After trekking into the darkness to find a Blood Moon* we
returned in the daylight finding wonders at our feet, well fungus at the very
least. These mushrooms caused quite some
hilarity. Well my affecting strange
non-yoga like postures in order to get close up to my subjects did. My 550D was quite new and in a spirit of scientific
endeavour I enjoyed testing the strength left in me and the abilities of the
camera and lens to capture these funguses on film. These small flora spring up in the thousands almost
from nowhere and seemingly return back to nowhere. These shots are shared with the idea that
some transient moments in life are not necessary to be, or maybe even worthy of
being recorded but when they are documented then these records offer several
windows into spaces we rarely choose to look. For me these pictures bring back memories of a
good morning and they also promise that there are more such mornings to come
when the seemingly trivial might be alternatively noteworthy.
No funguses were harmed during the taking and making of
these pictures. None of the funguses
featured here were picked, or eaten. One
photographer was harmed due his assuming improbable positions in order not to
damage fungal growths. A recovery cup of
tea almost healed all ails for the damaged photographer.
*Blood Moon,
or Bloodmoon is sometimes called
a Hunter's Moon and is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. Occasionally the close orbit of the Moon
brings a greater prominence and luminance to the Moon. This was the case for the Blood Moon we had
been seeking in a remote location beyond the glare of light pollution from
modern cities. Since the Moon's sidereal
period differs from its synodic period, the perigee of the Moon (the point
where it is closest to the Earth) does not stay in sync with the phases of the
Moon. Thus the Blood Moon does not
correspond to any special timing of the Moon's distance from the Earth. This is
why the Blood Moon is not, in general, brighter than any other regular full
moon.
