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 Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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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| 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. |
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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: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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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 |
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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) |
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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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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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. |
|
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| 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 |
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| 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: 25,978
Loc: 
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 Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9461807 - 12/19/08 11:03 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Wow, Im gonna try it.
--------------------
 
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georgeM
Human
Registered: 07/05/05
Posts: 1,689
Loc: north eastern kansas
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Awesome tutorials Alan, thanks for sharing!
--------------------
www.morelhunters.com
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UnderTheOak
Grüße Von Der Orion
Registered: 11/13/08
Posts: 295
Loc: Holland
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: georgeM]
#9463868 - 12/19/08 05:59 PM (3 years, 5 months 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
>:_
Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 8,623
Loc: 45º parallel
Last seen: 21 hours, 42 seconds
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: UnderTheOak]
#9465062 - 12/19/08 10:50 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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a very hearty post alan
--------------------
∞
I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.
- Simone de Beauvoir -
doja designs
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Rikku
Stranger
Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 82
Loc: Georgia, USA
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9473096 - 12/21/08 01:23 PM (3 years, 5 months 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/
--------------------
Alice: The other side of what?
Caterpillar:THE MUSHROOM, OF COURSE!
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 16,174
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: Rikku]
#9476567 - 12/22/08 02:54 AM (3 years, 5 months 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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Rikku
Stranger
Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 82
Loc: Georgia, USA
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9479132 - 12/22/08 03:28 PM (3 years, 5 months 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.
--------------------
Alice: The other side of what?
Caterpillar:THE MUSHROOM, OF COURSE!
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 16,174
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: Rikku]
#9481951 - 12/23/08 05:04 AM (3 years, 5 months 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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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9483766 - 12/23/08 02:09 PM (3 years, 5 months 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
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 16,174
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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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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: koraks]
#9736587 - 02/04/09 06:40 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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PinheadX
Stranger thanyou
Registered: 04/25/07
Posts: 1,323
Loc: TX Gulf Coast
Last seen: 3 hours, 38 minutes
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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.
--------------------
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
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
- Philip K. Dick
Edited by PinheadX (03/09/09 10:09 AM)
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 16,174
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: PinheadX]
#9981829 - 03/16/09 12:34 PM (3 years, 2 months 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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bryce76
Stranger
Registered: 03/15/09
Posts: 10
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: snoot]
#9985490 - 03/16/09 08:48 PM (3 years, 2 months ago) |
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Excellent post, lots of useful information I could not have found elsewhere!
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: bryce76]
#10102666 - 04/03/09 08:16 PM (3 years, 1 month 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 04:52 PM)
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lqdtrance
Hunter
Registered: 04/12/08
Posts: 2,372
Loc: NY
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works well w/ your microscope? How do you do that?
--------------------
Pandha Piranha.
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 24,722
Last seen: 5 days, 21 hours
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Re: Mushroom Photography Tips [Re: lqdtrance]
#10157372 - 04/13/09 10:34 AM (3 years, 1 month 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
Hunter
Registered: 04/12/08
Posts: 2,372
Loc: NY
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Awesome. I'll have to try that. Thanks!!
--------------------
Pandha Piranha.
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