Mushroom hunting, Autumn 2022

Autumn is the Season I love the most. The last cycle resembles the end of another year. During this Season, the change of scenery is colorful and fast-paced. Turning leaves, once green and high up the trees, now brown and fallen to provide warmth to the roots beneath the earth. Autumn, is perhaps a Season that gives us more room for thought about our cycle of life. Unfortunately, my feet are still in a bit of pain, which makes it difficult for me to wander around. This didn't stop me from going to the forest with @lackofcolor a few weeks ago. Even though I'm currently paying the price for it by stalling my feet's healing process, it was surely worth it to pay a visit.

Enjoy,
Ruben

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The quest to find mushrooms

When you think about Autumn, the image of red mushrooms must have crossed your mind. At least, for me, it is an opportunity to find these gems hidden in the forest. So, I told Lackofcolor that it would be my quest to find the most perfect red mushroom in the forest and photograph it.

Once we parked the car, I prepared my gear, and off we went. For this specific day, I chose to photograph only with my 50mm lens. I bought a reverse ring a couple of weeks ago and got to try it out only once. I always thought it was a great exercise to improve your photography by limiting yourself with the tools you have. This way you surely understand the boundaries and limits of your camera + lens, as you have a higher chance to stumble upon challenges to overcome.

Family time

Just a few steps in, we were greeted by a family of mushrooms growing on the bark of a chopped-off tree trunk. At this moment, I knew it was going to be a fruitful day to photograph many mushrooms.

I was lucky. I could try out the reverse ring right away. I wanted to isolate one of the mushrooms with a central point of interest. Making one of these tiny mushrooms look big can be difficult, as you can often lose the feeling of how small the mushroom in reality is. The composition is a game-changer.

White Swam

There was another one growing on a tree. The feeling when you find some mushrooms is always a treat. As if you find a present or something, or that may be just me. Mushrooms growing on trees makes you wonder how this occurs, and how it is possible. This one was found by @lackofcolor, who proudly showed me an amazing photograph that she took with her phone. If I would compare it with my expensive camera, I would choose hers.

But, I brought my reverse ring, and not using it would be a complete waste. I mean, I wanted to take photographs of details of the spores and mushrooms in general. I think this must have been one of the best photographs that I ever took of mushrooms. I love the abstractness of it. It's so light and dreamy.

The white-dotted red toadstool

And finally, I saw the perfect mushroom with white dots on it. This toadstool, also known as the Amanita Muscaria, looked great and super fresh. Already slightly decaying, as bugs found it probably a few days before I could. The skin of the red looked so fluffy and smooth, it makes you wonder if you could eat it too. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this one. This one is pretty toxic.

More red toadstools!

And we found more red mushrooms! These were much "older" mushrooms. They started to get a bit flat, but nonetheless, it felt like it was still a price to take some shots of these.

And of course, there was more than just mushrooms

It's always nice to wander around in the forest. If you pay some attention you'll be able to see and find stuff you wouldn't think of seeing maybe.

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Thanks for reading!

It was a great day, but unfortunately, my feet started to hurt a lot more afterward. At least we got some fresh air and got to find some perfect mushrooms (lol).

Cheers,
Ruben

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