Chantarelle

It's not every day that one of my neighbors calls and says, "I've got the most amazing fungus in my backyard. Bring your camera and come over here." I'll have to admit, I've never photographed a mushroom before. But after hours of photographing people, electrical outlets, robots, sunsets, waterfalls, and countless other items and landscapes, why not a fungus. So Nikon in tow, I'm off to Ben's house.

Sure enough, it's an impressive mound of fantastic fungi. I don't think it's laden with psilosyban, which did quickly come up in conversation, but that's not a topic where I have vast experience either. But buried in deep shade with bright sunlight in the background, there's some tremendous rim lighting if only I can pull out some details in the shadowy foreground. I always keep an speedlight in my camera bag. Ben was surprised to the see the wireless control of the Commander system as I placed a CTO on the SB800 and started banging away.

For the record, I think this mushroom is called a chantarelle. If so, it's edible, apparently a delicacy is French cuisine. I'm not French, I'm not that fond of French food, and I'm not big on playing the mushroom taste-test lottery. But they are much more fun to take photos of than you might expect.