w. 150/2.8; 1/3s at F5.6 and ISO 200; Tripod and remote release, mirror lock-up