The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This is Xylaria hypoxylon. Young ones, I guess, for the tallest one is half an inch at most. The fungi haven’t developed yet the “antlers” that give the species the Dutch name “geweizwam”, meaning antler’s fungus. There were many on the rotten tree stump and this was the small group that I liked best and that could be shot against a suitable BG.
I could crop more, but I like some negative space at the left of the group.
Specific Feedback
Any comment welcome.
Technical Details
Pentax K3 Mk. III, Sigma 2.8/70mm macro. ISO 200, 0.3", f/8, tripod.
Focus stack of 8 images with some manual corrections.
Those are wonderful mushrooms, Han. I do like your composition and the lighting is excellent. I think they might look better against the main brown toned background instead of the black, if you’re into doing modifications like that.
Han, this is really a different mushroom, one that I am not familiar with. I agree with @Dennis_Plank about the BG. I can’t tell you how many photos I have taken, thrilled with everything but the BG, and kicking myself that I didn’t pay closer attention to it in camera. Maybe if you don’t a shot without the black area, hopefully you can go back and shoot some more. Really neat mushrooms, thank you for sharing.
Thank you @Dennis_Plank and @Shirley_Freeman for your comments.
I’m afraid that the BG will stay as it is. Shoot another image won’t help, the tiny mushrooms grow on the edge of a more or less hollow stump and are difficult to shoot from a different point of view, because of the surroundings. The grey area is rotten wood, the brownish area is covered by dead leaves. I can try to collect more dead leaves to cover the wood, but I will also damage any tiny mushrooms that are growing in the OOF area.
I could try to change the BG in post-processing, but frankly spoken the dark area doesn’t bother me enough to do the effort.
Oh this is neat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen these before. If I didn’t know they eventually branched like coral fungus, I would have put these in with the earth tongues that basically stay like this for the whole fruiting cycle. So thanks for sharing!
I like the composition - it doesn’t feel crowded. There appears to be some blue reflection of the sky in the whites which is interesting, but the detail there seems to be lost; bummer. The stack looks good and the softness really works well to give a cohesive feel because the fungi is also soft and rounded.
Backgrounds are HUGE in macro and it’s the first thing I look for when I’m setting up a shot. Like Al Pacino said in Heat - “watch your backgrounds”. This isn’t too bad since it looks to be more fungus or something back there, but I might have put a leaf or something behind to make a more harmonious presentation. Recently when I was doing a long stack the leaf I placed blew over in the wind. Not once, but twice! I had to laugh and put it back. Because of how stacking works I knew it wouldn’t be an issue and it wasn’t.
Getting your camera lower and shooting upward might eliminate the OOF dark areas, but my guess is that you are right up to ground level with this shot. I like the colors of the fungi. I like the colors of the fungi–subtle and the slight blue tint generates some interest for the eye. Well done…Jim
