A Valentine Day Heart

Tree Heart for Your Wall

For Your Special One

Sure its past the Valentine Day Holiday, but is it ever? For someone you love?

Take a look at so many other images at my Portfolio site

What's so Special about Chicken of the Woods

Discover What's so Special about this Mushroom

 

Can it be dried and hung as art?

Yes but its always better to leave them where they belong,  unless of course you ahve a mushroom collecting permit

Can it be cooked and eaten?

A word of Caution: This mushroom has a lemony, meaty taste. Some think it tastes like its chicken namesake; others describe the flavor as being more like crab or lobster. Whatever your opinion, the chicken fungus makes a great substitute for meat in almost any dish.

It's important to note that this is one of those mushrooms that sometimes causes gastric distress in certain people. If you want to avoid a possible stomach misadventure, only try a little bit your first time to see what it does to you. Also always avoid chicken of the woods growing on conifers, eucalyptus, or cedar trees, as these are reported to contain toxins that can make people sick.

Where do you find them?

Laetiporus conifericola - A yellowish species found in Western North America that often fruits on conifers.

Laetiporus gilbertsonii - The West Coast version that's found on oaks and eucalyptus trees.

What are they called?

Chicken of the Woods

If you know moree answers let us know or paste a link to the info. If you'd rather, instead, just click on the link to see it at my website Mushrooms on a Log II

Or if you just want to jump to more info, I found some in the Comments section below

OutsideShooter Offers Tips on Why and How You Shoot

Can you explain how you shoot?

Take a few of your best shots, and try explaining to someone the "how" of your shooting those particular shots. Why did you choose the physical position for that composure? Why did you choose the time of the day, if that shot was influenced by outdoor, natural light? Why did you change settings to achieve a specific capture? Why did you select a particular lens over another?

If you were to go out again, could you duplicate that shot, in order to further perfect it? Would you make any lens or camera body changes? Would you treat it exactly the same way you did in a photo editing program, such as Photoshop? 

Could you then tell someone exactly how to achieve the same effect, considering all of the above, assuming they needed advice?

How to Accomplish

If your answers to the above questions are more on the iffy side, let me make a suggestion that will help you in future OutsideShooting, (allow me license to coin a word).

Open and carefully review a single image that you are happy with. Take the time to review it with a critical eye on what it took to end with this wonderful capture. Now open a word document, or take pencil and paper, and write down all the steps it took to accomplish this as a finished image. Explain the settings, to include subject perspective and placement in the lens, time of day, lighting, camera body and menu settings, lens, filter(s) and software adjustments.

Documenting Your Shoot

You'll find that, other than shooting thousands and thousands of photos, this will more quickly get your sense of shooting, to perform as second nature and you'll remember it better and longer. Just as in tests taken in classroom settings, it helps to review all the information needed, in shooting it helps to write it down, review it, then go out again and duplicate it, or perfect it.

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If you have any further tips, feel free to add to comments below.