Getting close up at ground level

[Actinia]

I like to take photos of plants and fungi. To get the best viewpoint, you need to get down to ground level. However grovelling on the ground of a wood taking photos of fungi is very messy. Added to that I have two replacement knees so, although I can get down OK, getting up is much more difficult. I therefore devise the following technique to solve the problem.

I stand facing away from the fungus (or plant) with my feet well apart and bend right over so that I am photographing it from between my legs. It is not very elegant but it works! This is a photo of Oudemansiella mucida.



Taken with a Canon PowerShot SX260 HS, at F/4, 1/160, ISO 400, with a minus 1.3 exposure compensation. I use a Meike Ringlight around the lens of the PowerShot, which provided illumination to focus and to take the photo.

This technique also works with my Sony A55 DSLR, but is more cumbersome.

 

[AlanKlein]

Nice shot. Maybe a camera with a flip up screen would make it easier.
Cameras with Flip Out Screens ? Canon & Nikon Digital Cameras

 

[Actinia]

Yes, a flip-up screen certainly helps. My Sony A55 has one, but given the circumstances (standing on your head in a wood), the PowerShot has a big advantage!