My friend Sue spied this little scene while I was taking pictures of another. I had to wedge the tripod into an awkward spot, but thanks to the fold out screen I could still see to compose. I stood up to make more even shaded light.
The biggest lichen visible is probably pebbled pixie cup, but might be mealy pixie cup. The red sporophytes are minus their caps and belong to either shy bristle moss or prickly cannikin moss. The green plant on the bottom, L&R and in the top center is a type of Barbilophozia which is a liverwort. Like moss it is a type of bryophyte. The needles are hemlock.
Specific Feedback Requested
How does the composition & stacking look? I did some clean up in the field, but I left a couple of needles in for size reference. There were a couple of stray lichen cups that I worked around since they weren’t helping.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
PL 45mm f/2.8 macro
f/5 | 1/10 sec | ISO 200
Tripod
18 image stack - 0/+ method - probably 3 step
Lr for an exposure boost and to set white and black points. Also altered wb for better color matching. Zerene for stacking & retouching. This is a DMap image. Ps for some Smart Sharpen and to crop some from each side.
Kris: What a fascinating place the macro world is! On the larger view the tiny details are just marvelous and are a real visual feast. My only 2 cent nit is the leaf and light spot on the left edge which immediately caught my eye. I used a quick and dirty CA selection for your consideration. Overall a superbly crafted image well worth the effort. >=))>
I debated getting rid of that needle on the left and now you’ve done it I realize I should have. Thanks!
And yes…these tiny scenes can be surprisingly full of detail and variation. Old moss growth and new. Sporophytes in various stages. Sometimes I spy a springtail in there, too. Or a wee spider.
Kris, this is a real treat. It is amazing when we look close in on a tiny little scene such as this, and all the little vegetation that is available, it makes it feel like it must be a much larger scene. Glad you were able to get your tripod situated so that you could capture this. I can just picture a tiny spider in the midst of this scene.
