Often times I don’t really know what the theme of a hike is going to be until I get out on the trail, or even until after I get home and start reviewing my images. One of the things I like about doing nature photography is that you get to discover what it is that nature has in store for you on a given day.

But sometimes you just know. You know exactly what you are going to get. Saturday was 24 hours of light rain and drizzle. I know that this time of year a day long soaking rain, the kind where the water really gets a chance to penetrate deep into dead and decaying wood, makes the colors in bracket fungi explode. And the mosses and lichens respond equally well. So with that in mind I planned the weekends outing for Sunday, and targeted two trails that pass through mature oak forrest. These areas are rich in fungi due too all of the dead wood lying on the ground, and I knew they would be popping with color. I was not disappointed.

I have commented on this before, but this type of photography really benefits from the dim winter light being diffused through a solid overcast sky. The uniform illumination really allows the more subtle colors to shine.