Photographing Wild Mushrooms

As a Wildlife Photographer, even when you put yourself in the place with the most potential, you sometimes don't find what you came to see. You needn't go home empty though. If you look you'll often find a good photograph. I remember this Mushroom photo that I took in Wells Grey, British Columbia after a day of not finding a Bear, Wolf, or Moose. I laid down in front of the Mushroom using my elbows as a tripod thinking this might make a nice photo. Nice? It made a beautiful photo, worthy of "5" Stars:

Mushroom

Mushrooms - Part II

Southern Arizona is not particularly known for its abundance of mushrooms -- which indeed is appropriate.  So specializing in them would be challenging living in Tucson. Most of my mushroom photos I took when we lived in the Northwest (Seattle) where it rains 500 days a year. My fly fishing and photo trips into British Columbia and Alberta were also rewarding in that regard  --- although my focus wasn't exactly mushrooms at the time. So, if you live in an area where mushrooms are abundant then there are a lot of fun photo ops available to you. Here are a few more of my mushroom photos:

This is one of my favorites taken lying down with elbows as tripods.

This one was fascinating to me. They looked like miniature Christmas trees.

And now for some Mushroom clusters:

Mushrooms

About 20 years ago my oldest daughter (Erin) and I went fly fishing in British Columbia at Ernst Lake. We camped for four or five days and never saw another human being. It was idyllic. One day she asked if she could use my camera but wouldn't tell me what she wanted to photograph. So I had to wait until we got home and got the film developed, Here is the photo she took:

Erin's Mushroom

We had seen a black bear, moose, many deer, but she choose a mushroom.  And, not only that, the angle that she took the photo was equally fascinating. From that photo I realized how much there was in nature to photograph. You could not only be an "animal" or "bird" specialist, you could be a "bug" specialist, a "wildflower" specialist, even a "mushroom" specialist. 

So, over the years I have often stopped to photograph a mushroom that I found interesting. (Each time I do, thinking of Erin). Here are some of those photos. Tomorrow some mushroom "clusters.":

Could Mushrooms Be Fine Art?

I have spent five or six hours out in the wilderness, 150 miles from any civilization, and not seen anything larger than a squirrel. Why is that? Wildlife is supposed to be abundant.  After a couple of hours I start thinking I need a dictionary to get a better understanding of the word "abundant" because I thought I would see deer prancing all around, bears in trees eating nuts, moose drinking from the delightful little brook, and wolves howling to the moon -- oh, and butterflies on my shoulder. I guess that only happens in Walt Disney cartoons, zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

So, what do I do? I looked for something else in nature that I may have overlooked -- or, at least not appreciated as much as a bear or moose. Once I started looking I noticed all the different mushrooms there are in wilderness forests. After some really bad photos, I experimented with close-ups and angles. And, after a while I got to a point where photographing mushrooms was FUN! Now, I must admit that I haven't been able to add very many mushrooms to my "collection" since moving to Southern Arizona.  Nonetheless, here are a couple of my favorites  --- both taken in British Columbia many years ago:

Mushrooms can be fun, not just eaten

We are still at Wells Gray in British Columbia for another day. I think it is important for a wildlife photographer to be willing to cherish the "little things." There are many days that you look for the large mammals without luck, and as a result become disappointed. And yet, you may have passed up many opportunities to be creative and have fun nonetheless. Mushrooms are a good example of that. I wasn't out looking for mushrooms to photograph. I was looking for bear and moose. Yet, something caught my eye with this mushroom.  Maybe it looks like a father, mother, and baby. Maybe its because the little one seems protected by the larger ones. Maybe it is because they seem vulnerable and alone in the woods. Maybe its the unique shape that looks like a closed umbrella. We all see things from different perspectives and process what we see in different ways. (I suspect that's what creates the political climate we're in). And, while it may be that some people will look at this photo and not give it a second thought, some might really see it like I do, and appreciate its natural beauty.