I found these very small (less than 1 1/2" tall) pleated inkcap mushrooms (I believe) this past week hiding among some ferns. They were so tiny and only lasted a couple of hours before wilting away. Knew I had to give this a try.
Cropped to 3:2 (18x12), did color grading on the stems to pull down the lightness and added a slight vignette.
Are the stems still too light? Does the composition work? Any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
Nikon Z6ii, f/6.3, 0.3sec., ISO400 @105mm, tripod and remote release.
Love this macro, Linda! The only wee adjustment that I’d make would be to clone out the blue in the TRC. For my eye the stems are just pale enough, and your choice of aperture means great focus on the mushroom edges and some of the interesting debris.
I love this to pieces! The framing and dark background really makes these stand out as they should with all that wonderful detail. I love the bits of forest humus clinging to them as well. Agree about cloning out or painting color over the blue bits so they aren’t so distracting. Really super! Am jealous of your mushrooms already. This time last year we were WELL into spring ephemeral season, but this year it’s snowing today.
Thanks, @Norma_Tareila-Matley, @Mike_Friel and @Kris_Smith for your thoughts. I did see the blue in the URC and went back and forth about dodging or cloning it out. But chose to leave it thinking it was the same luminosity as the green ferns and would add character. . .or something? However, since you’ve both mentioned it . . . .clearly it is a distracting. . . .part of what I appreciate about NPN, thank you.
Linda, what a neat find. I’m so glad that you found them and able to preserve an image of them while they lasted. I like the mirroring of other oof in the BG as well. I agree with the others on the blue. Still a nice shot as presented.
A really nice shot of these mushrooms, Linda! I like how you composed it and the dark background really sets the mushrooms apart. Since the mushrooms are a static object I think it would have been a great opportunity to use a tripod and try focus stacking to get all of them in focus.
Thanks @Gary_Minish and @Diane_Miller for your kind comments. As for focus stacking, Gary, I’ve experimented with that process several times. I’ve had a enough success to be able to see the benefits , along with enough failed attempts to feel the defeat. At this point I’m on the “to stack or not to stack” fence and still give it a try when the opportunity is there. In this case I considered stacking, but liked the feel of the softer edges. Appreciate your thoughts and am still keeping stacking as an option.
When I do stacking the camera just does the focus shift sequence and saves the source files (raw) and I process them in Zerene Stacker. So I can choose one, or stack a few, or process (stack) the whole range. I can also retouch while in Zerene before saving, to choose blurrier areas from any single frame if I wish, etc.
