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 Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
 
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 13,279
Last seen: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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 Mushroom Photography Tips 
#9002264 - 09/29/08 11:35 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Mushroom Photography Tips - By Koraks
http://www.koraks.nl/index.php?menuparent=&page=9
Using your digital camera's macro mode - All you need to know to get close to your mushrooms and produce extremely sharp super magnified results
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Using-your-digital-cameras-macro-mode
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Subbedhunter420
Psilonaut
Registered: 12/30/06
Posts: 1,398
Loc: Southern California
Last seen: 1 month, 2 days
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VERY USEFUL! If you dont know how to use your macro/dont know if you have one on your camera, you should read this!
--------------------
My Subbalteatus Guide (revised edition with new pictures)
http://www.shroomery.org/9608/Subbedhunter420s-Guide-to-Hunting-and-Identifying-Panaeolus-subbalteatus
You should read it.
Sometimes...
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FatBear
Stranger than fiction
Registered: 02/02/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Some boring, some whimsical, some experimental:
http://flickr.com/photos/fatbear/sets/72157603965289143/
--FatBear
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: FatBear]
#9028915 - 10/04/08 02:37 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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But all of them nicely done  I'm currently considering buying a compact for mushroom photography as well, as it's much easier to work close to the ground with a small camera. And image quality is pretty good with some of them, these days, especially at low ISO settings. A vital requirement would be a hot shoe connector in order to be able to use a flash unit that can be positioned separately from the camera.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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FatBear
Stranger than fiction
Registered: 02/02/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9028976 - 10/04/08 02:56 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Thanks, koraks,
I should say that mine tend to focus on the "character" of the mushroom rather than on ID'ing them.
Most of those were done with a creaking old Olympus C2020z. I really like what I could do with that camera, but the image sizes were so small that they are really only good for online.
I used a Mamiya RZ-67 in the 1990s. That camera produced huge images. But it got too heavy for my bad feet to lug around with all its associated paraphenalia. I needed something in the middle so last year I bought an Olympus E510. I have only taken a few mushroom photos with it, but the season is upon us, so I should be getting a lot more of them soon. Olympus makes a flash for the E510 (and others) that operates wirelessly, and I've ordered one of those, too, as I am getting tired of the deer-in-the-headlights look of on-camera flash. The wireless feature should be helpful in brushy situations. I guess the new flash will require more learning. One nice thing about a simple camera like the C2020z is that there really aren't a lot of variables. No matter what equipment you use you will have to adapt to the constraints. That's half of the creativity of it. The fewer variables, the easier it is to adapt.
A hint, for mushroom photographers: light is everything. Use your flash and learn to modify it. You can fold a piece of paper so it is self-propping and put it near a mushroom in order to reflect some of the flash into unlit areas. Or you can deliberately shade certain areas from the flash. On compact cameras you can use the flash to draw the mushroom from the background by setting an under-exposure and using flash at the same time. On more controllable cameras you will have to figure out how to mix flash and background exposures so the mushroom is brighter than the background. In PhotoShop a little bit of unobtrusive vignetting can also be helpful in cases where you didn't put enough emphasis on the mushroom.
Another hint: wear your kneepads and expect to get dirty because the best photos are usually taken with your face in the dirt. Be a mushroom, be their peer and they will show themselves to you in a way that they rarely do to mere humans. :-)
--FatBear
Edited by FatBear (10/04/08 04:41 PM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: FatBear]
#9029007 - 10/04/08 03:02 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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All very sound pieces of advice
MF does have its charm, although portability is an issue. I still have a 645 lying around, gathering dust due to a focus calibration problem. Besides, I never really liked the 4:3 format. I like either 1:1 or 2:3 (or even wider). Currently, I use an EOS 20d for mushroom photography, but with grip and L-lenses attached it is quite a hassle to get really close to the ground. I do carry a Velbon tripod from which I can suspend the camera upside-down, which allows me to get really low, but I keep getting muck on my head from peering down the viewfinder. So I'd really like to get myself a nice little compact that I can poise on a GorillaPod. I think I'm going to look into Canon's PowerShot and IXUS product lines to see if there's something to my liking there.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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FatBear
Stranger than fiction
Registered: 02/02/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9029762 - 10/04/08 07:21 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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I have a Bogen (now Manfrotto) tripod with the legs that swing out really wide and that weird 3D head. Using this with the center post upside down and the head twisted around as only this one can do, I can actually set the camera at ground level and it is still upright for easier control. But tripods are such a hassle for low-level photography that I really encourage people to learn to use the flash so you don't need them.
Olympus made the first dSLRs with "live view", allowing you to frame and focus your image on the LCD then shoot. In fact, this was one of the key reasons for my selecting this camera. It's kind of clumsy, doing a lot of clicking and buzzing and taking a long time to process a shot, but it works and is very handy for really awkward angles and/or muddy places. I'm not an equipment junky, so I don't know what's out there in 2008, but I assume the other camera manufacturers are also offering some form of live view by now. So whatever modern lens system a person has I imagine they can find a camera with live view to work with it.
