Discovered Under a Log: A Trio of Tiny Mushrooms!

If you want to find mushrooms, one place to look is under and inside logs and stumps. I rarely find mushrooms but I often find fungus of some sort. When looking under logs, bark, and stumps, I am always very careful and poised to jump away. The one reason I'm extremely wary is that there are rattlesnakes in the area. Very rare, but they are around. Because of that, I am always 100% prepared if I were to possibly uncover a cranky rattlesnake. Lifting up logs, rolling over stumps, etc, is always done very slowly and carefully because it is not my intention to disturb or injure any possible occupants.

Things I've found under logs and stumps include:
California Mountain King Snake
Blue-Tailed Skink
Fence Lizard
Forest Scorpions (several)
Millipedes & Centipedes
Ants & Beetles
Spiders & webs
Cocoons, Eggs, and Egg Sacs

Mushrooms
Fungus

I was up on the ridge line the other day and looked under another log when I noticed something really small and fuzzy. I got down very close and stared...A MUSHROOM! No...THREE MUSHROOMS!! These little guys are only about 1/4" tall and you can see their fuzzy roots, which are called mycelium, all over their lower parts! (Thanks to Leapfrog (Art) for the link to a nice diagram: Fungal Mycelia) My problem was that I didn't have my camera with me, so I put the log back and two days later I returned with my camera, and happily they were still doing just fine!

This picture, like the last few mushroom pictures I've shared, is "stacked". I took the mushrooms from an image with an aperture of 9.0 and put them into a picture with an aperture of 2.8 for a soft background. I have had several people ask me for more details how to do this, so I've written an article, using this image as an example to show you the different steps so hopefully you can understand my explanation! :) Great Focus & Soft Backgrounds: A Tutorial