Fairy Parasols

[Chris Hansen]

Found some fungi growing on Tan Oak trees beside my driveway last week.

Canon 50D
100mm Phoenix macro w/ extention tubes
I believe it was f22.0 @ 6 seconds didn't check the exif
Light painted with led flashlight
All cc appreciated.

God's light and love to all,

chris

[Julie Kenward]

I love when you "light paint" Chris! What a magical image you've created here...it almost looks like we're viewing jellyfish in the sea! I'd probably take a chunk of the negative space off the top (maybe half?) letting the shrooms take up a little bigger presence. Very distinctive image. Can you tell everyone exactly how you "light paint" for those who don't know?

[Chris Hansen]

Julie,
Thank you for the input. I light paint a lot when I do mushrooms just because it gives a lot of added interest to mushrooms as they are usually growing low to the ground or in dark places. Light painting is done by first setting the camera on a low ISO such as 100. Then making a long exposure stopping the lens down usually as far as it can go setting the camera on Aperature Priority. On most macro lenses this is usually f16.0 or F22.0. This often times will give me exposures in the length of anywhere from six to thirty seconds. During such a long exposure I hold an LED flashlight with a black cardboard snoot roughly eight to twelve inches away from the mushroom. I move the flashlight in a circular motion over the area I want to brighten up. This helps prevent hot spots by moving the flashlight around. In the image above I just had the light touch the edges of the stem and crown as I tried to keep it off of the background. If you are interested in more check here.

http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2010/02/those-magical-mushrooms-or-you-light-up.html


Sincerely and God bless,

chris

[Vida van der Walt]

Love this almost surreal image Chris. Very artistic and thank you for sharing your method.:)

[Julie Kenward]

Yes, Chris...it's something I'm going to have to try this year when out in the deep woods!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Chris, great job with the flashlight, lighting really makes the image pop. Well done.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Excellent work Chris. Love what you did and the entire image belongs in a fairy tale. :)