The can be rather "magical".

Nice mushrooms.

Brilliant colors!

Ooo....them be real prettayyyy......

One other thing....what kind of lighting is this?....Did you use flash?.....just curious.

In both cases above the lighting was using the Flash. Yesterday was rainy (hence the wet look) and overcast. I took some without the flash but there just wasn't enough there. No vibrancy. I use a Sony DSC-F707 digital, and used the reduced flash setting. These were with F5 and F3.5 respectively. Adjustments to Levels (medium) and Curves (just a tweak) plus a small cropping in Photoshop 6. All I had with me was my hat (black gambler) so I held it over the camera during the shot to shield from the rain and I think that affected the flash just a bit. Any suggestions on improvement? Thank you for asking! Magick Michael aka zhounder

Perhas some different perspectives. Catching them from slightly below grade can be interesting with mushrooms. Those pleats can add an interesting texture. Bleeding ot to a soft focus arond the outer edges could give it an artsy look if your into that. For me the branch is distracting but that could just be me. I do love the colours and the texture. The flash may be a tinge harsh. I'm being very critical. Its a nice shot, but even good ones can always be better.

I prefer the 1st one you took. Its a more interesting perspective to me.

Unfortunately I couldn't remove the stick without destroying a few of those shrooms and another plant that is out of view. Not worth destroying nature just for a photograph. Call me a tree hugger! Magick Michael aka zhounder

I hear ya. I hug trees too. Where abouts are you located? Kinda reminds me of some of the rainforest mushrooms from the West Coast around Vancouver area. I live in the Rockies.

This was taken at a local nature walk created by the township here in Dleaware County Pennsylvania. We are about 25 minutes south of the Philadelphia Airport and about 5 minutes north of Delaware. Its a tiny town called Aston. MM

Well, those are certainly nice mushroom families. And it was obvious there was some strong lighting. I figured flash but didn't rule out sunlight. One thing that helps a tiny bit (if you have a flash that reads light return) is to wrap a tissue (peel in half if you need to) if front of the flash element. It tends to soften the light a tad. This time of year I usually have tissues with me if I'm going to be outside for any length of time.

I thought it was flash myself and felt it a bit harsh....I still like the image regardless....nice feature on your camera though (reduced flash)....for my Dimage I have to buy a little diffuser thingie to go over the flash unit. I have tried the tissue route...it's awkward, and hasn't seemed to work to well for me. Which is one reason why I avoid flash if I can......

Well for just "messing around with a camera" you produced some outstanding images. Good enough to use for illustrations in book. High end coffee table type book. Flash is OK, But it is difficult to stop the "overwhelming" of other light sources. thanks for sharing. Bill

Very Nice.... :-)

...it's been said, but really neat images tree hugger. You know, you can eat these mushrooms. Delicious sauce you can make from these. At least there are similar looking mushrooms here, tastes better than campignons. ...err, did I really say "similar looking"...? .n

There is a cardinal rule you can use to determine poisionous mushrooms from edible ones: Edible ones are found in sunlit areas... Poisionous one are found in the stomachs of dead boy scouts. (OK, sick humor, I apologize)

This mushroom identification stuff is not easy, (or maybe my Audubon field guide isn't the best?). I'm guessing from the shape of the stem and gills that this is from the Mycena genus. There are all sorts of different species of these, in all sorts of different colors. Different species tend to grow in pretty specific places; deciduous wood, pine forests... That helps to identify the species. Not much mentioned about their edibility; know any Boy Scouts?

Ooooo pretty!!! :-) Looks like someone took a bite off a few shrooms in #2 hehehe... (* HEY, PAPA SMURF!!! (hehehe--- oops private joke)