Mushroom on dead tree

[Markus Jais]

EOS 7D, Sigma 3.5/180 Macro, tripod.

I found this mushroom on a dead tree felled by a beaver.
I left my EF 3.5/180L at home but my 2.8/100 had a too wide angle of view. A friend was kind enough to lend me his Sigma 3.5/180.

Hope you like it.

Markus

[Julie Kenward]

Markus, I like the little mushroom you found! It's in pretty good shape and fairly clean and that always helps! I reworked your composition a bit, taking some off the top and right side so the mushroom sat more in the ROT's position. I also cloned over the one round orb that was in your BG just to the right of the shroom.

I did a levels adjustment as well - I hit "auto" and it pulled the extra yellow out of the image so the mushroom and tree looked a bit more natural (nothing wrong with the yellow cast - it was probably some nice morning light but it was a little heavy to me.) I then darkened the tree area so it wasn't quite as bright as the mushroom, helping the shroom stand out a bit more in the image. Finally, I gave it another round of sharpening - just on the shroom - so it would really stand out. That's a great trick for helping the mind find the focal object - make it sharper than everything else - just don't go overboard.

See what you think of this...again, keep in mind they are just suggestions. You have a good image in the first place and some times a few small changes can really take it up another notch.

[Markus Jais]

Julie, thank you for the repost and the detailed explanations. That was very helpful and informative!

Markus

[Vida van der Walt]

I like this Markus. Great textures and detail. Rework looks even better.:)

[Stuart Frohm]

I agree that both the original and the tweaked version are quite nice. I prefer the tweaked version's tighter crop and darker background.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of your photos, Markus, and to photographing more Michigan mushrooms this year.
Stu

[Allen Sparks]

I like the original and find it an interesting composition on the edge of the bark. The repost is a great rework that gives even more attention to the subject.