Lichens and Fungi in Toft Wood

 I am just coming to completion of a book I have been working on for some months to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the planting of our local Toft Wood. As well as receiving lots of interesting contributions for people in the village and further afield, I have tried to document its more obvious wildlife. I hadn't enough suitable lichen images so, in one of the bright intervals, I wandered down to the wood and captured the amazing world of the lichens there. Afraid I don't know the species   I was pleased to also find four impressive fungi not previously recorded, Wood Blewits, White Saddle, Laccaria laccata and Crepidotus spp.  

Experimenting with Lighting

You can tell we are back in lockdown when I start looking for photographic projects. I decided to photograph vegetables with chiaroscuro lighting using off-camera flash diffused through tissue paper. The first six are my favourites.

Death of a Tree

This massive oak tree in Hardwick Wood had final succumbed to high winds and fallen but all around it life goes on especially the fungi. A few Wood Blewits and lots of very large Trooping Funnels (Clitocybe geotropa) along with various bracket type species and a small puffball

Using OM Olympus Lens in a Misty Wood

I took my legacy Olympus 50mm 1.8 lens for an outing into Toft wood on a gentle misty morning and was pleased with the gentle colours and interesting backgrounds that it produced.

Cobwebs in Toft Wood

The foggy mornings for the last two days transformed Toft Wood with large dew-covered cobwebs. The soft light accentuated the autumn colours of the leaves. 

Sunflower Field in Autumn Mist

Much as I love Sunflowers when they are in full bloom, I think these softer images of the sunflowers in full bloom are my favourite shots of them. The bejewelled cobwebs and the misty backgrounds all add to the feel of elegant decay.