Yesterday was pretty perfect for mushroom photography. Cloudy, but it didn’t rain. Warm, but not really hot. Sort of not breezy. Sometimes. Which is what made these stacks so difficult. But it was worth it because I don’t have a lot of photos of fungi in sedge which is what this is - Carex pensylvanica - a native ground cover that’s common in a lot of Wisconsin forests. I think these are the same type of fungi at different stages of fruiting - probably Lactarius Fumosus, but also could be Lactarius cinereus var. fagetorum. I’m not 100% on either. Both fruit on the ground, but the latter is more associated with beech which we don’t have much of in northern Wisconsin and certainly none where I was.
The first shot is a 21-image stack and believe it or not, the slugs didn’t move! Yeah, they’re slow, but I didn’t have to pick and choose from frames with them in focus. Nice. The grass on the other hand, did move. A lot. So it was job to retouch this in Zerene. I think I got everything that looked weird, but let me know.
The second is a 9-shot stack and the DMap came out pretty well so I retouched just the grasses where there was a lot of cross over. Did I get it all?
Specific Feedback Requested
Overall composition and stacking. Did I get the goop out and the detail in?
Technical Details
Tripod for both - cpl as well.
Focus bracketing using 0/+ method and 4-step
Zerene for stacking and retouching, no slabbing necessary since these were short stacks
Raw for the basics which was really to add some texture, clarity and a nice S-curve. Zerene for the stacking and Photoshop to fix a couple things retouching couldn’t. Lr again to manage tonalities that are always a bit off when you do a stack in Zerene. These are both DMap stacks with PMax details added in where necessary. The second one is cropped a bit.
Beautiful, Kris. Absolutely nothing looks weird about either of these two images! Even when I zoom in close I don’t detect any flaws. Once again, your post processing methods are spot on, well so are your stacking techniques! My favorite is the first, as I love the addition of the slugs and the great detail you got gills. Just as a reference, what would the approximate size of these little fellows be? Very nicely seen.
I can’t believe the slugs didn’t move at all. Who knew. I think artistically, I prefer the second image because of the sweeping grasses that flow over the top of the fungi in an elegant and gentle way. However, I do love the slugs in the first image. I didn’t even see those in the thumbnail. Processing looks terrific on both. Well done Kris.
Thanks for taking a look, @David_Haynes - I was shocked they didn’t either. Glad you liked the second, I chose it and the arrangement of grass because of the qualities you describe. Definitely different from my usual mushroom images.
Off to a forage and ID session this morning. Should be fun. Oddly enough I ran into one of the instructors for the photo workshops I’ve taken up this way at last night’s sessions. Small world northern Wisconsin.
Wonderful, both!! Such interesting details in the first and lovely design in the second! I don’t see any flaws. The work you would have done, with some movement of the grasses, is commendable!
