Foothill Photos

[Ken Ramos]

Late October in the mountains and the weather is turning chilly. Tonight we will have our first freeze. However it was a mild day with temps in the lower 60's and so I ventured into the foothills of the Black Mountains.

Canon EOS 30D
Manual mode/hand held
1/200 sec. @ f/11 ISO 100
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon 430EX Speelite w/Novoflex Flash Bracket @ 1/3

As I walked along in the coolness and comfort of the mountain shadows, it was along the trail that I came across this hollow log and the tiny mushrooms living there in.


Canon EOS 30D
Manual mode/hand held
1/125 sec. @ f/11 ISO 100
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon 430EX Speedlite w/Novoflex Flash Bracket @ 1/3

It was not much later that I came across this, a rather happy and smiling fungus.

[JoanYoung]

Excellent pics of a lovely day Ken, Thanks for sharing. I love both pics and your fungus does look as if it is smiling

[Ken Ramos]

Thanks Joan, kind of a creepy looking thing really.

[JoanYoung]

I do not agree. It is very interesting to me. I guess it is because I love everything about nature that I do not find things creepy even spiders. LOL!!

[rjlittlefield]

#1 really catches my eye -- kind of a welcoming cozy tiny refuge!

My brain keeps wanting to make the shiny white stuff be snow. What is it really?

--Rik

[Bruce Williams]

Two excellent photos ken.

Pic1 is truly atmospheric - a minature Lord of the Rings style landscape to trigger the imagination - you can almost smell the damp earth.

Pic2 - Here you've done a really super job of capturing the delicate colours and textures of this beautiful fungus. Great detail and levels look to be about spot-on. I really like this pic - difficult to see how it could be improved upon.

Bruce

[Ken Ramos]

The white filmy looking stuff behind the mushrooms in the first photo is that of fungal hyphae. Could be part of the system from which the mushrooms sprouted I don't know. As for snow, well they are promising a mild winter, we'll see. "Lord of the Rings," I have read bits and pieces of the book when it first came out but never really sat down to read any of the stuff in its entireity or even see the movie, I'm not much for movies anymore, used to be though. At present I am studying up on the environmental history of the Black Mountains. Folks at work are telling me to get a life.

Thanks Bruce and Rik.

[beetleman]

Excellent photos Ken. The gills in the first photo really set off the mushrooms. Usually you either see the cap or the bottom for the gills. Everything else I like has been stated by the others. Very nice work. Glad to see your finally getting some wet weather.