Things to notice the next time you go into the woods: How some gilled mushrooms age and die quite beautifully by turning their caps inside out. Stray rays of sunlight filtering through the trees sculpt the exposed gills and provide a perfect mountain trail for a tiny red hiker.

The Gulf South Mycological Society typically conducts a Summer Foray in July. I attend the Friday night & Saturday portions when I can, and join a bunch of other fun and interesting people crazy enough to go into the woods in July and sweat profusely whilst looking for mushrooms. Last summer I spent Saturday morning in Lost Bayou Bottoms in the Kisatchie National Forest, where I encountered this magnificent specimen.

And, yes, I truly enjoy playing with images from time to time, taking perfectly concrete and real creatures I have encountered and turning them into abstractions, or maybe semi-abstractions at the least. What you have here is the product of cropping, contrast adjustment, a tiny bit of color balancing, and the application of a couple of filters–all to bring out the warmth and sculptural quality of dying mushrooms.

Actually, the mushroom is not dying. The fruit of the mushroom is decaying. But maybe you knew that…?! Also, please don’t ask for an ID. Mushrooms are nigh unto impossible.