301/365: "And all your future lies beneath your hat." ~ John Oldham

7 more pictures above, which include all of my Parasol Mushroom pictures and my other picks of the day! :) (all but the first two are clickable!)

I've been watching a pair of Parasol mushrooms growing by a brush pile down by the road, and today was picture day for one of them! This monster is about 6-7" across, just HUGE! It was growing right in front of the brush pile, and I know from experience that the result of a busy, messy background like that is pretty ugly and distracting. (Roll your mouse over the pictures above to the last one, and you'll see one with brush behind it!) However, yesterday when I checked on the pair, which were growing right up against each other, I saw that one had pushed its neighbor over. Gently touching it, I was surprised to find that I would be able to pick it up without hurting it. So, today I pulled grass and weeds right next to the brush pile, dug a hole for the stem, and carefully lifted it out of its original home and to the spot I set up for pictures. Using my stacking technique from my past couple of Parasol mushroom pictures, I got several apertures that would work, and when it was done, I put the mushroom back where it was growing. Processing the pictures, I used two different apertures to get the full depth of the mushroom and then placed it into a picture which had an aperture of 4.5 for a nice soft background. I hope you like it! :)

John Oldham (August 9, 1653 – December 9, 1683) was an English satirical poet and translator. Wikipedia: John Oldham

Explored on October 30, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.