Mushrooms

[best appreciated at full size against black] About a month ago, I was up on our ridge line, crawling around through the fallen-down manzanitas and oaks, looking for mushrooms, lichen and fungus. Suddenly I spotted a small Orange Jelly growing on a branch and went over for a better look. Then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and said out-loud, "WOW! LOOK AT THAT!!" This odd-lookiing fungus was unlike any Orange Jelly I'd ever seen. I wondered what it could be. Though it was growing right next to the Orange Jelly, it obviously wasn't the same. After some research, I discovered that it's called "Heterotextus alpinus", or Golden Jelly Cone fungus. It's not as common as Orange Jelly fungus but can be found on dead conifer logs, branches and stumps. Like Orange Jelly, when mature, they produce spores all over their surface much like the gills of mushrooms. I really like their geometric shape! :) This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] I found this fat little mushroom on the path I take from our granite valley up to the house. Admiring the warm tones on the cap as I took my pictures, I thought this friendly fellow looked like it was off on a walk and stopped to look at me before continuing on its way after I left! :) This image was taken in April, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] I was busy taking a picture of the Common Chickweed flower I posted yesterday when I looked down, and right in front of me, poking through the oak leaves, was this amazing mushroom! I cleared away the excess leaves and started taking pictures. I had trouble illuminating the gills underneath and I realized that I wasn't taking pictures of what was special about this mushroom. I moved closer and peered down over it and immediately smiled. YES! This cap is amazing!! With different colors and textures, cool details and even a place where you can see through the cap to the gills below! I was gently reminded that you must always stop and ask yourself what it is about the subject that drew you to it. Almost always, that's what you should be taking a picture of! This image was taken in April, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] Here is another wonderful find from a photo walk in our lower forest a month or so ago. I was busy taking pictures of yesterday's tiny mushroom when I looked down and saw a cap peeking out from under some oak leaves. With a gasp of delight, I carefully lifted the oak leaf off and saw, to my amazement, not one, but TWO mushrooms huddled under the leaves! With the care of a surgeon, I slowly removed leaf after leaf, pulling away dead plant matter, twigs and small branches so that I had a nice view of the pair. If you are new to photographing natural subjects, this is called "dressing the scene," and will help to make your subject shine and make your post-processing work much easier, if you enjoy working on your photos like I do! :) To give you an idea of the clean up I did for this image, these mushrooms were completely covered with leaves up to their caps, and surrounded by more of the same. I also needed to clear away enough detritus to make room for my camera! After I finished taking pictures, I then carefully replaced everything as it was, and when I left, the only thing you could see of these mushrooms were the tops of their caps! This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A couple of months ago I wandered around the darker areas in our lower forest and found several mushrooms and various lichens and fungus species, and this adorable little mushroom was so small that I nearly missed it! It was on the side of a log, trying very hard to stretch up higher than the moss around it! This tiny treasure stands just 1/2" high!! This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A few weeks ago I found a bunch of tiny red-orange-capped mushrooms growing inside a log's bark up along our ridgeline. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the different groups, and this darling little family was the smallest of them all. The tallest one is only about 1/3" tall!! On the left is Mr. Button, and he stands tall and proud, adorned with a fashionable leafy ornament! He shows off his beautiful family who look shyly on. Mrs. Button is leaning close over Baby Button, who's as wee as can be, and quite the doll indeed! Hooray for the Buttons, aren't they a wonderful sight!! :D This image was taken in March, 2012. Explored on April 16, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] This is one of my favorite pictures of the group of mushrooms I found down at the Rogue River a month or so ago. I had a bit of fun breaking the border with one of the mushrooms, I think it adds a bit of drama to this glowing pair! :) This image was taken in February, 2012. Explored on April 12th, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] This darling mushroom was found growing along the trail which goes along to the top of our ridge! It stands just 1" tall! Her ruffled cap looks like a frilly skirt, ready for a night out on the town! :) This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] Here is another picture of the group of mushrooms I found down at the Rogue River a month or so ago. Have you ever noticed that I have no species facts or information about my mushrooms? This is because mushrooms are so impossible for me to identify. I don't know how people do it. So many mushrooms look identical to me, and then I found out that many mushrooms can only be identified by looking at them under a microscope!! That's insane!! However, I am fascinated by them, so hopefully I'll be able to get a book that identifies mushrooms of Oregon so I can tell you what they are! For now, this is "Lampus Mushroomus"! :D :D This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] On this day, I had been up on our ridge line for a while, taking pictures and losing track of time. Morning drifted into early afternoon and I got more and more hungry. When I start making comments outloud, it's getting serious. "I'm HUNGRY! I want LUNCH!" Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and forced myself to go back down the hill and get something to eat. Once I admitted that I was literally starving to death (I'm not exaggerating, really! :D) I realized how famished I was, and all I could think about was what tasty things my husband and I might have for our meal....grilled chicken sandwiches with toasted buns...scrambled eggs and bacon with toast...a ham sandwich with pepperjack cheese...food was dancing in my mind as I stumbled towards the house like a deranged zombie... I was tromping through the line of dead teasel 200 feet from the house when I noticed something yellow and looked down...."OH MY! WHAT'S THIS! A YELLOW MUSHROOM!!!!" NO! TWO MUSHROOMS! All thoughts of food were forced from my mind for a moment while I looked at two amazing little yellow mushrooms growing from the decaying teasel and vegetation. I fought with myself for a moment before my stomach won the battle, and I realized that taking pictures when I'm literally STARVING TO DEATH (:D) is not conducive to good photography! When I opened the door, the smell of sizzling bacon and eggs, toast with butter, hit me in the face and I nearly swooned with happiness! "GREAT TIMING!!" yelled Steve from the kitchen. "OH BOY!! I'M STARVING TO DEATH!! YOU'RE MY HERO!!" Kissing my husband with joy, he said, "That's my job!" :D After a delicious lunch and with a happy, full tummy, I went back to the pair of beautiful mushrooms, and took my time photographing each one! (I'll post the other in a few days!) This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] The other day I posted a picture called, "The Tallest Mushroom". Well, I wasn't telling the truth. Here it is, the shorter of the two tallest red-capped mushrooms, and they're positively dwarfed by the one in the center! Can you believe the tallest is only about 3"-4" tall? AND they were found growing on the inner bark of a rotting log? AMAZING what you can find with a some careful looking!! When I saw this picture on my computer, the first thing I thought was...awwww...I wish there was a mushroom in the empty spot! And then I saw the story... It's Picture Day at Mr. & Mrs. Mushroom's house, because grandpa has come by for a visit, and he's not getting any younger. Everyone has gathered around grandfather, with a proud son leaning in close to his dad, and his wife standing next to him. Two of the three kids have gathered shyly on the right and you can almost hear them moaning, "Awwww, come on!!! DO WE HAVE TO? GRANDPA SMELLS FUNNY!!" And meanwhile, little Cindy Lu Shroom is too shy to enter the scene, standing so small and alone over on the left. Come on sweety pie, don't be shy!! IT'S PICTURE DAY!! MY, OH MY!! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] Yesterday afternoon it stopped raining for a short while and I decided to check on the progress of various flower buds and to see if anything new was popping up, and as I was returning to the house, I saw this crazy-looking flower peeking out of the grass. Approaching, I said outloud, "WAIT A MINUTE! That's not a flower! It's an IMPOSTER!" At which point I'm sure I heard it say, "But I want to be in your Spring Flower Club!" :D :D :D This darling mushroom has a cap that's split into petal-like arms and I've never seen one that looks so much like a flower before! From what I know, when mushrooms get old, they often split, but not usually like this. What a lucky find!! :) This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A few weeks ago, Steve and I made a short trip down to a trail next to the Rogue River, and I had lots of fun rooting around for cool things to take pictures of. I was so excited when I found a huge log and on one side were a bunch of amazing little mushrooms! I got a number of pictures and posted one a couple of days ago. This is one of my favorites of the group, and I hope you like it too! My husband came up with the title, and I think it's perfect! :) I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A few days ago the rain stopped so I went for a walk with two of our dogs up to the top of our hill and along the ridgeline. I thought I'd take my camera along with hopes that I could keep the dogs away from my subjects. Happily they were no problem, and that means whenever I go out to take pictures, I'll be able to bring them! YAY!! Every once in a while I would stray off the trail to look at a stump or turn over a log to see if there was anything interesting. I found a pile of logs and branches, destined to be burned, but it had been sitting for at least a year, so I thought there might be a chance that something cool could be under a log. I carefully rolled a log over and nearly squealed in joy...TINY BRIGHT ORANGE-RED MUSHROOMS!!! I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE BEFORE!!!! *bounce*boing*dance*sproing* YIPPEE!!!! You guys would have laughed at how excited I was, giggling in joy at this wonderful discovery!! Once I got the log rolled away, I took a look, and there before me were at least half a dozen tiny mushrooms...except THIS ONE! Its cap measures only about 1/4" in diameter, but LOOK AT HOW TALL IT IS!! I couldn't believe it was able to stand up! And just to make it even more cool, the stem has droplets and a droplet-laden web strand! HAPPY DAY!!!! I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] Steve and I went down to a trail near the Rogue River a couple of weeks ago, and while we were there, I discovered a log that had a group of totally spectacular mushrooms that I've never seen before! I got five pictures that I'll be showing over the next couple of weeks or so, and I hope you enjoy them! This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A couple of days ago, it had just stopped raining and I went out to hunt for new flowers emerging around the property. I walked down through our moss and granite valley, and though I wasn't looking specifically for mushrooms, I noticed something dark and this is what I saw! :D This image was taken in March, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A few weeks ago I found this tiny little mushroom growing from the side of a rotting log. The thing I find amazing about this particular mushroom is that depending on the angle, it looked like a completely different mushroom! Would you believe it if I told you that this is my "Spanish Dancer"?! A lesson for all of us who don't know, or need a reminder: take pictures of your subject from different angles. You might just be amazed at how different it looks! This image was taken in February, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] A couple of weeks ago I was looking around for mushrooms in our lower forest. I'd gotten really lucky and decided it was time to get back to the house but I thought I'd keep my eyes open just in case I found another on the way back. Checking the base of a large log, I was delighted to find this pair peering out at me! They look like their caps are carved from chocolate! :) I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :) NOTE! I have finally updated my profile and I hope you'll take a look to find out a little more about me and how important all of you are to my experience here on Flickr! www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ This image was taken in February, 2012.