I added ALT text to my most recent post - not sure it really helps that much with photography though. The caption says what it is, so the ALT text would just repeat that.
Thanks! I didn't do anything crazy - just put a Ulanzi vl49rgb LED light a couple inches away. I recommend that everyone carries these - they are cheap, charge with usb-c and will dramatically elevate even a cell phone photo.
OM System digital - film can't be focus stacked. I like the sound of Olympus better than OM System though.
Yea a lot of tiny Mycena have translucent stems.
Yea I chould say OM-System OM-1 to differentiate it from the film camera, but I like the sound of Olympus better. Grant is correct though, focus stacking with film is impossible. The smaller something is, the more important it is to focus stack it. For very tiny subjects its almost required.
I think iNaturalist is the best app to identify things - it is trained on hundreds of millions of observations, takes into account location, creates permanent biodiversity records and is free.
I teach photography classes sometimes, and also have an online mushroom photography course. The online class costs $100 and you can ask me as many questions as you want forever. Or you can just ask me questions for free, I am happy to help people with photography.
www.mycena.llc/mushroom-pho...
Yea I like the Mycena that have a disc at the stem base.
This is a Mycena, not Melanophyllum. While the cap color is similar, they are not closely related and the rest of the mushroom looks quite different.
It's best to ignore things that are outside of your control and focus on nature.
Mycena chloroxantha photographed recently in Oxapampa, Peru. The round cells are cherocytes which make up the universal veil - whitish, spiny acanthocytes are also visible. Described in 1983 from Brazil by Rolf Singer.
Mushroom Observer # 628987 / iNat 341877230
#fungifriends #mycology #mycena
A cool little Mycena that I photographed in Oxapampa, Perú. Never seen one with this cool stem texture before, no idea which species it could be.
Olympus OM-1 / 90 mm macro lens / 180 images stacked, ISO 200, f/5.
#mushrooms #mycena #fungifriends #olympus
A cool leafhopper I photographed a couple days ago in Perú. Anyone know what species or genus it is? Reminds me a bit of Molomea but leafhoppers are really diverse.
Ceratiomyxa sphaerosperma from Mera, Pastaza, Ecuador. This tiny slime mold makes its spores on little stalks, giving it a distinctive appearance. My favorite feature of these are the glass-like stems.
Olympus OM-1 / 90mm macro lens / MC20 2x teleconverter
Coprinopsis section Coprinopsis photographed yesterday in Tandayapa, Ecuador.
One of my favorite flowers, Lopezia racemosa. Second photo in 365 nanometer ultraviolet. The native range of this plant is Mexico through Central America. Extremely rare in cultivation - grown in California by Alan Rockefeller and @crime_pays_but_botany_doesnt - seed collected in Michoacán.
#plants
Sandpipers on the beach in Capitola, California.
#birds
Cystoderma carcharias
There are a bunch of subspecies.
I think they are actually always angry.
There's a bunch of different subspecies.
A Steller's jay that I saw this weekend at Salt Point State Park, California, USA.
#birds
Closer to the coast, but a few miles inland. 39.3422455556, -123.5075797222
The interior of the peridioles of Nidula niveotomentosa (a birds nest fungus) have surprising green fluorescence in 365 nanometer UV light. Photographed yesterday in Mendocino County, California.
Sliced in half with a sharp razor blade.
#fungi #mycology #mushrooms #fungifriends #uvphotography
In 2025 I made 3000 iNaturalist observations and found 1582 species, 682 of them I had never seen before. I made 46,000 identifications for other people. I did a 5 month road trip to the southwest and east coast, went to Ecuador twice and Costa Rica once.
Also wrote lots of Python (Github)
Yea, a time lapse would be awesome!
This is the second time I have photographed one of my favorite Mycena species - this one is found on leaves and has regular water droplets along the stem for a reason which remains a mystery to me.
From the Chocó Andino region of Ecuador.
#mycology #fungi #mycena #fungifriends
Joey from Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't and I are leading a two-week trip to Ecuador this February with local botanists, mycologists, and herpetologists. Details at www.mycena.llc
The trip includes workshops on plant and mushroom identification, taxonomy, and photography techniques.
Mushroom hunt this Sunday in Quito, Ecuador with the Mycophilic Association of Ecuador and UrbanFunga.
Cost: $1 USD
Sunday, November 30, 2025
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Parque Metropolitano Guangüiltagua
Register here: forms.gle/qrgP8PQsiVL5...
I'm giving a talk on active mushrooms Dec 10 in Berkeley, California. Chad Hyatt will be there serving tacos.
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm - $20 in-person, $15 streaming
