Flat on the floor photography.

24th November 2021

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks lying on the ground photographing fungi, sometimes in a Beech wood and others on open unimproved grassland. It’s quite remarkable the varieties Susan and I have seen. Although we are fledgling fungi finders – (phew, that’s a mouthful), we are enjoying identifying new species very much. However, photographing these fungi is no easy task – not only do you have to carry your photographic kit around but you also have to carry something to kneel and lie on, otherwise you will get quite wet and become covered in mud or worse! In addition lying down and getting back up dozens of times, sometimes from very awkward positions, is tiring. Fungi grow in difficult situations, sometimes where the lighting is poor and others where it is in amongst foliage obstructing your view. A good scissors is very handy for clipping grasses and leaves as is a small LED light on a mini tripod for filling in shadows and general lighting. Ultimately I really couldn’t manage to get any decent images without my Yongnuo twin macro flash, (see review), it is invaluable for this type of photography.
In addition accidental spotting of wildlife has become a bonus - yesterday we flushed two Common Snipe literally from under our feet in a damp grassy area and last week we similarly flushed a Woodcock in a Beech wood.

However, not all fungi are welcome, particularly in your garden and about a month ago we found some Honey Fungus growing on an old stump of a shrub we had cut down.

This fungus is bad news for anybody’s garden because it can spread to other trees and shrubs very quickly. We removed it quickly and burnt it because it’s no good just pulling it up and composting it e.g. because it can still release spores and proliferate. Sometimes this removal can be too late because underground the fungus may have already begun to spread to other plants, we will have to see, I hope not!!
This week, however, the first ground frosts have begun and that has been the end of many of the autumn fungi. If we get a mild spell again some more will appear but for now we will have to wait and see.

Below are a small selection of fungi we have seen and photographed.

Raspberry Slime Mould.