Another of these little mushrooms I found flourishing on a dead tree. This one is about 1 inch wide and I think it may be Bjerkandera adusta - 8 books and the internet and it’s still tentative.
Most were fruiting together in a tight mass, but this one was alone and seemed almost expressive. The white strings are probably insect egg casings and the bit of snow shows that these are persistent rather than ephemeral as are most fruiting bodies.
Specific Feedback Requested
Flora is a bit quiet this time of year, so I’m just adding this to have some activity. Yes it’s just a mushroom and maybe not Art as we seem to be obsessing over these days, but all my decisions in making this were to show it in the most appealing way I could. Sometimes just wondering at the complexity of nature is enough for me.
Technical Details
Tripod
Focus bracketing - 0/+ method - starting with the leading edge - 11 images
Lr for a bit of a crop to remove some distractions nearby, general improvement of tonalities, texture and sharpness. Zerene for the stack - this is a DMap that needed no retouching, but in Lr I had to again fix darks and lights and used some masking to make specific adjustments for modeling and contour.
Complexity of nature is indeed a wonderful thing to contemplate, Kris. And wow, this one is complex. I love the ice/snow on the top. I did not even see it till you mentioned it. The focus stack works really well here. I certainly can’t ID it, and I am not sure I would have even seen it to stop and photograph it. Very cool image and even more engaging when viewed large.
Hi Kristen. Happy new Year.
I prefer this version of the mushroom to your last one as with the extra trunk visible it seems to put the mushroom in context a bit better. Does that make sense? I find it a really interesting image with the various textures, colours, and lichen on the trunk. Just like exploring it.
Have been out of action for a while so needed to be content with commenting on a few photos rather than processing and posting. Cheers.
Thanks @Phil_G - sorry for the late reply. This is a slightly smaller specimen than the last one and I added a bit more room around it so it would serve as a companion image to the first and not just a replication, if you know what I mean. Glad you like it…mushrooms are irresistible to me.
