Fungi

The balance to this image is just wonderful – the eye is led up the stalk of the mushroom towards the waterfall and then brought back full circle with the swirl of the water at the front. It really feels like you’ve been offered a glimpse into a world full of mystery, where new discoveries are waiting to be made.

I’ve seen hundreds of images of fly agaric mushrooms – they’re the stuff of childhood storybooks (despite being highly toxic!) – but this is one of my favourites. The choice of aperture has allowed both mushrooms to be in focus while allowing enough detail in the background to provide a sense of place without being distracting. The mushrooms are also beautifully placed in the composition and free of any nibbles or significant knocks.

It can be hard to come up with a fresh angle on a much-photographed subject, but the photographer has certainly delivered here! Getting down on the ground is the first trick – it can be damp and uncomfortable, but the rewards are many. Using a fisheye lens has provided a wonderfully wide angle of view, and surrounding the top of the lens with leaves has made it feel as though you are looking out of a cave.

There’s something wonderfully celebratory about this picture. The hole in the log acts as a natural frame for the mushrooms and has clearly provided the perfect habitat for them to grow. The overcast light has revealed every detail in the mushrooms and brought out the grain in the wood too. If I have one criticism it’s that the wood on the right is out of focus, which is a little distracting, but otherwise it's a great shot.

I really like the dream-like quality of this image – there’s something particularly lovely about the wash of colour created by the soft focus in the background. I also like the sharp focus on the side of the mushroom. However, I find the composition a bit underwhelming. Blades of grass are falling in and out of focus on the right – I would have pushed them down slightly. Also, I’m not sure if the grass in front of the lens has really worked here. I would like to see the fungi clear of obstruction. It's so nearly there though!

Sometimes it’s hard to find a background that’s clean and free of distractions, so you have to be creative in your approach. Here the photographer has used bubble wrap as a backdrop and it’s surprisingly effective! The light on the foreground mushroom is good (almost cinematic) but I would like to have seen more light directed on to the back mushroom.

I love the balance of lines and shapes in this picture. The sweep of fungi entering the frame at the top and curving towards the centre is wonderful. The more you look at this image the more you see the range of colours – browns sit next to oranges and blacks. The ice on the trunk and the fungi has also added a touch of sparkle to the shot.

The composition is lovely here: the mushrooms have enough space to ‘grow’ into and I like the way the leaves create separation between the stems and the background trunk. Using an aperture of f/22 has kept everything nice and sharp and the focusing is great. However, the image feels a bit overworked – sometimes lifting too many shadows can create an unnatural look that jars a little. Sometimes less is more.

Fungi often grows in awkward places: it hides in dark corners and damp patches that can be hard to access. Here the photographer has found a cluster at eye level, but that’s not to say the image was easy to create. Adding a little light, by attaching an LED to a nearby branch, is a stroke of genius and has really emphasised the texture of the wood.

This image seems to take the viewer on a journey, layer by layer, towards the back of the picture. First, we see the mushroom (a lovely specimen, although the chunk out of the side is a bit distracting), then the moss-covered chunk of wood and finally the tree trunks at the back. It’s a hugely satisfying and well-composed shot.

Finding a line of fungi that’s free from damage or decay is quite tricky, so it’s clear that the photographer has done his or her research here. Making a note of when plants or fungi are at their best can save a lot of time and heartache later. The depth of field is perfect here – all of the mushrooms are in focus while the background is a pleasing wash of green and black.

There’s a gentleness to this picture that really appeals to me. When three elements vary in height and/or size they can be very satisfying to look at. I also love the way that each of the mushrooms are touching, but only just, as if they are being influenced by each other. Keeping the aperture nice and wide has thrown both the foreground and the background out of focus, which works beautifully.

This is clearly a fabulous image – great eye contact, beautiful detail in the feathers, perfect depth of field etc. The rain also adds an extra dimension, and I even like the softness in the bottom right corner. However, it would be hard to argue that the fungi are the star of the show here! If the fungi had been in focus I might have been more easily persuaded. Gorgeous image though!