Digital Photography—A Picture-Taking Expedition to the Land Where Mushrooms Grow, Part 2
In Part 1 of this PhotographyTalk.com article, you were left lying on the ground! Part 2 presents some compositional tips about capturing amazing digital photos of mushrooms, toadstools and fungi—but you’ll have to stay on the ground to do so.
4. Try Tight and Lose Framing.
Find an interesting view that shows a mushroom in its natural setting. Make sure it is the dominant object in the picture, but widen your framing a bit to show the other tiny plants growing around the mushrooms. You might also discover a bug, a worm or other earth-dwelling creature crawling into your picture to make it even better. Then, create a tight framing of the mushroom, so you can reveal the startling nature of its details. Use the macro mode on your camera. Another option is to purchase a macro lens (for DSLR cameras only).
5. Light Your Way.
The land of mushrooms, toadstools and fungi is a dark place, so you’ll need an artificial light source to take the best digital photos.
In most cases, a flash unit will serve you best. It will fill any dark space with light, but the more you can control the flash unit, the better the balance between the flash and the natural light, which is what you want to achieve. A built-in flash unit on a point-and-shoot digital camera can’t be controlled very well (if at all), so a DSLR camera with a separate flash unit is the best combination to create that balance of light. The other advantage of an external flash unit is that you can move it to other angles on your subject. A side-lit or backlit digital photo of a mushroom can be more interesting than a directly lit shot. You’ll also be able to light the underside of a mushroom’s cap to capture its interesting architecture.
You can also use reflectors to bounce sunlight into the undergrowth. This may provide you with a softer light than a flash, creating a completely mood. Regardless of the equipment you are using, it takes some practice to learn how to light the land of mushrooms correctly.
6. Steady Your Camera.
You’ll find other opportunities to shoot digital photos of mushrooms without a flash assist. Those will require longer shutter speeds, however, which in turn means you’ll need a tripod or other equipment to stabilize your camera. You simply won’t be able to shoot hand held. A standard tripod may not work just inches off the ground, but some are made with legs that spread at extreme angles, so you can place your camera in the optimum position. A less costly alternative are the beanbags specifically manufactured for this purpose. Equip yourself with a remote shutter release as well.
7. Go Slow.
Try slower shutter speeds if the light levels are very low. That’s why a tripod and remote shutter release are so important. You don’t have to worry about that mushroom moving, so do some exposure bracketing at various slow shutter speeds and you take more than one interesting digital photo.
8. Control Your Depth of Field.
Mushrooms, toadstools and fungi are generally small objects. Emphasize their prominence by blurring the background in your photos. Select an aperture setting that creates a shallow depth of field.
With these eight tips, you’ll be better prepared for your digital photography expedition into the land of mushrooms!
Photo by PhotographyTalk member Laura