Snow crystals on a mushroom.
There is some woodland near where I live that I only visit when it’s cold. When the undergrowth is dense and green, it’s virtually impossible to get out without some ticks crawling about.
I small stream is flowing there. Sometimes above, sometimes below ground, If one follows it long enough, one can arrive to a rock face. If there’s enough water, a slim waterfall makes every other noise disappear. Not that there is much, because this side valley is quite secluded.
I don’t have a good photo of said waterfall. As it was raining a lot, I decided to give it another go. I was trying out different angles and different lenses. To no avail.
But I did manage to find a small orange looking mushroom. I knew immediately I could get a good photo of it. Unfortunately, I forgot my polarizer, making it reflect the overcast light too much. And there was no snow, even though the landscape all around was sprinkled with it.
I took enough photos to make a good focus stack. Over 40 needed for the software to do the job. I was happy with the result.
The days were passing by quickly. The landscape was sprinkled with the snow once again. I thought to myself that with a bit of luck there would be snow where I saw the mushroom. And that it would still be there.
When I got there, I saw the same mushroom with some snow on and around it.
I positioned the camera in the roughly the same position, lit the scene with my phone and started taking photos.
This time I made sure to have the polarizer on the lens already, making it impossible to forget it at home. I also decided to take twice as many photos in an effort of capturing every detail possible.
I must say I’m delighted with the end result.
The order in which I posted my favorite photos really doesn’t reflect which one(s) I like the most. But this one is my favorite one of the 2023.
