Take a walk into the enchanted forest and create some magic

Mushroom season is here, temperatures are dropping and humidity in the forests is on the rise. A perfect combination for mushrooms to pop up. I really love this period of the year. A perfect opportunity to pick up my camera and head to the woods. Mushrooms have something magical, they seem to come straight out of a fairy tale. They really trigger our imagination and lead us back to a fantasy world, a fantasy world that only existed when we were kids. A mystery world that we’ve almost forgotten. But… then there’s autumn to remind us. The enchanted forest still exists!

We want to capture this magical world. It’s a great way to connect with nature. Notice the little things that others just walk by, open up your mind and create a new world. A world full of magic and fantasy.

While shooting a picture of a mushroom is quite easy, shooting a picture coming straight out of a fairy tale is a little more complicated. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. What you need is patience, the right camera techniques and a good amount of imagination. In the video below I’m going to give you some photography tips on how to create pictures of enchanted mushrooms.

Embracing a shallow depth of field

The techniques and skills I use to create these mushroom pictures are all discussed in great detail in the Flower Art Photography Masterclass. The goal is to create the images in-camera while shooting and to limit the post production to a minimum. One of the main characteristics of this type of photography is the shallow depth of field that results in a painterly dreamy feel.

To create this kind of images you’ll have to take all elements into account. The foreground, background, main subject, supporting subject, light and composition help all to tell a wonderful visual story.

 

Take it a step further

But if you want to take it a step further and you want to learn how to create images that really seem to come out of a fairy tale, then have a look at the Mushroom Light painting masterclass. Learn to create magical glowing mushrooms. For these images you need to do quite some work in photoshop, but you’ll end up with pictures that really scream WOW! In the masterclass I show 3 different ways to let the mushrooms glow, depending on the kind of mushroom they need a different approach. 

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Background is key in creating this kind of painterly pictures. I’ll go more into detail on this topic in another video: Mastering the Art of Effective Backgrounds