Edited by FatBear (10/04/08 07:22 PM)
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 georgeM
Human
Registered: 07/05/05
Posts: 1,682
Loc: north eastern kansas
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9029787 - 10/04/08 07:31 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Have you seen this?? I'm considering making it as my next camera, though I will really miss the movable LCD of other cameras in the Powershot series.
Edited by georgeM (10/04/08 07:32 PM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: georgeM]
#9031183 - 10/05/08 04:09 AM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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@FatBear: I tried shooting with flash only, but I don't really like the results in most cases. Usually, I want to stop down to somewhere in the f/8-f/32 range and balance flash light with available light to retain the 'natural' look somewhat. With the low light levels usually associated with mushroom photography, that comes down to exposure times of up to 10 seconds, so a tripod is an absolute must for my style of mushroom photography (which is not to say that it is a categorical rule; if flash only works for you, beautiful, enjoy the flexibility!)
The live view function of the Olympus has now been mimicked by at least Canon and Nikon, perhaps also by Sony; I'm not really sure about them, but I suppose they followed suit. I've come to realize over the last three years that it is a useful function, especially in this line of work. Unfortunately, as far as I know none of the dSLRs support live view and have an adjustable display, indeed (GeorgeM, I hear ya!) like e.g. the older (?) Canon PowerShot series. Nevertheless, that G10 does look interesting. My gf today voiced her preference for an Olympus Mju 1060, but although it looks like a nifty little camera, it lacks a decent wide angle (zoom range starting at 37mm in 35mm-equiv.) It is an affordable camera though, but it definitely wouldn't work for me. The G10 is rather appealing, though. Thanks for the tip, GeorgeM!
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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Theylikethatshit
AKA Sno0py
Registered: 09/20/06
Posts: 826
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 days, 17 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9037898 - 10/06/08 03:34 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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My macro does not always work, sometimes if the mushroom is too small it has a hard time focusing therefore I cant take a clear shot.
any help on this?
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 13,279
Last seen: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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If you set the mushroom on something with a texture like some moss, you can get it to focus on that.
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Try maximizing the contrast between the mushroom and the background, for example by shining a flashlight on the mushroom. Remember that your AF system will attempt to detect edges, so the sharper you can get the edges of the mushroom to show, the better your AF will function. This is also explicitly explained in my tutorial: http://www.koraks.nl/index.php?menuparent=&page=9#focus
If the shroom is really small compared to the image frame (e.g. it makes up < 10% of the image area), try moving closer or zooming in further. In that case, you're probably taking a pretty crappy picture anyway with lots of shit in it and very little mushroom.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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smily
Sham Wow.
Registered: 07/13/06
Posts: 1,617
Loc: honalee
Last seen: 1 day, 4 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9042263 - 10/07/08 12:54 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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get the powershot s5is it rocks great super macro a small selection of lenses.
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: smily]
#9042270 - 10/07/08 12:56 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Nice camera, but too big for a compact, but lacking the image quality and versatility of a dSLR. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice device, but it's not for me 
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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snoot
visual visionary
Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 4,414
Loc: in the center of all
Last seen: 1 hour, 15 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9051028 - 10/08/08 10:11 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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working the focus is an artform. Finding that right angle at the right length of focus,. to grasp what you're trying to take a photo of. especially fungus, mushrooms almost always have they're own character or personality. Always fun things to shoot. 
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~~~
"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out." ~ mark twain
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seus
http://highdecibel.info/
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gunga
Stranger
Registered: 11/09/08
Posts: 5
Last seen: 1 year, 6 days
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I Do my best..
h t t p://picasaweb.google.com/outsidelinden/91408_shrroming#
help i identify
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gunga
Stranger
Registered: 11/09/08
Posts: 5
Last seen: 1 year, 6 days
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: gunga]
#9214507 - 11/09/08 09:02 PM (1 year, 11 days ago) |
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 5,185
Loc: Northern hemisphere
Last seen: 5 hours, 9 minutes
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: gunga]
#9217112 - 11/10/08 09:41 AM (1 year, 11 days ago) |
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You got some nice shots there. Please create a new topic if you want anything ID-ed. Also read the other stickies on top of this board.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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Razoom
In true believer.
Registered: 09/21/08
Posts: 481
Loc: Earth habitable
Last seen: 4 hours, 59 minutes
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It is very beautiful. Theylikethatshit. Really beautifully.  Music by radio has now played, and at once were recollected night and mountains on Altai.
