10 tips for photographing mushrooms

Monday 7 October 2024, 20:02 by Nando Harmsen | 4,953 views | 6 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Mushroom season is approaching. I’m heading out again to take beautiful and especially creative photos of these little gnome houses. I’m sharing ten tips to make your mushroom photos less standard.

It’s not easy to turn a photo of mushrooms from an ordinary picture into something special. There are a few photographers in the Netherlands who I think create true little works of art. It’s something I aim to achieve myself too.

Taking a straightforward photo of a mushroom is simple. A macro lens is enough, and even that isn’t necessarily needed. To make more of it, you can use the following ten tips as a starting point.

Tip 1: Not from close up

You don’t have to photograph mushrooms from very close up. Take a step back and include more of the surroundings. This gives mushrooms some space. It also provides a starting point for many of the other tips in this article.

Tip 2: Foreground and background

If you have a group of mushrooms, try photographing through them with a shallow depth of field. This makes mushrooms in the foreground visible as shapes, while the background becomes blurred. This creates a lot of depth and ways to fill negative space.

Tip 3: Lonely and alone

Isolate a mushroom. Look at the background and try to use shape and light in the composition. Leave out as much recognisable surroundings as possible. Not every mushroom is suitable for this, but use the opportunity when it presents itself.

Tip 4: Use the light

Just like flowers, insects and all the other things in nature, you can also use the golden hour with mushrooms. Look for the light and play with its direction. Use shadows and give your photo some extra atmosphere.

Tip 5: Show your surroundings

This was already touched on in tip 1: give the mushroom some space. But do more with it and show your surroundings. The surroundings tell you a lot about the mushroom and where it lives. Use depth of field to show the background recognisably without letting it dominate.

Tip 6: Colour isn’t always needed

Why always use colour? Consider black and white too. Colour can make a photo look busy, while black and white makes you concentrate on contrasts. Play with lines, shapes, and light and dark. Black and white is even better suited to this than colour.

Tip 7: Shape and patterns

Photographing a mushroom from a low viewpoint is often a good choice. But it isn’t the only option. Look at shape and patterns. Sometimes it works perfectly from above. Don’t think about showing the whole mushroom in the frame, but limit yourself to the shape or pattern.

Tip 8: Bokeh rings or balls

It isn’t new, but it’s always fun and creative. Choose a lens with beautiful bokeh and select the widest aperture. Look for light shining through leaves and branches, and you’ll get the bokeh rings.

It can be difficult to find a nice composition amid all those rings, but when you do, the result is often worth it.

Tip 9: Flash

Flash offers extra possibilities. You can use flash to make the mushroom stand out from the background. Or you can create special effects. The release of spores can be made visible, or drops in the rain. With a plant sprayer, you can bring the rain to the location yourself.

Tip 10: The silhouette

The shape of a mushroom can be perfect for a silhouette. Especially with beautiful light, a stunning background, or bokeh rings. Also think about the shadow you see when looking through an autumn leaf. As I said in tip 4: use the light. If the light isn’t to your liking, use flash.

Many of these tips may not be new, and they may not immediately produce a unique photo. But it’s about your own images, not what others make of them. Get started with the tips and give them your own twist. But above all: enjoy it.

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