Exploding mushrooms
The frost has come back, so I went into the forest yesterday to see what could be this year's last mushrooms.
The first ones I saw were so brightly orange I thought at first glance somebody had dropped some orange peels:

Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO100, f8, 1/4s
This could be a common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), but I don't recall seeing any before that weren't flat on top (the top was closed, it hadn't popped open), so I'm not sure:

Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO100, f8, 1/5s
Common earthballs or puffbals simply pop open to spread their spores, not a very elegant or subtle way of procreation, but effective enough. They look like this after having exploded:

Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO100, f8, 0.75s
A more traditional and quiet bunch, these, and a nice composition, but I couldn't get close (dangerous bit of peat bog), so these were shot at 240mm with the camera clamped against a tree:

Olympus Stylus 1s, 240mm, ISO800, f5.6, 1/15s
And then ... it got darker and the mist rolled in, which made for some nice photos, but I didn't see any more mushrooms.
More mushrooms when I see them, but probably not this year!
This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the second half of Dec 21. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $5.46 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Dec 21 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
I really like the contrast in the puffball photos. It's amazing to think how many spores came out of that hole. I hope you see more mushrooms before 2017. But if not, this a great set to end on! Here's to fun with fungi in 2017! : )
Thanks!
I've only seen puffballs puff a few times, but they do produce an amazing cloud of spores!
Just think of how many spores are out there, from all the fungi. It's impossible to comprehend it all. : )
A huge amount, yes, and not always safe with puffballs: Lycoperdonosis.
very nice mushrooms
Thanks.
I tried to do some shroom shooting. I'm not the expert you are, though. Do you know what kind they are?
I'm fairly competent at photographing them, but I am not a mushroom expert, far from it. I only identified the second and third one, and I'm not even sure I got that right. People like @yetaras and @haphazard-hstead are far better than I am at identification. To me, they just make for nice pictures 8-).
Beautiful shots. Like the earthball/puffball before and after. Have those in my yard, but they don't look as photogenic...
What's wrong with them then? 8-)
Well...they look more like the neighbor's large dog stopped for a break in my yard, only powdery...so hard to do much with them, artistically speaking.
=D
Disgust is also an emotion ...
Next time they pop out, I'll try to get some shots, and see if I can put a spin on them to make them at least artistically palatable ( :