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snoot
visual visionary
Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 4,414
Loc: in the center of all
Last seen: 1 hour, 15 minutes
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Quote:
Theylikethatshit said:
My macro does not always work, sometimes if the mushroom is too small it has a hard time focusing therefore I cant take a clear shot.
any help on this?
it all depends on the glass and the camera you are working with. Every camera and every lens has its own unique focal point. You have to play around with whatever you are using get a feel for it then go from there. If you have manual focus, bring it as close as you can, then move the camera back and forth until the subject gets into focus, then youll know you minimum focal distance.
--------------------
~~~
"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out." ~ mark twain
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seus
http://highdecibel.info/
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 13,279
Last seen: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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By Dimitar Bojantchev - http://mushroomhobby.com
Top 10 Mistakes in Mushroom Photography
Unstaged specimen |
The Top
10 Errors
in
(Beginner) Fungal Photography
(+Discussion/Suggestions) |
Staged specimens |
| Digital photography and the
ability to preview instantly the results have made the practice of making
pictures much easier. Despite that we still see an alarmingly large
collection of poor photos floating around, mainly in id sessions and similar
settings. Here is list of some of the most common errors. Again, the
main cure is -- REVIEW EACH AND EVERY SHOT -- then repeat/fix if needed.
|
1) BLURRED IMAGES.
This is the most common problem that renders many photos useless. It goes
beyond aesthetics, as many times the images are incongruent. Everyone
has fallen victim to it at one time or another. There are some main reasons
why BLUR occurs:
a) FOCUS PROBLEMS. The main subject is not in focus -- easy to
operate digital cameras make it a bit harder to tell the lens where to
focus, particularly when shooting very small objects. Many times the
background is in focus, but not the main subject.
b) CAMERA SHAKE When shooting at slow speeds, or the
hand of the photographer is too unsteady, the image will be blurred.
This is more likely to occur with inexperienced shooters owning Digital SLRs
and not paying attention to the combination speed/aperture. Using a tripod
is best, but sometimes we do not have it and are required to shoot from
hand. In such cases it may be Ok to open up the aperture to F5.6-F8 and gain
speed while sacrificing depth of field.
c) SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD -- see below, Problem
4. |
This Ramaria araiospora got it shaken (not
stirred). |
These Mycenas got shaken out of their identity |
Background in focus, but not the main subject, the
matsie... Did not review the shot until I went home. Then banged the
camera in my head, but it was too late. |
 
Left: trying to hand hold at F16 produced a very blurred
image of this pretty Lepiota flammeatincta. Right: at F5.6 there
was a loss of depth of field, but gain in sharpness. Sometimes we have
to compromise. Of course, having a tripod solves that problem.
More on Depth of Field. |
|
2) BAD COMPOSITION
Bad compositions fall into several groups. By far the most common
are:
| a)
FAILURE TO CAPTURE ALL DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES -- good analytical
composition for species identification requires that all pertinent
aspects of the specimen are photographed. |
With so little shown nobody can reliably say what these Inocybe
are. |
Suillus sp. Nice to see so many fruitbodies, but not
just one side... |
 
Minimum Required Features for Reliable Macro Diagnostics:(1)
Cap; (2) Gills; (3) Gill Attachment; (4) Stem; (5) Context; (6)
Discolorations surface/context. Notes on Habitat, Odor and Taste are
criticallygyimportant too. |
|
b) MAIN SUBJECT TOO SMALL.
There are far too many photos out there where the main subject takes
about 1/100-th of the area of the picture frame.
 |
c)
SUBJECT OUT OF FRAME...
Don't you hate when that happens?
 |
d) MIXED
COLLECTIONS
What are these? Which are (not) edible? Haven't
you heard that question before? Where do you start on that
photo. |
Sometimes avoiding mixed collections requires one
to pay close attention: Mycena vulgaris & Mycena
cinerella |
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|
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| 3) POOR
CHOICE OF COLLECTIONS Using old/damaged
specimens or collections consisting of a single fruitbody for id purposes is
not a good idea. Except in rare circumstances of absolute necessity, one
should ignore such collections, Go find another one, or wait for a better
opportunity. While true for most Genera, this rule is especially pertinent
to Cortinarius where older fruitbodies simply cannot convey enough
information that can be used for obtaining a good id. |
 _small.jpg)
Nobody can tell what kind of Cortinarius these are |
Member of Russulales |
 
The same Cortinarius comptulus patch -- note how the old
fruitbodies (right) lose all identity by browning out completely. |
|
|
4) (TOO SHALLOW) DEPTH OF FIELD
This one is trickier and presents questions even to more experienced
photographers. A lot of blurring takes place when shooting mushrooms because
the subjects are displaced quite much from the focus point. This is the
primary driving force for Mushroom Photographers to use higher F-stops. But
that requires longer exposure times. And that often requires that the camera is
mounted instead of hand-held. Small, or long stemmed mushrooms present that
challenge to a greater extent as there may be significant distance between
all parts of the group that one is trying to capture. |
What exactly is in focus here? Countless photos presented to the forums
for identification suffer from that debilitating problem. Very small
portion is in focus and usually not the important part. |
 
Long stemmed mushrooms present the Depth of Field (DOF) challenge to a
greater extent as there may be significant distance between all parts of
the group that one is trying to capture. Gaining equal sharpness on both
cap and base is not easy. There are other "non-photographic" means to
solve that problem. |
 
One strategy to get better Depth of Field is to move further away from
the subject, zoom in, increase the F-stops to more than F16, preferably
F20-F32 and use longer exposure times. A tripod is a must in that case.
