PROJECT 1
Elevate your macro skills with off-camera flash as James Paterson teaches you to capture stunning mushroom photos on the forest floor
From antibiotics to alcoholic drinks, organic decay to delicious food, fungi play an important role in all manner of things. They range from microscopic structures to the largest living organism on the planet. Underground, the ‘wood-wide web’ of fine tendrils creates a network that allows plants and trees to communicate. Above ground, the fruiting bodies form as mushrooms and other stunning structures, offering great opportunities for macro photography.
Fungi – and mushrooms in particular – tend to prefer dark conditions like dense woodlands, crevices in rotten wood and shady areas. When photographing in these murky spots, a burst of flash can provide a welcome lift to the scene. But it’s not just about increasing the light levels, a flash also gives you the opportunity to enhance the mood.
By firing the flash off-camera, either from the side, above, behind or even below, we can highlight the fine fungi features, draw attention to colours and textures or show the delicate gills on the underside. Whenever we add our own light into a scene like this, the ambient daylight becomes almost like a secondary light source. We can decide whether the daylight plays a major or minor role in the exposure, either by balancing our flash with it for a subtle lift, or by overpowering it for a spotlight effect.
But before you head out in search of fantastic fungi, it’s worth saying that you shouldn’t touch anything you don’t know, don’t inhale spores and wash your hands after. As for eating foraged mushrooms, please heed the words of Terry Pratchett: ‘All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.’
ON LOCATION MAJESTIC MUSHROOMS
Get your off-camera flash set up correctly for fungi close-up shots
Set your camera to Manual Mode with shutter speed 1/30 sec, aperture f/8 and ISO100. A mid-range aperture will give you the sharpest results, as lenses tend to perform their best a couple of stops down from the max aperture. The depth of field will be limited so precise focusing is vital.
A tripod is a must for macro photography, not just because it lets you slow your shutter speed, but also because it means you can focus precisely. Manual focus is best. Use Live View and zoom in, then use the lens focus ring to ensure the front edge of the mushroom is sharp.
Fired at 1/4 manual power, our Speedlite is placed slightly behind the subject and angled back towards the camera so that it doesn’t spill onto the area beyond the subject. This helps the backdrop to appear
