The taller of these two parasol mushrooms is just 30 centimetres.
That is tall for a parasol, but their prominence against the tree trunks behind is a slight optical illusion, the result of a double exposure, in-camera. Agorastos found the fungi growing in woodland in the Grevena region of Greece, and was fascinated by the subtle browns of the scales of their 'skins' and their relationship to each other. Photographing them from ground level, he chose to expose separately for the young spruce trees, using their trunks as a frame for the emerging fruiting bodies, and to set them against the backdrop of light coming through the autumn leaves at the woodland edge. What he wanted to capture was the fairytale feel of the scene. 'Nature is the true designer,' he says.
Greece
Agorastos is a professional photographer based in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece. He has won numerous awards in major photographic competitions, including European Nature Photographer of the Year, Asferico, Big Picture and MontPhoto. His photographs have also been published in National Geographic.
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