Mycena californiensis & Psathyrella aff. gracilis |
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 13,279
Last seen: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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LIGHT RELATED ERRORS
PHOTO + GRAPHY == LIGHT
+ SCRIBE
| 5)
PHOTOGRAPHING MUSHROOMS IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT OR SHARP SHADOWS. This
one is a classic and in the group of highly annoying errors. Everybody has
tried to shoot things that are in direct sunlight. The results are awful.
The amazing thing is that some people keep doing it over and over again, as
if enjoying the poor results. Simple solution is to block the direct
sunlight by some means -- photographers in the field can use their body or
camera bag for such purposes. Be mindful of using clothing to block the
sunlight, as it may let some light go through and usually reflects the
color of the garment. A yellow shirt, for example, when used as a sun
blocker will give yellow cast to the entire photograph. |
   _small.JPG)  |
| 6) OVER/UNDER EXPOSURE The
most common error is to see shots of big white mushrooms where most of the
white surfaces are overexposed. The opposite is true too. Entirely black
surfaces tends to naturally get underexposed and the camera settings need to
be altered. Even the easy to use digital cameras allow the user to do
"exposure compensation" when she feels it is appropriate. |
 
The most common victims of that treatment are the white Amanitas. The
background is exposed Ok, but the white surfaces of these Amanita
ocreata are overexposed and
washed out. |
  
Exposing for the white parts only, usually a stop or two down, solves
the problem and shows the full texture of the white surfaces. Naturally,
the background is slightly underexposed, but that's irrelevant for these
Amanita silvicola and Stropharia ambigua |
|
7) OVER RELIANCE ON FLASH Flash use is one of the most frequently
argued and yet quite confused subjects. A little flash definitely pulls out
some subtle colors that may be missed otherwise. But only when used in
moderation. Substituting flash power for longer exposure times, especially
in darker environments, produces terrible results that fall into two
main groups (see below, left and right).
Harsh shadows. Distorted colors: I am
more guilty than most for failing in that trap of flash overuse for a
long period of
time.
| Excessive flash |
No/Less flash |
 |
 |
_small.JPG) |
_small.JPG) |
|
|
|
Limited range: The flash
does not have the power to reach far and creates the feeling of
"Kingdom of Darkness" even on a nice bright day. People fail to
understand that larger patches cannot be captured properly using the
flash. You've seen people shooting with flash
in a stadium, or in the City in the evening... Not a good idea.
Stropharia ambigua in the Kingdom of
Darkness |
Clitocybe inversa |
 
Xeromphalina fulvipes -- the strong flash
(Left) tends to give reddish cast overall. |
|
|
| 8) POOR USAGE OF
THE NATURAL LIGHT Natural light is a great asset. When
properly used, that is. Sometimes, particularly early and late in the day
the light come slanted towards the subject and tends to bounce off the
horizontal surfaces. In other cases the underside of the mushroom may not
gain advantage of light that is coming from behind. Here are a few examples of poor choice of natural
light. |
The top of this Boletus pulcherrimus is
overexposed, while the bottom is underexposed. Not the best time
to try to take this kind of shot on a late Fall afternoon.
|
Early in the morning the light comes under too shallow an angle and
reflects off the horizontal surfaces. |
 
Even if the light is muted, the slanted angle of the light early in the
morning requires special care on how the specimens are oriented for
picture. Things put side by side can shadow each other excessively. |
|
| 9)
SHOOTING UNDER INCANDESCENT LIGHT Most photos made indoors, under
"yellow light" are unattractive and of limited use. Sometimes that's
unavoidable like in foray/mushroom fair id tables. But if given a
choice one should always strive to choose daylight. |
    |
PREFERENCES/SUGGESTIONS/THINGS TO
CONSIDER
When reviewing this page with members of the
MushroomTalk forum it appeared that the remaining subjects are more a matter
of suggestions and preferences than hard necessities. Since the purpose of
this page is not to pontificate matters to the extent of meddling with
"personal taste", I leave these Sections as something just to "think about". |
10)
(POOR) CHOICE OF BACKGROUND. Finding a good background for a
mushroom photo requires some thought. Cleaning up the scene might be
important in many cases in order to have the main subject to contrast
nicely. Reviewing the photo helps too. Sometimes what seems like a bad
choice, is Ok, and vice-versa
The Red Fir seems to be the natural host for this Cortinarius
calochrous, but the fir cone debris are not the best photo
background.
|
It's not just the mixed collection here, but the choice of unnatural
background is totally uninspiring |
Sometimes
collections need to be photographed after being moved from their
original location. In general I think that this is a terrible practice,
but sometimes there are good reasons for doing so. Yet, it is
still a good idea to preserve a degree of Nature in the photograph.
