"Mushroom Soldiers"
Mushrooms @ the Ft. Pierce Farmers Market, Ft. Pierce, FL
Mushrooms @ the Ft. Pierce Farmers Market, Ft. Pierce, FL
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Aug, 2014Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
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Outstanding Creativity
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Behind The Lens
Location
These beautiful mushrooms were in a fungi booth at the Ft. Pierce, Florida Farmers Market. I was visiting family in Vero Beach and they insisted on taking me to the early morning market. What a delightful experience!Time
This photograph was taken about 9:00 a.m. in crisp morning light.Lighting
We arrived at the market about 7:00 a.m. and had pastries and coffee by the inland waterway. Then started to wander the market. So, I would guesstimate the time to be about 9:00 a.m.. I prefer shooting in morning light when it comes to macros because I can move around the object and find the perfect lighting or backlighting. In this case, it was pure, even light to capture the crispness of the mushrooms.Equipment
What equipment? I laughingly say, my old P80 Nikon Coolpix! Some of my best shots ever were with that simple camera! No interchangeable lenses, no tripod, no flash....just a point and shoot camera. This is a perfect example of letting a great shot take itself! Having the eye to see the extraordinary within the ordinary.Inspiration
Inspiration was easy to come by in a colorful, busy farmers market by an inland waterway! I do find that when I feel overwhelmed with sensory stimulation....I thrive!!!! I was scanning the market booths as I walked through and spotted yellow mushrooms standing up in a bag of straw!!! The fact that there wasn't any dirt caught my attention and was the reason I went to take a closer look. Once I started to examine the display, my shutter finger started to quiver!Editing
Post-processing? No, with the exception of minimal cropping. Again, that little P80 was a super camera and I saw what I wanted and shot it!In my camera bag
At the time this shot was taken, I just had the Nikon P80 with a UVA filter, small soft bag for it and nothing else. Now, I carry a Nikon D7100, Nikkor 18-105mm 1:3.5-5.6, Nikkor 12-24mm 1:4 and a Sigma 150-500 1:5-6.3. I have several bags, a small Manfrotto backpack that will hold two lenses and my camera body and iPad, a large Vanguard backpack, lay flat and unzip, holds all my equipment, rain cover, side holder for tripod, laptop, etc. I own one tripod, a MeFoto Q2....love it! I always carry a blower, lens cloth, 1 extra 8G card, polarizer filters and have UVA filters on all my lenses. I really don't have a lot of "things" and still rely on my eyes and education in composition and light.Feedback
Advice? Always have your camera with you and take shots...lots of them! Farmers Markets are wonderful places for macro shots! Think about what you are looking at, what do you really see? Here, I saw perfectly lined up yellow mushrooms........soldiers!!!! Soldiers of the kitchen! If you are fascinated by something small but don't know how you want to present a shot, take a lot of them at different angles and lighting.....study them and post edit the one that speaks to you. Try and compose your shot when taking it! If you rely too heavily on post edit cropping....many times there just aren't any that will crop perfectly and you lost your chances at a great shot! Be curious! Look for color and contrast! And, don't forget to smile.....my shots always turn out better!
