My better half was out exercising tonight, and on her return said she had seen a strange phenomemon. I went out to see where the aliens had landed, and sure enough, in the verge, nestling amongst the lantana, there was a strange glow on the ground. There were also a few fireflies flitting around.
Back a few minutes later with the trusty EOS 300D, and I was busy trying to get some shots of what it was causing the glow. "Alien's bones" was my first thought, but could it be that someone had carelessly left some plutonium around? I couldn't get very close, due to a fence, grass 1.5m high, a ditch, and the aforementioned lantana, not to mention clouds of voracious mosquitos, midges and the like, but I managed a few shots.
Back at my computer, I decided to look and see, before ringing NASA or Emergency Services.
Well, what a let down!! Luminous fungi, that's all.
I have to say that I have never seen it before, but apparently, it's not uncommon in NSW and Qld in rainforests. It's called Mycena chlorophanos, and a link to the details is here if anyone is interested. I shall have a look at it in daylight tomorrow. I might also add that we are certainly not rainforest here in Brissy's Western Suburbs, but with all the rain lately, it is pretty wet.
Very interesting. What type of ISO and exposure time did you need to
capture it?
Last December, Mai and I were on an island called Phu Quoc, which is
in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of Cambodia but belongs to Vietnam.
At night, it was spectacular to walk along the beach where the waves
were breaking. The sea had millions of tiny organisms which apparently
contained luciferin. Walking along in the dark, whenever the waves broke
and become oxygenated, thousands of little green specks would appear
and wash upon the sand. I looked up at the night sky and the number of these
glowing points in the water was more plentiful and spectacular than the stars.
I recollected having seen them on an earlier trip to some part of South East
Asia, but I couldn't recollect exactly where, possibly on the west coast of
Thailand also in the Gulf.
So your glowing fungus makes me want to see them when we get up near the
Qld border next time! Fascinating stuff! Thanks.
According to the EXIF data the exposure was 4 seconds at f5.6 with ISO 800, and I had my 100-400 zoom lens set at 260mm. However, I had set the ISO at "H", which I believe to be 3200, as I have downloaded the Russian mod to my 300D, so I really can't say what it is exactly. I cropped the shot, and modified the levels slightly in PhotoShop, but to no great extent.
I recall sometime in the late 80's walking at night on the beach just north of Noosa, and seeing some luminescence in our footprints, but it wasn't as bright as this by any means.
What really interests me is that this morning, I went to photograph the fungi in daylight, but even though I had left a marker at the point where I saw them, there was absolutely no evidence at all of any fungi. I shall have another look tonight.
Hmmmmmm, maybe it was an alien, and aliens look like fungi, whereas all the time we have been thinking they have antennae, big eyes and the rest.........
What really interests me is that this morning, I went to photograph the fungi in daylight, but even though I had left a marker at the point where I saw them, there was absolutely no evidence at all of any fungi. I shall have another look tonight.
Thanks for the technical details.
Just as well you took that photo! If all one had was the story, some skeptics
might have concluded the story teller had been eating magic mushrooms he
had found in the forest.
Wow, how lucky are you to see that!!!
I'd like to get a soil sample to sprinkle some spore around my place and try to grow some.
Once again, you lucky bugga.
Wow, how lucky are you to see that!!!
I'd like to get a soil sample to sprinkle some spore around my place and try to grow some.
Once again, you lucky bugga.
Great to catch an image of it. I had some growing behind my water tank at the shack, I thought the same (aliens...) when I saw a wierd glow on the ground. Presumably the spores will still be there, so I'll eye out for it in the future.
I have some luminous fungi around a dead tree stump, that appears once or twice a year but these are composed of layered shrouds.
Its really eerie when you see it the first time and have no idea that such a thing exists, scares the plutonium out of you.
Great shot, Ive never been able to get a decent image.
very cool, id love to spot these one day, i still have yet to spot some and im sure i will eventually - fungus is actually a subject i spend alot of time photographing.
though i wouldnt directly conclude that its a mycena chlorophanos, that would be rather presumptuous, as there are many kinds of fungus and many kinds of glowing fungus.
Thanks for the recent comments. The next night there was virtually no glow from the fungi, and the night after, it was totally absent, although the fungi were still on the log. The reason I could see no evidence of fungi, as reported in my second post, is that I was looking for 25 to 40mm diameter toadstools on the ground, but it was only after I had seen them for the second night, that I was able to pinpoint the location, and realised they were in fact on the log, and only about 8 - 10mm across!! I have just gone to look again (a week later) in daylight, and there is absolutely no evidence of any such fungi ever having existed.
"though i wouldnt directly conclude that its a mycena chlorophanos, that would be rather presumptuous, as there are many kinds of fungus and many kinds of glowing fungus."
The reason I assumed they were mycena chlorophanos is based purely on a quick Google of "luminous fungi + queensland", and the link I have provided was what came up.
I did take a couple of shots on the third day, by which time they had just about faded, and these are attached. It was very dim and wet when I took the shots, and I only had the on board flash, and the lens was fully open, so the depth of field of not good. If Adrian knows what they are for sure, or if anyone else can tell me, I should be most grateful.
when you see it the first time and have no idea that such a thing exists, scares the plutonium
out of you. 
