Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Bob_B on December 06, 2018, 10:33:30 am
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I discovered this while hiking recently, and thought it would make a nice subject for some studio macro work. Your thoughts are most welcome. Thanks, Bob
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Love it! I used to know my mycology. Have you ever been to a fungus fair? Much of my interest in photography stemmed from wanting to know more about biology and natural history.
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Thanks Hugh.
Have you ever been to a fungus fair?
No, and until this moment I didn't even know they existed, but then again why not? I'll keep my eyes open for local events like that. Thanks again.
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Beautiful. Should make for a great print.
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Very nice! The most interesting fungus I've ever run across (just once!) would have been difficult to take into a studio undamaged, I think. It was also darned difficult to photograph where it was! If I'm not mistaken (I'm no expert) it's a Hericium erinaceus, commonly called Bearded Tooth or Lion's Mane.
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That's a beaut! I'm not an expert, but I think your ID is accurate. BTW, I believe the fungi in my photo are Violet Polypores (Trichaptum biforme), but take that with a grain of salt, or maybe not as I don't think they're safe to eat. :)
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Thank Rajan. I'm working on a print at the moment.
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I discovered this while hiking recently, and thought it would make a nice subject for some studio macro work. Your thoughts are most welcome. Thanks, Bob
It is an exceptional example of the fungus, clean and undamaged and a technically excellent photograph of it.
However, I can’t agree with taking it out of nature to photograph it in a studio. There have been many arguments made over the decades about why it’s ‘okay’ to do so but none really wash with me.
Nature photographers are typically very strict about this: no removal, no pruning, ‘nature as nature is’. Furthermore, even if I didn’t know it was shot in a studio, the stark black background seems very un-natural.
Sorry Bob. I’m a fan of your work, as I often learn things from what you do and how you see.
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Thanks for your thoughts Terry, and please don't be sorry: I asked for your comments and welcome them (really). I 100% agree with the general idea of not molesting nature; leave it as you find it works for me. The back story on the bracket fungi: I found that 8" dead and dried branch on a path while hiking after a recent wind storm. The fungi were bone dry and hard, and I assume probably not alive or likely to be resuscitated. Once photographed, I returned them to the forest floor on a return visit. I consider that reasonable stewardship of the environment.
On esthetics, well, I beg to differ, and strongly feel that there are plenty of times when isolating subjects from nature in a studio on a simple black background is often preferable, especially when the desire is to focus on the subject (not nature), but that's my sense of what works and what makes me smile. (Maybe that esthetic comes from my 4+ decades of being a scientist (microbial geneticist), and how I was taught to record images for scientific publications and presentations.) Of course, when presented with a subject and background that works in a natural setting and provides me with the vision I want to capture, I'll photograph that way, untouched.
Best wishes, Bob
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Thanks for clarifying, Bob. The colours are so fresh and rich it appears the fungus is also ‘fresh’.