# Living Wood



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

10/24/11

We used to have a giant maple tree in our yard. "The Grand Ol' Lady" is what I called her. 
A couple of years ago she died and we cut her down, leaving just a few feet of the trunk.

This year I have had the privilege of taking some photos of mushrooms that were growing up around the old "drip line".

Here is one of the images.











Yesterday, I found a piece of bark that had fallen off the remaining trunk. 
Taking a photo of the moss etc … I found this "fairy world", as it has been described to me.
(I have included my finger in the image to show the size of these mushrooms.)




















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*Tree-Inspired Photo of the Day Project* (tag: TIPdp)
Forums tagged as TIPdp


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## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

You are a wonderful photographer… as well as woodworker!
Love all 3 pictures… they are almost eerie in nature but beautiful in design!


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks, Ellen


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## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

These are incredible, Debbie! Many times in our walks in the woods here I see many different varieties of beautiful mushrooms. I always wish I would have taken my camera with me. Your pictures are amazing! They look so beautiful and delicate. Isn't nature incredible?

Thanks for sharing with us this morning! 

Sheila


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

yes it is, Sheila…. just incredible.

As I was taking the "miniatures" photo, my neighbour yelled over and asked me if I was having a nap… I must have looked weird, sprawled out on the grass…


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## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

Maybe your neighbor thought they were 'magic mushrooms' and you were on a magic journey! 

Sheila


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

haha that could be… I was also taking photos of a giant mushroom that had somehow been pulled from the ground and I was holding it to the sky for some of the photos… yes, that would definitely have been a strange sight..


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

that 1st photo is awesome! the others are too, but I like the 1st one best. looks very mystical


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Debbie some magical pictures of a magical world.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks 

yes, the first one is the best-one of my "abstract in reality" photos


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## 2 (Feb 26, 2006)

One of the top abstract photographers I know delivers again 

That first one is great, love the light!


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

you make me blush!! 
Thank you for such kind words, Martin


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

WoW!! that is a good shot!! I never would have thought of trying that one. I have spent a bit of time with extension tubes ect before macro lens ;-)


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I just love the fungus amungus ;-)

VERY nice lighting technique! A whole "other" world and thanks for sharing this with us.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

Very cool, MS. Debbie!

Incredible photography.

Lee


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks everyone.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Yeah, that first one is fantastic with that lighting. Was that all natural lighting or did you add to it? And anything special you used for lenses/techniques to get that close? Tripod? IMWTK.

I never noticed the patterns of the veins underneath before. It is not just one long vein. Thanks for the enlighenment.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks.

The lighting for that first image is from the camera and the sun from above
It is handheld, as I rarely use a tripod (must to the chagrin of Martin, I'm sure  )

But.. the trick in this photo is my camera, Pentax Optio
You can place the camera right up to the subject and the lens has a built-in ring of lighting to illuminate the subject from all sides. 
Because the camera is so small I can tuck it up underneath the mushrooms (well, not those in the second photo) and shoot away. It's a matter of luck and some guess work as I "imagine" what the camera is seeing based on the angle I am holding the camera. I also have to do a lot of "take a picture / look at the picture / readjust camera placement / guess again" . .. cross fingers.

I also don't know what I am going to find underneath the mushroom cap - some are old and dingy, some are covered with flecks of dirt etc. The first ones I found were "pure" and I have yet to have the same good luck with other mushroom sightings.

Sometimes, I do get a surprise in the images - like this one of the ant crawling up the stem.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thank you


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

Debbie,

*GREAT WORK!

S T U N N I N G !

A M A Z I N G !

B E A U T I F U L !*

In looking at the angle some of those had to be shot at, I can't help wondering… 
Does your Neck Hurt?! LOL
Did your face get dirty? LOL

Way back when I was into photography, I liked the super Macro closeups too… some that come to mind:

*A hair brush,* with hair in it, taken head-on facing the bristle ends… Focused on the ends… Weird effect.

*Book Matches.*.. same way… Head-on from match heads at a corner seeing sides too…focused on the match heads….. weird…

*You're still having F U N shooting!* LOL


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Very cool photos very nice shots


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## Roz (Jan 13, 2008)

BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS! I have often wondered what the world must look like to a toad and now I know.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

Joe L … I'd love to see some of your photos. Sounds "right up my alley".

As for my face getting dirty, know but my knees and belly took a beating. 

Thanks everyone for your kind words


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## Grumpy (Nov 9, 2007)

Great photos Deb. Did you see any leprechauns underneath?


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

well… I did see something moving in a little hole in the bark. I tried getting a photo of it but it hid really well. Perhaps it was a leprechaun or a fairy. I'll never know.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

that is really cool … but i think mushrooms taste like pencil erasers.


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

id love to see a "photo a day" blog from you Ms Debbie!

heres one of those surprise images my wife happened to capture


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

All I can say WOW

first photo…………you should enter that in a contest

definite winner


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

Beautiful! One off-topic I'm glad I ventured into!


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## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

Ah, Debbie, that first image of the white mushroom is wonderful! And the blue sky and ant. You are really having fun with that, and thank goodness for 'off topic' posts, or I'd never have seen these! ;-)


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

chrisstef-- beautiful photo.

thanks everyone 

A photo a day, huh… oh how I hate to let a challenge go unmet. I'll think about it.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Great pictures. Thank you for posting them. Such beauty. In this fast paced world we often do not slow down long enough to enjoy the beauty of little things.You have certainly captured that here.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thank you, Howie.


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

Debbie,

"Joe L … I'd love to see some of your photos. Sounds "right up my alley"."

I just mentioned to give you ideas…

I have no idea of where my pics/negs are… Used Panatomic X B&W and a Practica (sp) 35mm SLR… I played around with all kinds of lenses with it… even hand-held in front of the camera!
Hey! I still have my Omega B-22 enlarger! Hasn't been used in close to 50 years!
(I just keep finding a place to put it…) * LOL*


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

I love the ideas…. you never run of objects to photograph if you have an open mind.

50 years… it qualifies to be an antique, don't you think??  hehee


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## mcoyfrog (Jul 23, 2008)

WOW Debbie what amazing photography I love the first one just as everyone else does, but man those are some tiny shrooms on the other photos. Then the one with the ant what a great capture.

Anyway great job thanks for sharing such beautiful work.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks 

yes… the teeny tinies were SO small … I almost didn't even see them. I just happened to take a picture of the piece of bark. Once I "saw" them I was able to focus on them for the photos.


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## CampD (Nov 8, 2008)

Taken while hiking in the White Mountains this past summer.

What happened msDebbie? pic posts done


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

got sidetracked! 

fascinating fungus on that tree! A little community.


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## superdav721 (Aug 16, 2010)

Wonderful photography and a fine subject. You do have an eye for it.


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