Fungus Photography

Here are a few tips for taking pictures of fungi in the wild:

  1. Try to find undamaged specimens
  2. If possible, take the picture from the best side in terms of image composition
  3. For fungi (other than rare ones - please see our Conservation Guide) on soil or leaf litter, you may be able to reposition specimens to good effect
  4. Carefully fold back or remove obstacles that would obscure part of the picture, but retain as natural a foreground and background as possible
  5. Use a tripod or other means of avoiding camera shake - a common cause of poor picture quality
  6. Focus just behind the front edge of the most important fungus in your composition
  7. In close-up photography a small aperture, giving maximum depth of field, is usually best for pictures intended to help with identification
Using a tripod for fungus photography

Using a tripod and cable release avoids camera shake and so permits slow (small-grain) film or digital images with the long exposure and small aperture settings necessary for good depth of field in natural daylight conditions.

If your camera does not have a cable release facility, simply use the timer; unlike birds and insects, fungi are not noted for flying away in the few seconds between operating the shutter switch and the timer actuating the shutter itself!

In dark woodlands, often the only alternative to using a tripod and long exposure is to rely on flash photography. Built-in flash usually gives a very 'flat' effect, can cause bleaching of pale areas, and sometimes casts shadows in the lower part of the image. A detachable flash gun, operating from the side rather than directly in front of the subject, can work well, but you may need a reflector to redirect some of the light from the 'dark side' of the subject. All this takes time to set up, of course, and the equipment must be carried; a tripod is often a better solution.