Following the example of Cortinarius Flora Photographica (CFP) these
C. cinnamomeus were photographed against a somewhat neutral,
yet natural background. |
 
Here the tiny Hemimycena is moved atop a fallen leaf for some
macro lens photography. Natural background always seems better than
the artificial. |
|
|
| 11) HUMAN MATTERS --
BODY PARTS AND ARTIFACTS. The main motivation for including such
in the photo is the desire to show scale. Yet, I agree with Nathan
Wilson (MushroomObserver.org)
and Ron Pastorino (SOMA)
that the practice may create less than appealing photographs. In most cases,
I believe that scale can be conveyed by well known natural objects, such as
cones, leaves, etc. Here are a few examples, make your own choice.
|
    
Unnatural objects |
1 inch square Photo: J. Ammirati. |
|
_small.jpg) vs.
In this case the moss pretty conveys the scale quite well and the coin
rather diverts attention from the Marasmius androsaceus... |
 
Natural object to convey scale -- cones of Douglas Fir (l) and Pinus strobus (r).
Clitocybe sp. and Amanita jacksonii |
Sometimes we need well known objects to convey scale -- tiny Pholiotina |
|
| 12) 'IN SITU' vs. CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT Darvin DeShazer (SOMA,
Sci. Adv.) expressed the view that he likes the type of mushroom photography
(Roger Phillips and others) where the collections are treated under
controlled lighting and uniform background (affecting white balance). This
kind of setup is typically indoor, or definitely away from the field. My
view couldn't be more to the contrary of that, as I feel that 'In Situ'
photography is far preferable. One concern that I have is that many
mushrooms undergo color transformation once they are collected. The effects
on the hygrophanous, as well as tiny and perishable species has to be dealt
with too. Some mushrooms pale out as can be seen in books with that kind of
photography. But this is also a matter of preservation technique apparently,
as there are examples of excellent indoor photos. Yet, in general, I find
such "controlled photos" lacking life, sterile and uninspiring, more like Lab specimens ("frogs in a jar"). I
believe that the Natural habitat of the mushroom not only conveys a lot of
analytical information, such as the habitat and location specifics, but also has a better artistic components.
By setting
certain mood, it allows us to enjoy the surrounding environment, which is a
major reason for why we go out at the first place. It also helps us set
mental notes on where we can find such mushrooms. |
Controlled Environment -- not a particularly
good photo, but it conveys the general idea. Chlorophyllum brunneum
 |
Mushrooms in the Natural Habitat (In Situ) --
Boletus regius (California) and Boletus
frostii
  |
| Conveying a sense of the
Season and Environment |
Fall Coccora (Amanita lanei) |
Spring Coccora (Amanita lanei) |
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MisterMuscaria
Registered: 05/13/08
Posts: 12,342
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9461807 - 12/19/08 12:03 PM (10 months, 27 days ago) |
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Wow, Im gonna try it.
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georgeM
Human
Registered: 07/05/05
Posts: 1,682
Loc: north eastern kansas
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Awesome tutorials Alan, thanks for sharing!
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UnderTheOak
Grüße Von Der Orion
Registered: 11/13/08
Posts: 295
Loc: Holland
Last seen: 19 days, 9 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: georgeM]
#9463868 - 12/19/08 06:59 PM (10 months, 26 days ago) |
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The top 10 errors... and it counts to 12 
A very interesting and helpful thread!
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snoot
visual visionary
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: UnderTheOak]
#9465062 - 12/19/08 11:50 PM (10 months, 26 days ago) |
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a very hearty post alan
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Rikku
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9473096 - 12/21/08 02:23 PM (10 months, 25 days ago) |
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Help, I don't know much about any of the things I have read here today.
I am going out now to try a few things I have learned.
Will someone look at my photos and give me some tips?
http://s546.photobucket.com/albums/hh440/flutterbilady/
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koraks
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: Rikku]
#9476567 - 12/22/08 03:54 AM (10 months, 24 days ago) |
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Excellent images riku, well above the standard we usually get here. There's two things that you might want to consider to lift the quality of your pics another notch:
- Pay close attention to focus; especially if you use a small depth of field (a small f/number = large aperture) getting the focus right is crucial.
