Watching the world below

Another bolete on a tree. I just couldn’t resist. Again it could be one of several varieties, but the thing that gets me is that it’s fruiting on a tree. I think it was a white pine. I was in one of our few old growth forests and it was mostly white pine, hemlock and yellow birch that reached sizes we normally don’t see in these trees.

Old growth forests are a bonanza for the mushroom photographer and I make a point to visit them during mushroom season. I should probably have waited a day or two since many specimens were beaten down by heavy rains and new specimens not fully developed. Oh well. This one seems to have fared well enough. It’s about 2 inches long (tall?).

Specific Feedback Requested

Thoughts, impressions…ideas for improvement all welcome.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Camera on tripod all the way down. LED panel on Gorilla Pod slightly behind and beneath the mushroom to light those pores. REALLY difficult to manage white balance in the field and so I did my best there and in post. 19-image focus bracketing group using 0/+ method starting on the very lip of the cap nearest to me. It was so dim it took a while for the camera to focus.

image

Lr processed for initial white balance adjustment and a bit of a crop. General improvements and then into Zerene for a PMax output. No retouching, but it needed a lot of color and contrast management when it came back into Lr. Then into Ps for a distraction-ectomy. Lr for a bit of a vignette. It’s crazy.

@the.wire.smith

Another fine specimen, Kris. Great composition. Nice work. I especially enjoy reading your shooting and processing techniques.

Another fascinating image. You sure do like mushrooms.

This is well composed and executed, as usual. Frankly I like the previous image with the glowing gills more.

Namaste

Thanks guys. Yeah, that first bolete on a tree was a beauty and tough to beat, but I had to give it a go.