Autumn mushroom

[Markus Jais]

From this morning, not sure about the species yet (my mushroom id skills are very, very poor).
Shot near Munich, southern Germany.


EOS 1DX, EF 2.8/100L IS Macro.
Tripod, cable release, f22, ISO 100, 4sec.
I used a golden reflector to lighten up the shadows under the mushroom.




f22 is not the sweet spot of the lens but it is still very sharp although diffraction kicks in here. A bit of sharpening in PS was used to fix this. I also have a shot with f11 but prefer the greater DOF of f22 in this shot.

[Mitch Haimov]

Very cool mushroom in excellent condition, very pleasing setting. I like the comp and the light. Nice BG. DOF works well. I find the web above the cap distracting and recommend darkening it.

[Don Lacy]

NIce low angle here with wonderful detail and color. I think I would take just a tad off the top comp wise.

[Adrian David]

Nice colors and DOF. The mushroom look like it was eaten by the snails on top of the cap... I would also remove the spider web, because i find it distracting.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Markus. I love the soft light and good use of the reflector. I also like the way the subject, and the mosses, enter the frame from the side - and all set against a very nice OOF background. Very well done!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice shot indeed Markus, I like the composition, also the slime where presumably a snail has been.
I would suggest the stipe is lacking a little detail. Maybe f16 is optimal for 100mm (f11 is for 180mm). You may consider sandwiching two images one focused on the cap and the other on the head then using the eraser tool to blend them to optimise DOF.
Whilst the presentation is very pleasing I did wonder if the image was a little yellow and then I read you had used a gold reflector. I suppose it is just a matter of personal taste.
ID is not my strong point either but it could be honey fungus.

[Markus Jais]

Thanks for all the comments. Very helpful. I should start playing with focus stacking.

Markus