Amanita Muscari (Fly Agaric)

Amanita muscari (Fly agaric)

DAY1 On a recent walk through the woods with the kids we saw many lovely fungus. Among them was the well known Fly Agaric. I decided to put some effort in shooting this toadstool. Yes it would be easy to use my flash unit and fire right away, but I wanted the whole scene to be evenly lit without nasty shadows, so I did not take a photo at that time but returned in the evening with some support for the longer exposures. I used a small plywood board that worked surprisingly well to hold the camera motionless. It allowed me to work very close to the ground which created a more interesting viewing angle on this Amanita muscari. Another interesting fact was that this toadstool was still young, as it's cap was rounded. This made me eager to come back the next two days for taking additional photo's of it's evolution.
 
Photo by Frank Panis
 
Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikon AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/5s - f8
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
 
DAY2 Armed with all my gear and attributes I went back to that same place in the woods, and yes, the Amanita muscari was still there. Even better, it stood there in all it's glory with the cap fully stretched. I installed myself and spread an old coat on the ground in order not to get too wet. I used the same plywood board for extra stability and started shooting. I chose an even smaller aperture for a bigger DOF and experimented with all kinds of exposures.
 
Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Nikon AF 50mm f1.8D
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/2s - f11
Flash:none
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2
 
DAY3 I did some research at home regarding the use of wide angle lenses on small subjects and the distortion effect on them. I took a tape measure to position the camera at it's minimal focus distance to allow the subject to fill the frame as much as possible. The results were encouraging, so I decided to pack all my gear again and walk to that same location in the woods to take additional pictures with my wide angle Sigma 12-24mm. The toadstool was completely opened now and I took my tape measure to position the camera as close to the fungus as possible, set my camera parameters, attached the SC29/SB-800 with slow sync for fill flash and tried some exposures to get the correct one. After all a too highlighted toadstool is not a very pretty sight.
 
Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D2X
Lens: Sigma 12-24 mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASP / HSM @ 12mm
Sensitivity: ISO100
Shutter speed: 1/2s - f11
Flash:SB-800 on the ground connected to the camera with the SC-29 and in slow sync / fill
Image: RAW, converted in Nikon Capture 4.3.2