Tips for better mushroom photography

There is a fairly large backlog of photos and stories I have been meaning to share here, but life keeps getting in the way. But I haven't completely given up on this blog yet, and will be returning to it soon.

Meanwhile, here is a very short video I've come across on the web about better mushroom photography.

Basically, it is all about lighting, and this is certainly the biggest issue I have come across when attempting to take mushroom photos. Fungi like hiding in dark places, and with my current extremely basic setup I'm lucky if one in ten images is good enough to be shared. And ass for them having any artistic value, I've long given up on that.

I'd love to follow the tips in the clip, and I agree that they would greatly improve image quality. However, the problem for me is that the sheer amount of equipment you need to carry with you is off-putting. You can either carry the photography gear, or mushroom-collecting gear, but not both. So within mushroom-collecting season, this is only viable to me with a willing assistant. But in times when expectations to find something edible are low, and therefore I'm not burdened with baskets, containers, knives, guides, repellents, etc. etc. - it's certainly worth a try.

Mushrooms in the sky...

Or rather, mushroom-shaped cities with the base on the surface of the ocean, with their "caps" rising to 700 metres above sea level. I can't seem to stop thinking about "Green floats" these days.

Shimizu's arcologies may not be practicable, but I love their imagination and ambition. Also, we really need to do something with all that rubbish floating in the ocean. Dealing with the issue by constructing humongous mushrooms is bizarre but also strangely appropriate. After all, fungi are great recyclers. In a video that I posted a while ago, Paul Stamets listed six ways in which fungi can save the world. This might just be the seventh.

Behind the scenes at Kew Gardens

The short video below gives a behind-the-scenes view of Kew fungarium. It is the largest collection of dried fungi in the world, with 1.25 million samples. As you can see, I am still not over the impression that the current events at Kew Gardens have made on me. Finally, there is an institution that not only recognises the importance of fungi, but also makes a serious attempt to promote this idea to the general public!

It particularly pleases me that their mushroom-oriented programme of events is running over the school holidays and is directed at children. The present attitude to fungi in Britain, which can be summarised as "Stay away from those hideous things!" upsets me greatly, even though it means that I have zero competition while foraging. I'm glad that there are efforts in place to change this. Although, perhaps they shouldn't have named one of their kid-friendly workshops "Hands-on with magical mushrooms"...

Fantastic fungi

I have to confess that I absolutely love time-lapse videos of growing fungi, and the one below, featuring Paul Stametz, is in my opinion one of the finest of its kind.

I have to say that do not agree with his view that nature is "intelligent": it is true that it is a very intricate system that can do very complicated things (maintaining balance in ecosystems is one that immediately comes to mind), but it certainly does not possess intelligence in the way humans do.

However, I admire his dedication to all things fungi, and greatly looking forward to the mushroom paradise that he is promising to mankind.

More mushroom cultivation

Lately I have been thinking more and more of it - and accordingly, watching videos on how it's done. Here is how they do it in California (not that it's different from anywhere else!)

The essential steps to growing mushrooms, according to this video, are:

- making mushroom compost
- peak-heat
- spawning
- casing
- pinning
- harvesting

Enjoy, and see you next week for more mushroom stories!

What's the largest living thing on the planet?

Hint: it's not a giant panda! The video might seem light-hearted, but it asks a very important question: what is the meaning of a "single living organism"? The two examples of the largest ones push the definition to the limit.

Enjoy the video, and come back tomorrow, for more mushroom stories!

Mushroom kadai masala

Looks delicious, and not too difficult, provided you can get hold of all the spices. I assume the tomato, chilli, ginger and cashew paste is prepared in advance using a blender.

A great cooking video, just one thing though - mushrooms are not vegetables!

The perfect way to cook mushrooms

This short video gives no-nonsense guidance as to how cook perfect sautéed mushrooms. With white wine! The use of tarragon took me by surprise as I previously thought that it only combines with fish, but I'm definitely going to try it out.

Which reminds me - it's Friday, and nearly time for dinner!

Take care everyone, do not eat any strange mushrooms, and I'll see you next week for more stories and hunting reports!

Mushroom farming: it's an art

After reading through the news about growing exotic mushrooms from used coffee grounds, I wanted to take a look how mushrooms are grown on "normal" farms. I think the video below gives a great introduction.

I'm not quitting my day job just yet... but it is so tempting!

Have a good weekend everyone, and see you next week for a new foraging report, recipes and more.

How to command your fungal minions

This is a trailer to Mushroom Wars game for PlayStation3, and more recently, for iPad.

"TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR MUSHROOM ARMY"
"LEAD YOUR MUSHROOM ARMY TO VICTORY"

I'd say to the developers, eat less of funny mushrooms and maybe you'll still find your way back to the reality space occupied by the rest of humanity. However, I just might blow the dust off my PS3 and check it out. As long as my namekos do not have objections, that is.

Enjoy, and see you next week for more stories of mushroom hunts. The weather forecast for tomorrow is cloudy but no rain - excellent! For once, I might get out of the forest with my feet still dry...

Edible mushroom identification with Peter Jordan

Videos as these, in my opinion, do not help in identifying edible mushrooms. Indeed, it is rather dangerous to go wild mushroom foraging armed with just the information they give. Good printed field guides and reference books are much more useful in this respect.

