Mushroom Family
Fall and winter bring rain to Western Oregon, and rain brings mushrooms! I found these perched on top of a small stump in the Oregon Coast range. This is a focu...
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Fall and winter bring rain to Western Oregon, and rain brings mushrooms! I found these perched on top of a small stump in the Oregon Coast range. This is a focus-stack of ~6 images.
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Dec, 2020Views
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Awards
Winter Award 2020
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
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Superb Composition
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at Mary's Peak Botanical Reserve in the Oregon Coast Range. It was just on the side of a small trail that I was hiking on.Time
I took this photo in the evening after work. I think it was around 4:00 PM when I took this photo. Since it was late November, the sun was already starting to set and the forest was starting to get darker.Lighting
Since it was getting late and dark, the lighting was actually kind of challenging on this photo. I didn't want to use a flash because I wanted the background be as well lit as the subject. Instead of a flash, I used longish (15 second) shutter speeds to capture this image making for a well lit background and well lit mushrooms.Equipment
This was taken with a Canon 7D Mk1 with a 18-200mm lens. I took this on a tripod and while I had a flash with me, I did not use it for this shot.Inspiration
I had gone out specifically to look for an photograph slime molds and mushrooms. I think capturing the beauty of insignificant, creatures/plants is one of my favorite parts of photography. This mushroom family caught my attention as the two clusters were nicely arranged and the caps were just so smooth and pretty!Editing
This image was made with a stack of 5 or 6 images. First, I did some basic image corrections (color, brightness, saturation, lens optimization) to each of the individual images, then manually stacked them in GIMP.In my camera bag
I usually keep it pretty simple. For this trip I just had my camera, lens, flash, and tripod. I didn't even bring my camera bag on this trip, just a small backpack with some snacks and my tripod.Feedback
With focus stacks like this, I think the tripod makes a huge difference. I have done handheld focus stacks and they never turn out quite as well as when I have a tripod. I also prefer to use a fairly neutral aperture (f/8 ish) since this can help optimize sharpness of your camera/lens. Since you are taking multiple images and splicing them together, you can get every part of the image in focus. It is a fun technique to play around with and I recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a go!
