Pleurotus Confirmation / Photo Advice

[KeenTeen17]

I think this is oyster mushroom.

which photo is better - the lighter or darker?

[Lancashire Lad]

I agree with your ID.

As far as the photo's go, I think an exposure mid way between the two would have been the ideal.

Regards
Mike.

[mollisia]

Hallo KT,

I think the brighter one is better then the dark one. This latter also has a strong reddish hue, at least at my monitor (LCD, usually withut red hue).
I good idea for such situations is placing a piece of aluminium folie somewhere below and beside the object. This is often enough to bring the light to the underside of the fungus and you have at the same time avoided a flash (which I personally use as few times as possible). I join a picture of a Cortinarius laniger from last year, in a quite dark coniferous forest (Pinus, Picea). The specific brick colour of the gills wouldn't be to see without an aluminium that mirrors the sky light.



Sure most of the fotografers know that "trick", but may be not all.

best regards,
Andreas

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by mollisia

Sure most of the fotografers know that "trick", but may be not all.

best regards,
Andreas

Yeh we all know that don't we folks

Mal

[Lancashire Lad]

I sometimes carry a small (folds very compact) "lastolite" type dual sided reflector - gold on one side, white on the other.

But I agree with Andreas, a piece of aluminium foil works (almost) as well, and has the added advantage that it can be replaced whenever necessary without any cost.

One small tip - it is usually best to "scrunch" it up and then open it out before use, as this provides a more diffuse throw of reflected light.

Regards
Mike.

[solus]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

One small tip - it is usually best to "scrunch" it up and then open it out before use...

Take your sandwiches out of it and Bob's your uncle!

I wish I hadn't said that - I might have to explain Uncle Bob to Andreas and I'm not sure I can...

[FungiJohn]

Hi KT

Apart from the very useful advice given by Andreas and Mike, you may also consider using a LED torch to provide ‘fill in’ light to the underside or gills. These are very useful for ‘painting’ light onto shadow / background areas.

You can also achieve a better result by using software such as photoshop / paintshop pro to alter background / shadow information but these are very expensive to buy.

To give an example of software correction I have edited your first image in CS3 to give more detail … but it does come at a price!



Conclusion: a cheap reflector or LED torch will improve on these types of images perfectly.

John

[NickCantle]

It's nice picture KT

[mollisia]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

One small tip - it is usually best to "scrunch" it up and then open it out before use, as this provides a more diffuse throw of reflected light.

Hi,

yes, that's perfect. I didn't thought about mentioning it because all things I carry around get crunched up within minutes

Friend of mine always use empty tetrapack milk carton, which they cut the sides and turn it inside out. They are silvery inside, but not crunched. They have very good fotos nevertheless, and these cartons have the advantage that they are not as wavy and much heavier. Great advantage when you want to takes pictures of hygrocybes on a meadow when it's windy ....

best regards,
Andreas

[kiff]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

Hi KT


You can also achieve a better result by using software such as photoshop / paintshop pro to alter background / shadow information but these are very expensive to buy.

To give an example of software correction I have edited your first image in CS3 to give more detail … but it does come at a price!

John

you don't have to spend any money to get very good image manipulation software GIMP is free and once you get use to it, it can do just as good a job as paintshop pro, elements.