240: Coral of the Woods

I can't tell whether this is Yellow Antler fungus or Ramaria aurea, but I'm glad I came across it today.
I also used a fill-in flash to help with this shot; previous outings to capture close-ups of fungi would sometimes yield disappointing pictures when long exposures were needed, due partly to shake, while noise and disappointing colour could also be problems.
Using a flash cuts down the exposure time, gives crisper images and is also useful for giving extra illumination do shaded areas of the image - common in situations like these.

Settings: f/8, 1/4, ISO 100, 50mm Pentacon M42, 9mm extension, 1/4 flash, white card, beanbag.

234: Silvan Umbellifers

Settings: f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm.

101: Wood Shrooms

What mushrooms are these? I thought they might be sulphur tufts, but I'm not sure.
I didn't expect to see any mushrooms now, what with it being spring. They're mostly around in autumn, by my experience.
I like to get the camera down nice and low for mushrooms; high-angle shots just don't do them justice, and often look amateurish. It's a good thing I had my beanbag with me so I could take a solid shot from the ground. I should invest in an angled viewfinder attachment so I don't have to bend down and see the image twisted round, but it's not really essential. This one came out right first time, so there's my slowly advancing photographic experience making itself known again.

Settings: f/8, 1/25, ISO 100, P-FA 50mm, beanbag.

080: The Squirrel Branch

Standing with my tripod and zoom lens by a gate in some local woods, I took a few decent images of birds today: A chaffinch, some great tits and a blue tit. This squirrel appeared and decided to watch me, probably waiting for the satisfaction of seeing me step in the nearby dog turd (which never happened.)
Instead, I captured it squatting like this in mid-scratch, its leg in a grey blur.

Settings: f/6.3, 1/125, ISO 400, Tamron 70-300, tripod.

045: Cracked Bark

This is from part of a sawn section of tree trunk, on which the bark has experienced curious cracking patterns. This is only an example of the variety of serpentine, ring-like cracks; but this area pictured has only half its bark, and the trunk wood that shows through is quite beautifully patterned. The bark's dark patches are where it is damp.
The range of colours is fairly subtle, but the textures are quite contrasting. They would have been more pronounced in a brighter, more direct sunlight, but only if it had been at the right angle to catch the texture correctly for the shot. At least the diffused sunlight here made no noticeable shadows.
f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO 200. DA 18-55 at 40mm.

Apart from just a little sharpening, contrast and white balance tweaking, there was a fair bit of post-processing involved on this image; most notably on the lower third, which was very subtly shadowed. I applied a white gradient overlay to brighten it, just like dodging a large area while making a print. This evened out the tone of the whole image - I just prefer it flatter like that.

I think this is another of those planet-surface-like shots... Although maybe not as much planet surface as a satellite view of a dried-up lake.

003: Mushrooms of Wood

A group of mushroom-like carvings fashioned from tree trunks, which I came across these in a clearing in some local woodland. Do these serve a purpose or are they merely the result of a forester's idle fancy? Either way, they caught my attention today with their unexpected forms.
They somehow seem like stakes with safety caps.

That same walk in the woods this morning was filled with small birds. We could hear two woodpeckers tapping on differently sized trees (judging by the difference in pitch.)
Plus a list of other birds we spotted:
Jay, Woodpigeon, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Chaffinch (possibly.)
Our toes got slightly frozen again today, it's been an unusually cold winter. All the better for ice photos, though.
I didn't take any photos of birds today as it was too cold to stand around and wait, and I wasn't in a waving-a-large-lens-around mood. Besides, the birdwatching hide was a long way off and on the other side of a main road.