Gardening Fungi

With the point of view chosen then some cleaning up of both the fungus and its immediate environment is often required.

Removal

The removal of unneeded, damaged or rotten fungi is a good start. Keeping in mind the rule of odds with one, three and five fungi in one photo been better then two, four and six. Its not like you always have a chose but occasionally you do.

Adding

Don't be tempted to move an adjacent fungus into the frame unless you are very careful it is likely to stick out like a sore thumb. I have seen a number of published photos were this has been done badly some of the giveaways are. 1: The species involved don't grow in tight groups knowing there growth form helps to avoid this mistake even though its not obvious to most people. 2: Fungi are sensitive to gravity and will always grow with there gills horizontal it takes a lot of care to get a fungus to sit right after been move and match others in the group. 3: Finger prints or damage to there stalks were they have been pulled from the ground and then placed back into there new location. Care is needed to insure this does not happen with some species its next imposable due to scale or glutinus stipes. 4: Often its near impossible to move fungi with out disruption to the ground in and around the group of fungi.

Cleaning

It is rare to find a fungus which does not have some dirt or leaf litter on it. Cleaning this off the fungus is in reality a two part operation. Out in the field try to clean off as much debris from the fungus as possible a small pair of jewellers forceps and a soft brush can be useful. Once you are back home you can also digitally clean up your image making extensive use of the cloning tool in a graphics editor.

Background

Are there any twigs or other leaf debris creating bright spots of colour or reflecting light. If so then ether remove or cover these with a dead leaf or similar. Worse still twigs creating lines leading out of the frame once again remove these or cover if posable.

Foreground

What about the foreground does it too have the same problem as mentioned above. Watch out for twigs, grass, leaf litter that are out of focus its best to remove such. Out of focus objects in the foreground can be very distracting although sometimes can help lead the eyes into main image.

Light Spots

Look out for spots of light that occurs when sun light filters through the trees as well as direct sunlight as these can cause unnecessary contrast. Also bright spots reflecting of shiny objects particularly if they are wet in the background. Placing an object to block the sun light or remove the shiny objects can solve these problems.

To much

Some careful thought needs to go into your gardening removing to much can result in a fungi sitting in a stark non description location. Fungi are closely tied to there habitats photographing one means too photograph both. Adjacent leaf litter also helps to give a sense of scale to you image.

Adding extra

I will have to admit this is a trick I learnt from another photographer (thanks John) and before this it never occurred to me. Don't be shy in adding extra props! This can be in the form of a kauri snail a bit of lichen or an interesting leaf. Care of cause needs to be used as you don't want to distract from the subjects but these can help fill in an otherwise empty image.

The snail is an addition

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