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The Life of a Giant Puffball
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
These 3 images of (Langermannia gigantea)Giant Puffball were takenover a period of nearly a month.
The left hand one was taken 02/08/2004 when it was 150mm across and it was probably under a week old. the middle one was 3 days later on the 05/08/2004 and was by now 0ver 300 mm across, though it seems they can get bigger (see here). the 3rd one on the right is at the end of August 24/08/2004, having reached maximum size in the middle picture it has matured and the skin has darkened and split to reveal the core of foam like structure which holds the spores. The normal method of dispersal is for wild herbivours to kick it around and every time it is hit a puff of spores come out spreading them around.In this day and age it tends to be domestic stock such as cows or as used to happen here goats we used to keep for milk in the meadow, the ball at this stage comes adrift from the hyphae of the main fungus structure under ground, allowing it to disperse over a larger area.In this case it was me had a quick game of football with across the meadow as there are no longer any live stock there to do the honours.
The 1st two where quiet difficult to get they where so white, shot in the evening sun when I went to mow the grass.
Image 1) 1/800sec F2.5 to try and isolate the ball from the fence and conifer hedge (often seen in the dragonfly pic's) in the BG.
Image 2) 1/1000sec F5.0 it was so bright that it couldnt accommodate the F2.5 for a shallow DOF.
image 3) 1/320sec F8 because I wanted maximum detail in the spongey texture.
This grazed /mown meadow is a typical habit for this fungus, found across the UK and europe.
This one is an edible besteaten when small like in the 1st picture. The best way I am told is slice thin and fry till golden.
Adjustments
all 3 images were done with levels a spot of saturation and contrast. and sharpen edges.
crop all 3 to 800px wide at 72dpi chose the centre image and extend the canvas by 800px ether side , then copy and paste the other 2 into place. You then need to merge the the 3 layer together to make a single image.Use save to web to adjust the file size down to below 400k around 380K works well, this will be the large image. To get to the small one you need to go to image and size and reduce it down to 800pixel wide at 72dpi which is the maximum width here,as yuo do this note the hieght in pixels the image becomes, almost certainly it will be less than the 250pixel mimimum,so after this you will need to go to canvass size and make the height above this by extending the backing canvass to 255px just to be certain, then use save to web to get to as close to 200k as possible (195K)
Post to TN
hope you enjoy |
RAP, gerhardt, japie, marhowie, CaptiveLight, extramundi, PDP, Signal-Womb has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes. |
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- RAP
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(7405) - [2004-09-19 19:17]
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Otra excelente presentacion de hongos y en este caso con una secuencia y su version LP.
Muy buena definicion y nitidez, incluso en la version grande.
Instructivo el contenido de tu relato.
Another excellent presentation of fungi and in this case with a sequence and its version LP.
Very good definition and clearness, even in the grand version.
Instructive the content of your story.
Robert, it's been years since I've seen a puff ball. Let alone this gaint one I have never seen before. The photo set is your usual sharpness. The textures are captured to perfection. Great note too. Thanx.
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- japie
(5187)
- [2004-09-20 7:53]
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This is an excellent series portraying a lifetime for this Puffball. I have seen these as a kid around 100km south of Pretoria but never in Pretoria. The shots are very well captured, all with excellent lighting and color. The note is very educational as well
Great series of photos Robert. Interesting notes..Especially appreciated your documentation of technique & the difficulties involved in putting this together. Well done!
Good series, and interesting note. I have yet to see one of these yet.
Congratulations for the first fungi evolution I see in TN.
The photos are incredible, very moody but sharp, and the white texture is difficult & you did perfect. Well done.
The only thing missing is in the phase it has a hole, and you puffed to photograph the spores :D
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- PDP
(11763)
- [2004-09-20 13:24]
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Good threesome Rob, and well done on your persistence. Great pictures and excellent note.
