208 T2 Nature - Fungi and Autumn Colours

Assignment 208 Principles of location photography Theme 2 Nature

Fungi and autumn colours 14 October 2011

Research and influences 

This fungi was growing on an old tree stump under a bush at the bottom of my garden. I wanted to obtain an image of the fungi as they are at their best for a very short time. My influence for this assignment was Tim Parkin Professional Photographer whose work is shown elsewhere in this blog. 

Assignment planning and choice of equipment

The fungi was in a very dark position under a bush but for a short time in the afternoon if the sun was out it reflected off a window of our house and illuminated the fungi. So on a day when there was some sunshine I set up my Canon 350D with the 18 to 50 mm lens on a tripod with a cable release to reduce camera shake as there was still not a lot of light.

Choice of final images selected, safe equipment operation and health & safety

The 2 images below were chosen from the 23 taken on the day to convey the time of year by the colours of the plants and the fungi. Safe equipment operation and health & safety were taken into account but were not an issue as I was working on my own in my enclosed garden.

Log of image capture Choice of final images selected 

Fungi and autumn colours in my garden 14 October 2011

This fungi was growing on an old tree stump under a bush at the bottom of my garden. The image shows the range of brown colours and textures of the toadstools in contrast to the bright green of the small fern in the foreground. Due to the range of colours and shades the eye is drawn from the light green of the fern in the bottom right of the frame through the light and dark brown of the fungi to the top left of the image.

Focal length 46mm, set on manual exposure, ISO 100, 1/50 sec, f/6.3 

This image shows the range of colours, texture, light and shade of leaves. This is demonstrated by the yellow, green, red and the silver/dark green on the bottom right of the frame. The one red leaf was placed on the left third of the frame to give a good balance to the image. 

Focal length 38mm, set on manual exposure, ISO 100, 1/80 sec, f/4.5