Skip to page content

2010: In Praise of Plants and Fungi - Winner

Frédéric Demeuse Enlarge image Ephemeral gift

Frédéric Demeuse (Belgium)

Ephemeral gift

Small and delicate, the fruiting bodies of this particular Mycena fungus are hard to find, and it took a lot of searching through beech leaf-litter before Frédéric found a clump of the toadstools in Belgium's Sonian Forest. He set up his tripod and then waited for cloudy conditions that would give him the soft lighting he wanted. 'I made the tiniest toadstool the subject of the composition, positioning it so that its shape was echoed by the central big one behind - a projection of what the little one would look like very soon.' He describes the delicate grouping as 'a gift from nature'.

Nikon D300 + 105mm f2.8 lens; 1/10 sec at f5.6 (+ 0.3 EV); ISO 250; tripod + Rotule ballhead + angle viewfinder + mirror-locked and ML-3 remote control.

This photograph is available to buy as a print.

View other winners in this category


  • Adult awards Floodwater tapestry Peter Cairns

    View

  • Adult awards Bugloss at sunset Francisco Mingorance

    View

  • Adult awards Orchid in a flush of garlic Sandra Bartocha

    View

  • Adult awards Salt-desert cacti Jordi Busqué

    View

  • Adult awards Flowers of the volcano Francisco Mingorance

    View

  • Adult awards Grass strokes Georg Kantioler

    View

  • Adult awards Desert icon Chris Linder

    View