Oyster mushrooms

[Steve Foss]

I photographed two stacked oyster mushrooms yesterday. The bottoms of the heads were about six inches apart, and the sharp bottom of the lower head was an interesting contrast to the streaky painterly quality of the OOF upper head.

Canon 30D, Canon 17-40L at 29mm, iso400, 1/30 at f8, handheld, gold reflector disc used to bump light up under the mushroom, noise ninja and light gaussian blur on the BG.

[Julie Kenward]

Steve, this is so nicely done I don't know what to say besides "GREAT JOB!" I love your DOF here and your composition couldn't be better. The difference in pattern between each section of mushroom is just beautiful and you nailed the lighting. That gold reflector probably made a huge but subtle difference.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, JK! I worked especially hard to get fairly balanced lighting and a DOF that allowed the top shroom to echo and complement the lower one but not be too detailed or too OOF.

I was laying on my back with my head in wet leaves, and the tip of the lens was about six inches from the lower mushroom. When I got done, I had seven wood ticks on me and five new mosquito bites, regardless of dousing myself with enough DEET to require a liver transplant. Oh, the glory of being a boreal forest nature photographer!

I would have liked more of the OOF back shroom in the frame and a little less of the front one, but I didn't want an edge to creep into the frame on the back shroom, and changing the angle wasn't working at all. I could add an inch of canvas to the top and right and clone in more, but I want to sit on this for a few days and decide if it would be worth the effort.

[Julie Kenward]

You could do that Steve but I really don't see how that could make it any better than it already is. I also feel like the ratio of the in-focus mushroom to the OOF mushroom is just about right - almost 2:1 and that's how it should be IMO (in my opinion.) The viewer sees the focus, his eye travels around the front image, then it travels to the edge between the two and then slides off into the unfocused section and out the upper right side where the striations in the OOF mushroom lead him. It all works perfectly together and another inch would only be another inch.

I'd print it, frame it and call it good!

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Lovely Steve. Love the DOF here. The sharp patterns in the front contrasting with the subtler 'brushstroke-like' patterns in the back. Loved those subtle 'flowing lines' in the OOF mushroom.
The edge of the mushroom runs across the diagonal so beautifully.

[Richard Waas]

Great shot Steve. Hope you didn't need a blood transfusion when you got done. I love the composition! Congrats.....

[John Cooper]

Great work Steve - the pristine condition of this specimen displays the gill patterns beautifully and the OOF specimen makes an interesting BG.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Steve, very nice job on this one. Love the sharp details and the soft flow of the BG. Great lines and light.