1. Shoot the main mushroom in situ.  If there are others of the same species nearby in different stages of growth, tidy them up and then surround the central mushroom with them.

2. Slice open puffballs, sclerodermas and hypogeous species (truffles, etc.)

3. Keep the background and foreground free of distractions, but leaves and needles that are associated with the mushroom should be included in the shot.     

4. Get down on the level with your subject, (if you don’t have a camera with a swivel LCD screen, use a right-angle view finder that attaches to the eyepiece).

5.  Take DSLR camera off auto-focusing, especially when in macro or zoom mode. If you don’t feel confident about focusing manually, lock focus and then recompose (If the woods are dark and your camera won’t focus close-up, get back from your subject and use your telephoto zoom part way until subject is in focus and fills much of the view.  A side advantage of doing this is that the background will be out of focus).

6. Compose your shot trying to get the whole mushroom in the picture with breathing room around it, but not too much.  The mushroom should take up about 1/3rd of the visible area. Use your zoom to fill your photo with the in-focus mushroom. (Consider the rule of thirds (depends on what you plan to do with your photos).

7. Keep the angle of the camera parallel to mushroom.

8. Focus slightly in front of the mushroom. 

9. Set your camera’s self-timer to take the photo or use a remote shutter release.

10. Shoot (Bracket shots)

11. Look at the results before leaving the scene and reshoot if necessary.

6. Compose your shot trying to get the whole mushroom in the picture with breathing room around it, but not too much.  The mushroom should take up about 1/3rd of the visible area. Use your zoom to fill your photo with the in-focus mushroom. (Consider the rule of thirds (depends on what you plan to do with your photos).

7. Keep the angle of the camera parallel to mushroom.

8. Focus slightly in front of the mushroom. 

9. Set your camera’s self-timer to take the photo or use a remote shutter release.

10. Shoot (Bracket shots)

11. Look at the results before leaving the scene and reshoot if necessary.

Probably shouldn’t be pulling up plants.