One Mosquito With Value

Some days a person in pursuit of outdoor images strikes it lucky and finds an unusual composition within easy reach and ready for recording. Such was the case for me this morning as I paddled my canoe shortly after the sun was up. 

I will admit, I expected today might be a day of pictures of green or great blue herons, or maybe some glimpses of autumn (and it was that too). But when I paddled in and around some logs in the river and ducked to avoid a tall branch protruding from the river, I noticed a backlit lung oyster mushroom complete with a mosquito calling a small space of the underside gills home on the branch a little above eye level.   

Shooting the picture was more challenging than one might expect since I was in my canoe that was continually moving ever so slightly due to river current and a gentle breeze. My approach was to set my exposure so the background fell black while providing adequate depth-of-field and still to be fast enough to handhold from the canoe. Not all attempts worked, but some did and I recorded this interesting image.   

The presence of the mosquito really made the picture work. If not for the mosquito, I think the image may have been a bit boring – as if it was missing something – like a mosquito. 

I put together a brief video explaining the process. View it by clicking on this link: 

How I Made The Shot – Backlit Fungus