- Composition. This is the hardest thing for every photographer. Think of what aspect of the mushroom(s) you want to emphasize and figure out how to most effectively frame it. Choose an appropriate viewpoint and decide which parts of the mushroom you want to include or exclude. In clusters of mushrooms, think of which specimens you want in the frame and which ones you don't. If you want to picture the entire cluster, it's usually a good idea to include all of it (don't cut of edges of caps). But keep in mind that there are no conclusive rules for composition, you are the artist!
A final note: I like how you balance available light and flash light. You could consider underexposing the environment a bit (e.g. correct normal exposure at -1 stop; flash exposure not corrected) to put more emphasis on the subject. But again, you are the artist and it's up to you to decide how to get optimal results.
Remember: better a fuzzy photo of a clear concept than a clear picture of a fuzzy concept.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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Rikku
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9479132 - 12/22/08 04:28 PM (10 months, 24 days ago) |
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 First I would like to say thank you.
I'm an amateur.
I wish I lived closer to someone that could show me the steps you are referring to,
(e.g. correct normal exposure at -1 stop; flash exposure not corrected)
I only point and click.
I have a Sony Cyber-shot, thanks to threads I learned about macro.:D
I haven't had the chance to use it yet.
If that small mushroom is still on the tree I will retake it using the setting.
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Alice: The other side of what?
Caterpillar:THE MUSHROOM, OF COURSE!
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koraks
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: Rikku]
#9481951 - 12/23/08 06:04 AM (10 months, 23 days ago) |
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You're welcome. The Internet is loaded with photography tutorials, many of them also covering the subject of exposure in varying degrees of sophistication. This one seems like a good place to start to learn the basics.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9483766 - 12/23/08 03:09 PM (10 months, 23 days ago) |
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Quote:
This one seems like a good place to start to learn the basics.
Wow that is a good article. Most of the cool and interesting stuff I learned was in this paragraph:
The stops are arranged so that a change of 1 stop lets in half or twice the light of the next setting. A shutter speed of 1/60 second lets in half the light that 1/30 second does, and twice the light of 1/125 second. An aperture of f/8 lets in half the light that f/5.6 does, and twice the light of f/11. If you make the shutter speed 1 stop slower (letting in 1 stop more light), and an aperture 1 full stop smaller (letting in 1 stop less light), the exposure doesn't change. (In all modes other than manual this happens automatically). However, you increase the depth of field slightly and also the possibility of blur from camera or subject movement.
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koraks
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The fact that an increase of one f-stop (say, from f/8 to f/5.6) means an in/decrease of twice the amount of light becomes even more logical if you realize that it is in fact a SQRT(2) factor: 5.6 * SQRT(2) = 8. This makes sense since the aperture is a 2-dimensional hole and therefore subject to surface maths.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9736587 - 02/04/09 07:40 PM (9 months, 10 days ago) |
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PinheadX
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I had a bunch of problems getting the flash toned down on my camera... it just won't go low enough to take a good pic on automatic settings. I haven't learned about f stops and what have you, but I plan to learn with the info in this thread.
So, recently I saw a tip online where you take a piece of white paper ( I used a receipt) and cover the flash with it. You can experiment with different thicknesses of paper to get the right filtering effect. You can tape it in place if you want to, but for most people, just holding it in front of the flash while taking the pic works just fine.
It allowed me to finally take good shots, whereas before they were just horribly washed out, and if I turned off the flash, they were horribly dark... I can't show examples because they aren't mushrooms... and they're candid.
The only other thing that worked passably was backing off the subject, then using zoom, but that is more difficult to get a good shot, and you can't do macro shots like that. Plus, if you zoom in, you have to hold the camera still or you get a lot of blurring.
Just thought I'd share. I used to get much better macro shots with my Olympus than with my current Canon, but the Canon is a better camera overall. If I learn about f stops and aperture settings, I might get much better macro shots out of this camera too.
Thanks for the info, and hope my tip helps someone else.
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If you want to find psilocybin in species that are not yet known to be psychoactive, you should do chemical tests. That way you won't get sick and die all the time.
- Alan Rockefeller
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- Philip K. Dick
Edited by PinheadX (03/09/09 11:09 AM)
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koraks
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: PinheadX]
#9981829 - 03/16/09 01:34 PM (8 months, 2 days ago) |
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That's a useful piece of advice, pinhead. I've mucked around with paper on the odd occasion as well. It definitely can save the day.
If you want to do it the 'proper' way, look for a setting labeled 'flash exposure compensation' on your camera. Turn it back to -1 or perhaps even -2 stops.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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bryce76
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9985490 - 03/16/09 09:48 PM (8 months, 1 day ago) |
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Excellent post, lots of useful information I could not have found elsewhere!
