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The autumn months are drawing in along with the dark nights and short days so what better opportunity then to visit my local woodland for a spot of macro photography to photograph the mushrooms and toadstools that are popping out from the woodland floor.
Watch the video on the making of this image here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDN3D6zWnBY
The recent wet, dreary and mild weather here in the UK has provided perfect growing conditions for the woodland mushrooms, toadstools and fungi especially in my local woodland where several old trees have fallen, and broken branches of old dead and decaying wood litter the woodland floor.
Wandering around your local woodland can reveal a host of secrets and little scenes in miniature to photograph, however it takes a while for you photographers eye to focus in on the mushrooms and toadstools that make their homes in the wet nooks and crannies of the the dead wood.
Allowing your eye adjust to the challenge is the key thing to remember and having a dedicated macro lens really helps bring the miniature subjects to life once you have found them within the chaos of the woodland environment.
So why not join me on this little amble into the woods as I try to find some interesting Macro photography compositions, armed with my trusty Pentax K1 and 100mm f/2.8 Pentax Macro Lens. Where I make the Mushrooms and Toadstools the focus of the compositions and introduce you to some little creepy crawly friends I made along the way
I would love to hear your thoughts on my little adventure and the images produced, so why not leave a comment, like and subscribe
Comments, suggestions always welcome.
Still quite a few of these Chironmids around, but I don't know the species. This one stayed well back in the foliage and was unfortunately rather camera shy. Happy Fly Day Friday
A seven-spot ladybird picked the finest thistle in the garden and settled right at the top, surveying everything below. The contrast got me — that small blaze of orange against the deep pink spines, the second bud waiting just behind. Sometimes the smallest details make the whole frame.
On windy days critters like this Sweat Bee do not notice when I grab onto the stem of the Sourgrass Flower that it is foraging in. So I was able to get a shot of her collecting pollen. Image taken in Bacoli, Italy in April of 2020.
Halictidae Lasioglossum
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.
While trying to photograph this male Blue Mason on a Dandelion he crawled onto my finger. After working with a critter for a few minutes they acclimate to me and stop viewing me as a threat. Small solitary bees like this one can feel the heat coming off of my skin and will climb on to get warm.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. Shutter and ISO set to expose the sky in the background.
Cool temps and partly cloudy weather create the perfect conditions for shooting small solitary bees like this Dandelion pollen covered male Blue Mason Bee. Although most people treat Dandelions like they're weeds they're actually an important pollen and nectar source for spring pollinators.
Osmia caerulescens
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order.
Here is a moment I＇ve captured where nature orchestrates its own symphony of colour: an ebony butterfly, adorned with white jewels, rests on deep pink flowers. Every detail, from the delicacy of the butterfly＇s wings to the protruding stamens of the flowers, testifies to the extraordinary complexity of the natural world. In the green bokeh that envelops the scene, simplicity meets grandeur. A fleeting moment, a delicate interaction, captured forever by the eye of my lens.
This early morning shot was taken at St Catherine’s Hill SSSI Nature Reserve near Winchester as this beautiful female opened her wings to receive the warming rays of the rising sun .
Cool, partly cloudy weather makes the perfect conditions to photograph small solitary bees. I found this Mining Bee foraging in a Dandelion.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order. ISO and shutter set to expose for the natural light in the background.
This European Blue Mason Bee is emerging from its cocoon. The female creates cells (usually in reeds or other hollow cavities), makes a pollen ball inside of a cell, and lays an egg on it and then closes that cell before making another one. When the egg hatches the larvae eats the pollen and spins a cocoon in about ten days, becomes a fully formed adult near the end of summer, "hibernates" through the winter and waits for the spring to emerge. The yellow bits stuck to its fur are left over pollen that it did not eat when it was a larvae.
Osmia Caerulescens, male.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to about 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering with -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI and Clarity in that order.
I baited this honeybee with some sugar syrup to give her a reason to let me get close. Zucchini pollen is huge! This is a frame from 2009, and I'd like to recreate this shot with my current gear.
Tech Specs: Canon 40D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 3x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
I was doing some work on my solitary bee houses and this male Blue Mason Bee emerged from a cocoon.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/100, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. Shutter and ISO set to expose the sky in the background.
Hover flies mainly feed of nectar and pollen and are second only to bees as nature's biggest pollinators. See my previous image to see it hovering.
This is an early morning shot of a Hoverfly that was more hungry than afraid. Also the first field test of a new diffuser set that I built for the macro twin flash.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to a little over 1x) + a diffused MT-26EX RT (E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order.
The Birdwing is a butterfly of the Swallowtail family. This was taken in the Kuranda National Park in Queensland, Australia
OM System OM-1 + M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO + Godox V860iii + Cygnustech flash diffuser - 49 shots focus stacked
Cool, partly cloudy weather makes the perfect conditions to photograph small solitary bees. I found this female Mining Bee foraging for pollen in a Dandelion. She would occasionally "wake up" and move around the flower and when she paused I'd take a portrait.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. Shutter and ISO set to expose the sky in the background.
Where i was, i was photographing and looking if i saw something in the grass. Then i saw a green type of grasshopper. I took my shot, making me have this result!
This is actually a really old, picture and i'm suprised how good it is for my standards now. Now looking back at it, this may be one of the best pictures i have from that time!
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Species: Great green bush-cricket, grote groene sabelsprinkhaan 🇳🇱, grønn løvgresshoppe 🇳🇴 (tettigonia viridissima)
Sometimes when I'm photographing a sleeping insect it will just take off when it wakes up. This Long Horned Bee seemed to be more curious than afraid and it stuck around for a little while. I was holding on to the flower's stem with my left hand, holding back a couple of flower petals, and when the bee paused I'd look for a way to compose it.
Tetralonia malvae, male.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F14, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (almost 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Denoise AI and Clarity in that order. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.