Mycena lampshade - closeup, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands

Another example of experimenting with off-camera flash. These are out of camera shots (only minor contrast changes), no Photoshop magic involved.

First, natural light is removed by using f/20 and ISO64. Next, flash light is added, making it the only light source in the scene. In this example, a single diffused flash light from above. Diffusion is needed because direct flash is too much for a mycena, it will overexpose and become pure white, because it's so translucent and bouncy. Another reason to diffuse is to have soft light on the floor, without hard shadows.

Even with diffused flash it took me 3-5 tries to get the correct distance, between underexposure and overexposure. Alternatively, some people use small continuous lights (LED), it's easier to predict what will happen *before* taking the shot.

Also including a "normal" shot for the sake of knowing the real color of this species, or if you're not a fan of such light experiments :)