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: bryce76]
#10102666 - 04/03/09 09:16 PM (7 months, 14 days ago) |
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A really good camera that you can get for cheap is the Canon A570is
http://shop.ebay.com/?_nkw=canon+a570
It has image stabilization which really helps taking pictures of mushrooms in a dark forest as the sun is going down and all of the other modern canon features. 7 megapixels is a lot, perfect for mushroom work. Macro is real good.
I got mine on ebay used for $49, its a great camera for outdoors and works well with my microscope. They go for about $75 new, here is an auction that ends in 20 hours and probably will probably sell for a good price.
edit: That one sold for $11
Edited by Alan Rockefeller (04/07/09 05:52 PM)
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lqdtrance
Rogue Agent
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works well w/ your microscope? How do you do that?
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: lqdtrance]
#10157372 - 04/13/09 11:34 AM (7 months, 5 days ago) |
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I hold the camera up to the microscope, adjust the fine focus on the scope and press the shutter.
It helps to have the camera set to tungsten white balance.
Also you can zoom in on the camera, sometimes that helps.
One way to get the focus perfect is to use the digital zoom to zoom all the way in and then zoom back out to where the manual zoom takes over (3x usually) and take the pic there.
Also you can turn on manual focus on the camera, doesn't really matter where it it is focused. That gives you a little zoomed in focus window in the middle of the screen that you can use to adjust the fine focus more accurately.
When choosing a camera for a scope, its important to get a camera that has a small lens. The big expensive cameras that have large lenses gather more light but they are too big compared to the eyepiece lens, making the image really tiny. A cheap camera (4 - 7 megapixels) with a small lens works best.
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lqdtrance
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Awesome. I'll have to try that. Thanks!!
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anevsky
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: lqdtrance]
#10258219 - 04/29/09 08:06 PM (6 months, 19 days ago) |
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Nice work Alan..
I'm sure most of you already know this but you can get a coupler for your camera for ~$250. Richard, the guy who makes these is also a Linux guru and TeX dude - so that should put a smile on Alan's face.
http://tinyurl.com/cgj57c
(please obfuscate links to the outside world - we don't need bad attention)
If you are wondering about cameras, I just bought a Canon G10. It will work with Richard's coupler, but more important it is also a phenomenal camera that can shoot Raw.
Best,
a
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: anevsky]
#10259476 - 04/29/09 10:59 PM (6 months, 19 days ago) |
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Quote:
I'm sure most of you already know this but you can get a coupler for your camera for ~$250.
There are various couplers available but all they do is hold your camera up to the lens, I can usually do that pretty well without any additional hardware. It would be nice to have something a bit more stable for long exposures since there isn't much light available at 1000x, but I would be more inclined to make something from an old washing machine instead of spend money on a little holder.
I wonder if could hook up a slave flash to blast the sample with light, that would be hilarious.
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cuddlebear
Free hugs
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Thanks for posting these tips!
http://mushroomhobby.com/TOP_10_MISTAKES/index.htm is the direct URL for the helpful top 10 mistakes article. The formatting of the post here was a little messed up and difficult for me to read.
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yakuspa
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Hi AR, I didnt look at your tips prior to taking these but next trip I will. In the mean time some shots that maybe of interest. For me they are enjoyable.
Cheers
   
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cyanide9
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#10573376 - 06/25/09 08:30 PM (4 months, 24 days ago) |
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Hey guys, thought I'd share a little tip I use with the macro mode of cameras. Sometimes it's better to back away from the object your shooting and zoom in while using your auto focus (holding the button halfway until your crosshairs turn red). I get some pretty detailed shots this way, sometimes better than close range macro shots, try it.
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ShockValue
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: cyanide9]
#10641280 - 07/08/09 11:11 AM (4 months, 12 days ago) |
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One problem I seem to be running into lately is lighting. Typically I don't use a flash and rely on long exposure times since I'm using a tripod. I'm finding that in a lot of cases in order to get the mushroom to be exposed properly (espeically if the mushroom is ligher in color) the surrounding landscape turns out way to dark or underexposed.
I've read some tips on bringing reflectors and such to use natural lighting, but when I go out on walks I typically have nothing but my daugher on my shoulders, a brown paper bag, a swiss army knife in my pocket and my camera on a small tripod.
Any suggestions on this issue?
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: ShockValue]
#10641446 - 07/08/09 11:48 AM (4 months, 12 days ago) |
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The best and most time consuming solution is to shoot HDR photos - Take one underexposed, one just right and one overexposed, and digitally combine them.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hdr/pool/
A more time effective way is to move the mushroom and camera until the differences are not so objectionable.
Also try the flash.
I often have the opposite problem - With a light mushroom on a dark background, the camera wants to way overexpose the mushroom. To fix this I either use the exposure compensation button [EV +/-], or press the shutter down half way, then block most of the light getting to the mushroom with my hand and press it the rest of the way.
