Here are some of my mushroom photos.

Now this is for the old-timers out there...

When was the last time that you reversed a prime lens, thus effectively converting it into a 'macro' lens? Back in my film days this was a cheap way of getting really close-up shots. Now eventually I bought a set of extension tubes (cheaper than an actual macro lens) which worked better as this allowed the automatic features of the lens to still work.

Anyway, several of the following images were shot using a prime lens, mounted in reverse (it will be noted). Now they sold actual 'reverse mount' adapters, a metal ring which screwed onto the front of the lens (using the filter threads) which included a bayonet mount for your camera. After screwing the 'adapter' to your lens (BTW, the shorter the focal length the greater the magnification) and mounting it on your camera body, you just shot your photos as if it were a manual lens.

Just to satisfy my curiosity as to whether there were any articles out there about this old technique, I did a search and found a 'recent' (2020) item talking about this as well as adverts for modern (for digital cameras) 'reverse mount' adapters. Here's the link to the article:

https://casualphotophile.com/2020/11/30/reverse-lens-macro-photography-guide/

Note that the last shots in this series are a bit unusual as it appears to show a 'Morel Mushroom', something that was pretty common back in Northern Michigan, where I grew-up. We used to go and pick them in the spring. We often would come home with close to half-bushel of Morels and my father would fry them in butter. I was never a big fan of them, but my younger sister would make of fool of herself eating them. Anyway, what makes the Morels in those last pictures so unusual is that they were found in a flower bed in front of our house in Southern California. And NO, we didn't try eating them as we were not sure it that's what they actually were.

And now to my 'Shrooms':

As I’ve said before when moderating other challenges, I’m posting this on Sunday since I am traveling to an area where I only have my cell - and sometimes the internet is down to zero. Please patronize the Sunday challenge before you post anything here! Now, down to business…

Well, the light is different in the sky, the air feels changed, and it’s darker out later in the morning and earlier in the evening. Plants are dying, trees are changing colors, and we’re all putting on more clothes when we venture outside. Autumn is in full swing!

It can be a melancholy time because many of us live like mole-people surrounded by greater darkness and cooler/colder weather which confines us indoors. On the other hand, the season offers a variety of activities and beautiful sights to keep our souls refreshed - outdoors!

One of my favorite activities during Autumn has been mushroom hunting. I know one or two edible kinds, but I have confined myself principally to searching for the cauliflower/sheepshead variety. I tell you, there’s nothing finer than to walk around in a forest in crisp Fall weather and to spot a beautiful cauliflower hiding in a covering of oak leaves!

My biggest triumph ‘shroom-wise was finding one growing around an old oak with a circumference of twelve feet!!! All solid cauliflower around the base! I thought I was seeing things! And this was only about a block or two away from our little Indiana house at Fish Lake. My 90-year old mother had warned me before not to go bringing back any mushrooms since she didn’t feel like cleaning them. Well, when I told her, she smiled and relented and said to bring it. I did, and we ended up with about 40 pounds.

Unfortunately, pictures of it are somewhere in the 200 thousand photos I have taken in the past 20 years and stored someplace I now cannot find. However, I do have some nice ‘shroom photos to start things off!

If you want to participate in this challenge, click "Reply" button below and attach your image along with the reply.

As I’ve said before when moderating other challenges, I’m posting this on Sunday since I am traveling to an area where I only have my cell - and sometimes the internet is down to zero. Please patronize the Sunday challenge before you post anything here! Now, down to business…

Well, the light is different in the sky, the air feels changed, and it’s darker out later in the morning and earlier in the evening. Plants are dying, trees are changing colors, and we’re all putting on more clothes when we venture outside. Autumn is in full swing!

It can be a melancholy time because many of us live like mole-people surrounded by greater darkness and cooler/colder weather which confines us indoors. On the other hand, the season offers a variety of activities and beautiful sights to keep our souls refreshed - outdoors!

One of my favorite activities during Autumn has been mushroom hunting. I know one or two edible kinds, but I have confined myself principally to searching for the cauliflower/sheepshead variety. I tell you, there’s nothing finer than to walk around in a forest in crisp Fall weather and to spot a beautiful cauliflower hiding in a covering of oak leaves!

My biggest triumph ‘shroom-wise was finding one growing around an old oak with a circumference of twelve feet!!! All solid cauliflower around the base! I thought I was seeing things! And this was only about a block or two away from our little Indiana house at Fish Lake. My 90-year old mother had warned me before not to go bringing back any mushrooms since she didn’t feel like cleaning them. Well, when I told her, she smiled and relented and said to bring it. I did, and we ended up with about 40 pounds.

Unfortunately, pictures of it are somewhere in the 200 thousand photos I have taken in the past 20 years and stored someplace I now cannot find. However, I do have some nice ‘shroom photos to start things off!

If you want to participate in this challenge, click "Reply" button below and attach your image along with the reply.