310/365: "You laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at you because you're all the same." ~ Jonathan Davis (Don't miss the smallest mushrooms I've ever photographed!!)

3 more pictures above ! :)

Today I finally decided to bring the macro flash with me on my photo walk up along the ridge. I've been resistant because of the added weight, the fact that it's unwieldy, and my past troubles with proper exposure. However, I realized that I could just put it in a backpack and take it out when I found a suitable subject. And I have learned how to adjust the exposure a lot better. I used to think this macro flash took too long to set up...until I timed myself. It takes less than a minute to put on completely, and that's not even rushing! So I packed it up and off I went with the dogs to the top of the ridge!

The weather here is finally perfect for fungus to grow. Humid, wet mornings, raining or foggy on a regular basis, the ground is slowly sucking moisture back into it after the long, dry summer and beginning of autumn. I am starting to find mushrooms more easily, which is so much fun!! With the 365 project I have to stop myself from taking too many pictures, because I simply don't have time to process them all. But I let myself have fun today and found several really wonderful mushroom groups!

These mushrooms may look familiar to you, and that's because I featured them 4 days ago! This trio has grown more than twice as large since I saw them last!! I was walking past the log I found them under and wondered if they were still alive. Bending down, I exclaimed in delight, "OH LOOK!!!", because I could see the taller pair peeking their heads out of the crack between the log and the dirt! I rolled the log over to expose them and was just blown away by how cool they looked!

With my macro flash attached, I could take a picture with any dof I wanted (within reason, of course...rule of thumb: don't try for a higher f/stop than 22 because the picture will begin to blur), so I used 11, 14, 18, and 20 to compare on my computer. Then I remembered that the bark the mushrooms was on was movable. PERFECT!!! I picked them up and took another set with them held at arm's length. Looking at the pictures on my computer, there were several which were equally good, so I picked one and here it is! :)

I have three more pictures today: 1 shows me holding the bark these mushrooms are growing on for scale, 1 shows three impossibly tiny mushrooms, and 1 shows me holding the decayed leaf piece they are on! ENJOY! :D

Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD and JDevil (or J Devil), is an American musician best known as the leading vocalist and frontman for the nu metal band Korn. Hit Parader ranked Davis at number 16 on a list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" in 2006. Wikipedia: Jonathan Davis