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ShockValue
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I tried messing around with HDR once or twice but came up with some very unnatural looking shots. I don't mind if they look a little proccessed or adjusted, but mine were just strange. Probably with more practice I could get it looking good. I have a good HDR book on hold from the library, but the jerk ahead of me has had it for like 3 weeks past due >:)
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Alan Rockefeller
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: ShockValue]
#10642274 - 07/08/09 02:49 PM (4 months, 12 days ago) |
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Quote:
Typically I don't use a flash and rely on long exposure times since I'm using a tripod. I'm finding that in a lot of cases in order to get the mushroom to be exposed properly (espeically if the mushroom is ligher in color) the surrounding landscape turns out way to dark or underexposed.
Try to block as much light coming to the mushroom as possible, so the background is lighter by comparison. Especially white mushrooms need to be in the shadows when you photograph them.
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koraks
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Alan's tip of selectively blocking light seems very usable. Other than that, I would still suggest bringing a reflector in the field. Mind you, this needn't be a large or cumbersome contraption. A sheet of paper or a white cloth (garment?) will work quite nicely. There's also a vast selection of dedicated reflector sets that can generally be folded to about pocket size (see e.g. here).
Also, as Alan pointed out, use fill flash where appropriate. If your camera features flash exposure compensation, turn it down to -1 or so for natural looking results. HDR is a potential solution too, but I find it too time-consuming and cumbersome myself, so I always try to light the scene as I shoot the picture, limiting the time I need to spend on post processing. In some cases, however, it's possible (or necessary) to reduce the contrast of a scene in post processing. If you intend to do so, make sure your camera has a RAW recording function. Open the RAW files in a suitable utility (e.g. Adobe Camera Raw) and fool around with the sliders to get a balanced image. JPEGs allow some fiddling as well, but generally offer a more limited dynamic range, so you'll be sooner confronted with blown-out highlights.
Capturing and translating the contrast of a real scene to a good image is the number 1 challenge for photographers and it has been since the very beginning. If you're really interested in this, definitely read up on the zone system.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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ShockValue
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#10646282 - 07/09/09 08:42 AM (4 months, 11 days ago) |
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Thanks for the tips guys. Next time I'm out in the field and have a few minutes to expiriment I'll give it a shot.
HDR is an interesting subject to me, and my camera is capable of both RAW and auto-braketing shots, so I'm going to give this another shot to see if I can't get a reasonably natural looking photo. Fortunatly I'm a network and systems administrator, so spending a bit of time in front of the computer doesn't deter me
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koraks
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: ShockValue]
#10774861 - 07/31/09 01:43 PM (3 months, 20 days ago) |
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Ok, in another thread I just wrote something about zoom and aperture on digital compact camera's. I'll include this information here as well:
Macro mode
The macro mode of a compact camera essentially allows the lens to focus at a very close distance, much closer than the normal focusing range. This is done by increasing the distance between the lens and the sensor. So essentially, the macro mode allows the lens to be moved further out of the camera than normal. This method, similar to using extension tubes on a SLR camera, has an important implication:
- For the same magnification, less extension is needed with a short focal length ('zoomed out') than with a long focal length ('zoomed in'). However, the amount of extension available on a compact camera is fixed; i.e., it is the same when zoomed in or zoomed out. The implication is that you can get a larger magnification (more macro) when completely zoomed out.
Note that even working in macro when zoomed out, you retain the wide-angle perspective of a short focal length. I find this particularly pleasing for macro shots. Another advantage of shorter focal lengths is that motion blur is less likely to occur, so you can use longer shutter times handheld.
Zoom and focal length
Zoom is changing the focal length of the lens. A higher number (e.g. 135mm) means you draw the object closer, so to speak (zoom in), while a lower number (zoom out) gives a wider perspective.
Aperture is the opening inside the lens assembly through which the light passes towards the sensor. Now pay attention to this, 'cause it's confusing: a smaller number (e.g. f/2.8) represents a larger lens opening, while a larger number is a smaller opening. A larger opening obviously implies that more light reaches the sensor, hence, you can lower the shutter speed or lower the ISO setting as a result. However, a larger opening (low f/number) also means decreased depth of field, so it makes for blurry backgrounds and only the focal object sharply in focus. Increasing the f/number ('stopping down', as it's also called) increases the depth of field, which means that larger portions of the picture will appear in focus.
For mushroom macro work using a digital compact camera, this whole theory also has one especially relevant implication:
- You generally want to use a large aperture (=small f/number), as mushrooms tend to grow in dark spots and you want to do everything to get as high as possible shutter speeds to prevent motion blur. You noticed that This also means that you're likely to get nicely blurry backgrounds with only the mushroom in focus. It seems you chose this route, so that's good. On a digicompact, I always use the largest aperture available for mushroom shots.
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Mushroom photography tutorial
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This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
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