So why am I posting this? Because it gives me great pleasure to see someone pick edible mushrooms and put them into his basket.

Enjoy the video, and see you next week, for more mushroom stories.

More on cordyceps

It's not yet Friday, but I am going on a short holiday, and there won't be any posts until 5th August. So here is a video from David Attenborough, with extraordinary footage of parasitic cordyceps fungi infecting various insects, each fungus species specialising on its own host.

There is a twist in the story - towards the end of the clip he remarks that cordyceps infection helps maintain the diversity of the forest, as it is more likely to attack species that are the most numerous, therefore preventing them from taking over ecosystems.

Enjoy! I'll be back in 10 days, with lots of foraging photos and, if all goes to plan, a report from a very special fungi-related exhibition.

Blue oyster mushrooms - time lapse

Today's video is short and sweet, and shows a time lapse sequence of cultivated blue oyster mushrooms. I particularly like how they start looking similar to cobras once reaching maturity.

Enjoy, and see you next week for more mushroom stories!

Richard Dawkins on the effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms

The video below is of Richard Dawkins responding to Graham Hancock's question about whether he'd consider taking hallucinogenic drugs. If you cannot bear the low video quality, here's the transcript of his key point:

"I think it very unlikely that whatever happened to me would be interpreted as indicating anything supernatural. I would, on the contrary, interpret it as a manifestation of what a wonderful thing a brain is, and how the brain can see and experience even more things under the right kinds of chemical stimulation."

I fully agree with the first part of his statement: there is nothing supernatural in the effects of drugs, it is just brain chemistry trying to fix itself following the injection of foreign substances. Drugs, however, do not make you see "more things" - it is just the same things, only skewed and unrecognisable. For this reason, I'd stay away from any mind-altering chemicals. It is difficult enough to make sense of the world with an uninebriated brain.

Golden frog hotel and restaurant

In yesterday's post, I briefly mentioned a project to save Panamian golden frogs from deadly fungus that is threatening to wipe out the entire species. Here is a short video of how it is done.

They put the frogs up in a hotel room and feed them crickets and bugs that are collected at nights by research project staff. I admire these people's dedication, but am I the only one who also finds this hilarious?

In any case, enjoy the video, and see you next week. I am planning to go foraging again on Sunday, and if I'm very lucky, I'll be bringing home some ceps. I'm greatly looking forward to it!

The world's first genuine mushroom-growing sim

Mushrooms might not be your first choice of characters for a video game, but the creators of Mushroom Garden, a Japanese company called Beeworksgames, beg to differ. The game has simple but addictive gameplay. There is something incredibly satisfying about swiping the screen to harvest your crop. Also, an especially nice touch is a "petting area", where you can interact with the mushrooms you've discovered and collected. OK, maybe THAT is taking things a bit too far.

The video below is its theme song as seen on Japanese TV. Just look at these little nameko mushrooms, they are so adorable!

Stay safe, everyone, do not eat any strange mushrooms, and see you next week!

Mushroom cultivation

The subject of today's video is mushroom cultivation. Humans may have achieved impressive proficiency with it, but it appears that they still have a lot to learn from the species that invented it: leaf-cutter ants.

Scientists who are studying these colonies with the view of improving fungi-assisted biofuel production, keep marvelling at both complexity and efficiency of the process. One of the things that they have found out is that it is not just the fungi that break up cellulose in plant matter, converting it to digestible food for ants, but various bacteria are an important part of the cycle, too. The amazing thing to me is that these representatives of three different kingdoms work in coordination for mutual benefit.

Enjoy, and I'll be back next week with (I hope) first proper foraging report, cooking, fungi news and more.

Friday video - spore dispersal tricks

This is footage of spore emission tricks in a few fungi species. The hat-thrower fungus from my post two weeks ago makes a brief appearance at 01:18, although its unique ability is not commented upon. But we already know how great it is, right?

I have to say that slime moulds are no longer classified as fungi, and the "field mushroom" is either a bay bolete or a very similar species, but the sequences with the giant puffball and especially the earth star, in my opinion, more than compensate for these errors.

Warning: contains stinkhorn close-ups! Thus not quite safe for work.

Enjoy, and see you next week for yet more fungi-related tales.

"Intelligent" slime moulds

This short video shows the uncanny ability of a slime mould to solve mazes. Strictly speaking, slime moulds do not belong to the kingdom of fungi, so I hesitated at first whether I should write about them at all. They were however once classified as fungi because some of them propagate by spores and form fruitbodies. So, for the purposes of the blog, they can be regarded as honorary fungi, and I'll leave it at that.

Slime moulds solve mazes by following a simple stimulus-response system based on chemical signals, so their "intelligence" is very similar to that of an anthill or a beehive. It is lots of dumb elements following a few simple rules, resulting in very complicated behaviour and powerful problem-solving ability. I just wish it'd work for activity known as "Friday night"...

Enjoy the video, and Friday, and I'll be back next week!

The fastest thing on the planet!

Another amazing video from BBC Nature. Apparently, a tiny fungus that lives on horse poo is the fastest thing on Earth. The spore pod is ejected from the fungus body at 20,000 g. Wow! I hope you enjoy the clip as much as I did, and see you next week!